Nog's Needle - The Good News

[IronNoggin]

It has been quite the spell since I first came up with the idea of creating an Effective Needlefish spoon. Five or six years in fact! So it is with Much Pleasure that I can now announce their imminent release this coming week!

It has been one mean Learning Curve on this end alright! I actually thought one could simply come up with an idea, and have that materialize basically overnight. I was FAR from correct in that belief!

I haven't been slacking off on the R & D end in the many months since I originally posted about these little Killers. Although only a handful of Folks have had the chance to play with them (and their results have been Great to date btw!) the same cannot be said of the Storm Dancer. My partner and I aboard that particular War Wagon have REALLY Put Them Through Their Paces, and they have more than made our main Go To List in the commercial troll application.

Although the wait has been long, one benefit of that has been the constant experimenting an tweaking we were able to do through that period. We are now to the point that we simply cannot refine them any more. They DO what they are designed to: Catch Fish, and Catch Them WELL!

Here's a little sample of that to entertain your eyes while I get on with the rest of this thread...











LOL! I could add more, but methinks you get the gist...

Continued...

[IronNoggin]

First & Foremost: This is a BC Designed, Tested and Produced Product. The testing and development has taken years to get to this point, and the decision was made to keep their production right here where they originated. Bit of a struggle that, and although I could have realized something of a "profit margin" by taking them offshore, profit margins were never the intent. I simply wanted a Good Needlefish Imitation that Caught Fish Consistently - something I felt was lacking in our fishery, and something I am now Proud to say WE HAVE!

I developed these spoons to be ROBUST! They are a fair bit heavier than most other trolling spoons out there. Weighing it at a full 28 grams (a full ounce!) when fully dressed, it took a LOT of experimenting to get the Action Just Right. There was (and is) a reason for this: When targeting Large Springs, the spoon MUST be able to withstand the Ravages of many MANY Savage Strikes and Hook-Ups. As a commercial troller I fully expect each one to last through at least 100+ such encounters, or the tackle simply isn't worth bothering with. And as a Sporty, I REALLY appreciate them holding their shape through fish after fish after fish. These DO! To the point that many we ran from the Big Boat literally had the paint beat right off them, yet never distorted, and continued to catch! Happy Moments for sure!

We decided to go with an original finish of nickle / silver plating. Sure, chrome would have been less expensive, BUT the reflective qualities of the materials we chose out-perform almost any other at depth. There can be little doubt that fish feeding down deep are going to see them with this finish!

And while spit rings seemed to be the easy way to go, they simply do not cut it in the commercial application as they let go far too often. Welded rings on the other hand, while time consuming and more expensive, offer MUCH greater holding strength. So, all of the spoons we're offering will be dressed accordingly.

The little flipper tail on the butt offers both another "enticement" and helps with the action. Makes them even more appealing to The Prey Of The Day!

Finally, the hooks had to be Proven, Robust, and Extremely Resistant to rust. Time honored Mustad Stainless Hooks have been the mainstay of the troll fleet for years, and are well know for both their quality and strength. And so they were the Winner for adorning the new Needefish.

Our initial offerings will be the nickle / silver plated version, as well as a 24 carat Gold Plated one (Gold has an even better index of reflection at depth). These will of course be Full Dressed with welded rings, eyes, tails and hooks.

A little look at the nickle / silver version. Set against a backdrop of the Winner of the 2011 Pacific Salmon Conservation Stamp Art Competition! "A Moment Of Action" by Ontario Artist Curtis Atwate:



NOTE: For these initial pictures I am posting, the spoons are dressed with split rings. The reasons are two-fold: All that I have that have welded rings are on the troller, and I decided to run this post up a day or two in front of the next shipment from the factory. ALL those we will be offering will sport Welded Rings.

Continued...

[IronNoggin]

Over the years I fiddled around with various finishes. The original was simply a brass blank given a shot of Tremclad silver, and painted with permanent markers. Even back then I just Knew we were onto Something!



That's the results we obtained the second year of testing. Even though the springs literally Tore the eyes and paint right off them, they continued to catch! So it was that I recognized a little more effort in that regard was required...

We sampled and took pictures of literally hundreds of needefish over that and the following season. What I came up with back then as a quick answer was to apply automotive spray paint over the then nickle plated blanks. They worked:



Caught more than enough to keep me Happy, so upwards and onwards...

On towards today next...

[IronNoggin]

After realizing great success, I once again decided it was time to get on with creating a "final" finish I could be happy with. After some experimenting, I settled on air-brush applied automotive paints, and came up with this earlier this spring:



I give Full Appreciation, Recognition & Credit to B.C. artist, Mark Hobson who created the masterpiece I employed as the background. Titled "Surface Tension" it was the Winner of the 2010 - 2011 Pacific Salmon Conservation Stamp art competition! For Obvious Reasons! Could not ask for a better back-drop!!

And it was about then I realized there is NO Possible Way I could personally take on the task of reproducing that in any sort of volume. Especially so if I wanted to do ANYTHING ELSE But!

So, initial inquiries were sent to several local (and well known) manufacturers to try the task of finishing on. I am pleased with their initial responses, and found the one pictured below to be amongst the better ones thus far:



Getting Damn Close! With but a little tweaking, methinks we'll have it!!

A couple more pix for you:

My version of the paint finish under the nickle / chrome spoon and the factory Test Finish between:



All have the same Deadly snake-like swimming action with the odd roll tossed in for good measure. In testing, these swim Exactly like a wounded needlefish, and it seems Springs, Coho, Halibut and damn near anything else that swims thinks they are CANDY!!!

This just in... So new we haven't had time to add the eyes or hook, but thought I'd share regardless...

For the Fish that Like All That Glitters! 24 Karat Gold!!



And so it is after six or seven years in the making, we are finally poised to Unleash these Killers on various unsuspecting Denizens Of The Deep!!

Within but a couple of short days, these will be making their Splash Coast-Wide!
Commitments to retailers will ensure these become available relatively quickly following that.

BUT: My First Commitment has always been to my fellow Fishing Fanatics, and very much remains so today!
To that end, we are setting up a dedicated website where you will be able to view the various versions we will be offering, and order them directly online with expedient shipping! All of you here WILL be seeing that very VERY soon!

At one point I did have a "List", however that became downright Overwhelming! For me to sit down and send mail-outs to each would take the rest of this summer, and pretty much ALL of the Hunting Season. With Sincere Apologies, I submit I simply can not accomplish that in anything remotely resembling a reasonable time frame! And so, I respectfully request that such inquiries be directed to the website which can, and will deal with your requests in a much Faster manner.

Pricing will be Realistic and Quite Competitive for this Quality of Product. And of course those will be listed on the upcoming website.

For those interested in varying sizes, Rest Assured, these are well into development, and will be following along once they meet our exacting qualifications for doing so.

Just a brief note to those who have tested these for me over the years. You were Chosen for a Reason! Submit the pictures you've taken in this regard for inclusion in the website, and I have a little something in mind Guaranteed to Make You SMILE!

Continued...

[IronNoggin]

We first worked these spoons up to give the Right Action at 2.7 knots. Once that was achieved, we began to play around with the various bends and depth of concaves to apply that Right Action over a wider range of speeds. At first, going faster was an issue, whereas moving them slower presented little in the way of problems. In effect, what we were seeking was something that could be run effectively at hootchie / flasher speed, up to approaching that of plugs.

Then of course I moved the project to a sports rig (many in fact). Again, we sought that same Right Action at a wide range of varying speeds.

Several years of playing with the parameters, and last year we finally developed one that produces the Right Action anywhere between 2.2 to 3 knots. Beyond 3 knots (ie the idea of running these alongside plugs) works, but in the odd occasion they may spin. There is a remedy to that by relaxing the bends ever so slightly, but I would not suggest doing so unless you are dedicating That spoon to That task. These are TOUGH to modify, and once done, Tough to bring back!

Slower than that, almost right down to dead sockeye slow, the action is exactly what we were seeking.

I have run them occasionally behind flashers, and while that will work (5 - 6 foot lead) that was not my intent from neither a sporting nor commercial application. On the commercial rig, it tends to do best when swum solo, usually above (and behind) a short flasher below. Same is true for sportfishing. Either solo, or IMHO even better just above and behind a dummy flasher, is where it Shines. And a hell of a LOT more FUN fighting just the fish (and not the flasher) in that application.





Methinks the Factory Got It Right with their latest test run on the painting end of things!



Some eyes and a hook and this version looks Good To Go!

Continued...

[IronNoggin]

PUBLIC WEBSITE RELEASE: JULY 23-25, 2014 (Date and time to be confirmed in the next week)

WEBSITE ADDRESS: http://www.ironneedlelures.ca

*Note: Website is still under construction and public access is limited.

LURE SPECIFICS:

All of our trolling spoons come complete with:

- Silver soldered welded rings
- Commercial grade (4/0) stainless steel hooks
- Pro-Series blades
- 3D molded eyes

They are proudly made entirely in British Columbia, Canada.

AVAILABLE FINISHES:

1. Full Nickel Plated Trolling Spoon - available July 23-25

2. Full 24 Karat Gold Triple Plated Trolling Spoon - available July 23-25

COMING SOON

PAINTED SPOONS:

There will be 3 models of painted spoons available in October 2014.

1. Gold Plated Painted Spoon

2. Nickel Plated Painted Spoon

3. Full Painted Spoon (UV/Glow finish)

Pricing information will be available in the very near future.

Understanding that August is THE fishing month in BC, we will offer local pick-up in Abbotsford for the month of August. Note that this is not a retail outlet, rather the actual manufacturer's factory, so special arrangements may need to be made to pick the spoons up in person.

Regarding Canada Post, at this time, packages will be shipped Expedited and tracked service. We have been using Canada Post throughout this project and they have proven timely in their delivery. More importantly, Canada Post has outlets in most of our remote coastal communities which have regular service, whereas Purolator, UPS, and other carriers may only do one-day-per-week deliveries. Canada Post also offers shipping to PO Boxes, something the other carriers do not.

FOR IN PERSON PICK-UPS or other inquiries: Please email the official Iron Needle address: ironneedlelures@gmail.com

Note - Please refrain from making PICK-UP requests until the website is released. Any requests prior to that date may not be answered due to scheduling, though we will do our best to get to them...

Damn Happy to be making this announcement! been a looooong wait, but we are finally there!!

I'll be around for another day or two to try and answer any questions folks might have. After that, I will be away for an extended period of time... FISHING Of Course!!

Cheers!
Nog

[REMINGTON JIM]

Awesome looking spoons there Nog - I need some of them ! I do believe they will catch Salmon ! RJ

[.300WSMImpact!]

love seeing the good ideas! nice looking hook, I hope you do well with this

[IronNoggin]

I want to issue a Public Apology to the Owners and Moderators of this site.
In my joy and haste to get the word out that we have finally arrived, I failed to contact them to seek permission to post what basically amounts to an ad here. For that I am DEEPLY Embarrassed, and Sincerely Sorry.
This was rude and inconsiderate behavior on my part, and quite out of character with what and who I am.
I sincerely Hope they can forgive me for this grievous error!

Embarrassed...
Nog

[Argali]

I want to issue a Public Apology to the Owners and Moderators of this site.
In my joy and haste to get the word out that we have finally arrived, I failed to contact them to seek permission to post what basically amounts to an ad here. For that I am DEEPLY Embarrassed, and Sincerely Sorry.
This was rude and inconsiderate behavior on my part, and quite out of character with what and who I am.
I sincerely Hope they can forgive me for this grievous error!

Embarrassed...
Nog

It reads more like the history of the invention and development of a fishing lure than an ad. Plus you submit knowledge on lure action/finish and advice on how to catch fish - which no one minds at all. The lure looks great. Best of luck with your new business!