JDM Spoons Shop

The JDM Spoons Shop makes a variety of Japanese spoons available to American anglers. Spoons are not that popular in the US, with only a few brands and only a few shapes available. In contrast, spoons are quite popular in Japan, primarily for fishing in Areas, the private pay-to-fish lakes. Their success in Areas has prompted manufacturers to introduce spoons for native fish in mountain streams. Interestingly, many of the spoons intended for fishing in streams still come with single hooks.

Forest Spoons

The Forest Spoons were recommended to me by an angler who had used them in Japan.

Most of the images do not show it, but each spoon comes with a single hook. The hooks are barbless unless otherwise specified.

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Forest MIU Abalone Spoons

The Forest MIU  Abalone spoons are unlike any lures I have ever seen. The spoons are iridescent, and as they move they shimmer - catching the light and reflecting rainbow colors in irregular bars, stripes or just splashes of bright color. A still photo cannot do them justice because the pattern changes as they move.

The color pattern on every spoon is different. The images above are representative of all the spoons. There is no noticeable difference in the patterns of the different sizes. Every spoon is unique. There is a subtle base color of a light grey on one side and a light cream color on the other, with a black outline on the grey side and a gold outline on the cream side. The back of the spoon is gold.

The spoons come with a single micro barb hook and a split ring to attach your line or snap.

The 2.8g spoons are 1 1/8" x 7/16". The 3.5g spoons and the 4.2g are 1 1/4" x 7/16". The 4.2g spoons are stamped from thicker metal than the 3.5g spoons.

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Forest MIU 5g spoons

The Forest MIU spoons were originally designed for fishing in Areas. They were so successful that Forest started making them in larger sizes and in color patterns for streams, rivers and lakes.

The blue and silver color pattern is a classic imitation of common lake-dwelling forage fish (smelt in the US and wakasagi in Japan).

The Abalone spoons are iridescent, and as they move they shimmer - catching the light and reflecting rainbow colors in irregular bars, stripes or just splashes of bright color. A still photo cannot do them justice because the pattern changes as they move.

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Forest Chaser Spoons

Forest Chaser spoons come in 15 colors and 3 weights. For now, I have just two colors and two weights. Unlike the Daiwa Presso Lupin and Vega spoons, the heavier Chaser spoon is larger than the lighter ones. Spoon #9 is .6g, and is about 5/16" x 13/16". Spoon #11 is 1.2g and is about 3/8" x 15/16".

SOME PHOTOS SHOW THE FRONT AND BACK OF THE SPOON. THERE IS ONE SPOON PER PACKAGE, NOT TWO.

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Forest Marshal Tournament Spoons

The first Marshal Tournament spoons I carried were recommended to me by an angler who had used them very successfully in Japan.

When they were out of stock, I got a message asking me to be sure to bring them back rather than drop them.

It seems they work very well here in the US, too.

Weight - .9g
Dimensions 5/16" x 15/16"

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Forest Marshal River Spoons

The Forest Marshal River series of spoons are larger, longer and more aggressively cupped than the Marshal 2.3g or Tournament spoons. As their name suggests, they were designed for fishing mountain streams and larger rivers as an alternative to plugs.

They are 3/8" wide and 1 15/16" long, virtually the same length as the 50 mm sinking minnows that are the "go to" lure for many Japanese anglers who fish lures in mountain streams. At 4.8 g, they are also a comparable weight and will cast like bullets with either spinning or BFS tackle.

My limited photo skills cannot adequately capture the lures' colors, particularly the No.11. The No.11 spoon is silver on the half of the spoon towards the bottom of the photo, and a greenish gold on the half towards the top of the photo. The parr marks are blue. The back of the spoon is silver.  The No.12 spoon is golden brown on the side towards the top of the photo and orange along the side at the bottom of the photo. The parr marks are silver and the spots are white. The back of the spoon is gold. The N0.14  spoon is flat black with blue sparkles. The No.15 spoon is striped, pink, yellow and orange, and has silver sparkles.

The Forest Marshal River spoons come with  a single micro barb hook.

Marshal River No.11 - $6.50

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Marshal River No.12 - $6.50

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Marshal River No.14 - $6.50

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Forest PAL Spoons

Forest PAL spoons were designed to be fished slowly. They will do best in lakes or streams with modest current.

The Forest PAL series has 25 colors and three weights. To start with I will have a few colors and one weight - 1.6 grams. Although the images are smaller, the spoons are the same size as the PAL Limited spoons below (3/8" x 1")

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Forest Factor Spoons

The Factor spoons were designed to be fished at an intermediate speed. These two sizes and colors were recommended to me by an American angler who has had very good luck with them. The 1.2g spoons are 15/16" x 3/8". The 1.8g spoons are 15/16" x just over 3/8".

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Shimano Spoons

Shimano Slim Swimmer Spoons

The Shimano Slim Swimmer spoons were designed to address three problems that the Murata Group had identified with common spoon designs. First, with shorter spoons, they found that when a fish reversed directions, the line could enter the fish's mouth and get cut on a tooth. The length of the spoons will reduce the chance that the line will get cut on a tooth, increasing the percentage of hooked fish that are actually landed. Second, many of the longer spoons on the market have a very pronounced wobble. That additional resistance as you retrieve the spoon tends to make it lift to the surface. The Shimano Slim Swimmer has a gentle roll rather than a wide wobble, reducing the tendency to rise in the water column. Third, the gentle roll rather than extreme wobble makes it easier for a fish to catch it, thus making it easier for you to hook the fish.

I have found them to be extremely effective - possibly because their shape is much closer than most spoons to the shape of a real minnow.

Slim Swimmer spoons come with a single barbless hook.

The small 1.5g spoon is perfect for panfish and small headwaters trout. The large 5g spoon is comparable in size and weight to a sinking minnow plug (but casts better, is half the price and doesn't have a pair of barbed treble hooks).

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Smith Spoons

Smith D-S line Spoons

The back of the spoons have orange and chartreuse dots. I have not yet had a chance to fish with them, so I cannot confirm if the Sight Marker actually does allow you to see the spoon more easily during the retrieve, of if the Bite Marker actually does give the fish a target to bite.

It is the face of the spoon that intrigues me. The Smith D-S line spoons have a crosshatch either machined or stamped onto one side of the spoon face. It definitely catches the light as you move the spoon.

The images below are better than I could take with my simple point and shoot camera, because the spoons are shiny enough I always got a blue reflection of my blue camera. The image of the Yamame Silver spoon shows a highlight along the crosshatching, and a darker area below that. The darker area is just how the light plays on the very shiny silver. There is no gray paint on the spoon. There is some white paint along the edge opposite the crosshatching. It is very similar to the orange paint that is more easily seen along the edge of the Yamame Gold spoon.

• Light catching cross hatching
• 3 grams (roughly 1/10 oz) or 4 grams (roughly 1/8 oz)
  
• Single Micro Barb Hook
• Split rings for maximum action
• 1 3/16" x 3/8" (3g) or 1 3/8" x 3/8" (4g)
  
• Good action with slow retrieve
  

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Smith Diamond Spoons

The Smith Drop Diamond and Edge Diamond spoons have a diamond pattern on the front side (smooth metal on the back). The three dimensional diamond pattern catches and reflects light differently than smooth metal. Both the Drop Diamond and the Edge Diamond have a fairly narrow wobble. The Drop Diamond is better with a slower retrieve. The Edge Diamond resists rising when retrieved, so it would be a better choice for a faster retrieve or faster current. The spoons weigh 3 grams (about 1/10 oz), which will cast well with either a spinning rod or with a baitcaster equipped with a BFS reel (all the baitcast reels sold on Finesse Fishing are BFS).

The split ring line attachment allows maximum action. The single hook allows easy release. The hooks have micro barbs, which are easy to bend down if you fish in an area that requires single barbless hooks, or if you just prefer to fish with single barbless hooks.

The Silver Yamame spoons are silver on the back. the red, orange and gold spoons are gold on the back.

The Yamame is one of the three native salmonids Japanese lure fishermen target in mountain streams. They have distinctive parr marks, not unlike young brook, brown and rainbow trout. Of the various Smith Diamond spoon colors, I have chosen the ones the most distinct parr marks. I think they will pretty closely match our young trout, and if you fish for bass as well as trout, the Edge Diamond Orange Yamame looks like a small yellow perch.

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Smith Drop Diamond Spoons

• Three dimensional diamond pattern
  
• 3 grams (1/10 oz)
• Single micro barb hook
• Split rings for maximum action
• 1 1/8" x almost 1/2"
• Better choice for slow retrieve or slower current
  

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Smith Edge Diamond Spoons

• Three dimensional diamond pattern
  
• 3 grams (1/10 oz)
• Single micro barb hook
• Split rings for maximum action
• 1 3/8" x 7/16"
• Better choice for fast retrieve or faster current
  

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Smith Pure Spoons

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Daiwa Spoons

Daiwa Crusader Spoons

• 2.5 or 4.0 gram weight
• 2.5g spoon just under 1 1/8" long, 4g spoon 1 3/8" long
  
• Highly polished for maximum flash
• Split ring attachment for maximum action
• The spoons DO NOT HAVE THE BLACK LINES shown in the images
• THE SPOONS ALL COME WITH A SINGLE MICRO BARB HOOK even though the photos don't show hooks
  
• More info...
  

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Daiwa Crusader Super Hot Spoons

• 4.0 gram weight in a size similar to 2.5g Crusader
  
•  7/16" wide and 1 1/8" long
• Highly polished for maximum flash
• Split ring attachment for maximum action
• The spoons DO NOT HAVE THE BLACK LINES shown in the images
• THE SPOONS ALL COME WITH A SINGLE MICROBARB HOOK even though the photos don't show hooks

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Daiwa Presso Adam Spoons

• 2.2 gram spoons in stock
  
• Just over 1" long, 7/16" wide
• THE SPOON COMES WITH A SINGLE SIZE 6 BARBLESS HOOK even though the photos don't show hooks (and IT IS SHARP!)
  
• Split ring attachment for maximum action
• THE PHOTO SHOWS THE FRONT AND BACK OF THE SPOON. THERE IS ONE SPOON PER PACKAGE, NOT TWO

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Daiwa Presso Eve Spoons

• 1.2 gram spoons in stock
  
• 15/16" long, 3/8" wide
• THE SPOONS COME WITH A SINGLE SIZE 8 BARBLESS HOOK even though the photos don't show hooks (and they are SHARP!)
• Action more rolling than wobbling
  

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Daiwa Presso Vega Spoons

• .4 gram or .8 gram
  
• Just under 7/8" long and just under 3/8" wide
• THE SPOONS COME WITH A SINGLE SIZE 8 BARBLESS HOOK even though the photos do not show hooks (and they are SHARP!)
• THE PHOTOS SHOW THE FRONT AND BACK OF THE SPOON. THERE IS ONE SPOON PER PACKAGE, NOT TWO
  
• More info...
  

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Vega .8g spoons

Please note: the Vega .8g spoons have been discontinued by Daiwa. When the colors shown below are gone I will not be able to replace them.

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Rodio-craft Spoons

Rodio-craft is a small Japanese company that makes spinning rods, spoons and plugs for fishing in Areas. Their .5g Blinde Flanker looks like it will be an excellent replacement for the now discontinued Daiwa .4g Vega spoons.

Rodio-craft .5g Blinde Flanker

The RodioCraft .5g Blinde Flanker spoons are slightly smaller than the now-discontinued Daiwa .4g Vega spoons. The Blinde Flankers are 20mm long and 8mm wide. The Vega spoons were 23mm long and 9mm wide.

At .5g, they will not be too heavy to fish with tenkara rods.

Being both heavier and smaller than the Vega spoons, the Blinde Flanker spoons should fish a bit deeper than the Vega spoons, which will be an improvement, particularly in streams.

The Blinde Flankers come with a single barbless hook.

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Hooks

The Daiwa Adam, Lupin and Vega spoons come with Daiwa Presso "Speed" hooks. The hooks are incredibly sharp and it is very easy to get positive hook sets. However, I have had reports of people breaking the hooks on large fish. I would strongly recommend against aggressive hook sets, which are not necessary anyway because the hooks are so sharp. I would also recommend a light drag setting. The spoons and hooks were designed with lake fishing in mind, where an angler does not have to fight the current as well as the fish, and where  lines as light as 1.5lb and 2lb are used (and that's an honest 2lb, that really does break at 2lb). If you are fishing waters that hold large trout and fast current, you might want to replace the  factory hooks with size 8 C'ultiva SBL35 hooks, about which I have not any reports of breakage.

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Shipping

Domestic shipping is by USPS First Class Mail (unless ordered along with a rod). The $4 charge will be added to your order automatically.

International shipping is by USPS First Class Mail Intenational (unless the entire order is over $400 or the order requires a box longer than 24". The shipping charge depends on the destination and the weight, length and value of the package.

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Currently processing orders that were received Feb. 19.