I wasn’t, as the saying goes, “Born with a silver spoon in my mouth.” Only the rich kids, and I didn’t know any, got the sterling. I came along in the midst of the Great Depression.

We were fortunate that Dad had a regular job with the phone company. However, to help make ends meet, Dad ran flounder charters on the weekends. He had a 24 ft. lapstrake skiff that he named M’Lou after my sister.

Then along came World War II, and things changed. Old M’Lou languished in the boat yard until Dad finally sold her to a local fisherman. It didn’t matter much since Dad was away on deployments much of the time.

There was the “Victory Garden” to attend to, and there wasn’t any gas to run her anyway. But, this tale isn’t about my upbringing. There are other kinds of spoons besides the ones we eat our soup with. I’ll tell you about some used for fishing.

One of my favorites is the Johnson’s Silver Minnow. It comes in several sizes and colors, but I trust the silver finish the most. The spoon has a 35-degree wobble on the retrieve. It casts well and is weedless.

If you put on a split tail trailer or a curly tail grub, you get a more enticing action. I took six of them on a Canada trip and lost them all to Northern Pike in less than a week. Years ago they were the go to bait for bass in Back Bay. A cousin to the Silver Minnow is the Johnson’s Sprite. The shapes are similar, but the Sprite has a dangling triple hook.

Another great spoon is the Dardevle. The red and white striped version is a lure of legend. It comes in other colors and in many sizes. One of the neat ones is the Five of Diamonds. These spoons catch everything from brook trout to muskies in the sweet water. I suppose they would work in the brine as well, but I’ve never tried them there.

When it comes to saltwater, you would have a hard time doing better in the surf with some other lure than a “Krocadile.” They are heavy enough for long casts and wobble effectively. A copycat to the Kroc is called the “Gator.” It is very much like the Kroc except it is a little wider and slightly thicker. Both will bring home the bluefish.

For trolling in sea water you can use the Hopkins 550 for jumbo rockfish, bluefish, tuna and big bull reds. One time shortly after I bought “Aces Up” a few friends went out with me on a trial run for stripers. Among other things, I put out a silver hammered finish 550. We collected a few stripers along the way. Shortly before we were going to quit Jim Covington caught the biggest rockfish of his life when it hit the 550.

A popular silver spoon with the saltwater anglers is the Pet. They come in all sizes from huge to very small. I’ve bought them with plain hooks in silver and with red and yellow feathers tied to the hooks. They worked very well for Taylor blues. They have a distinctive shape that is unlike any other spoon.

Perhaps the all time best spoon for king mackerel is the Drone. I would put it up against any other wannabe wobbler you could put out in the spread. I guess it must drive the kingfish nuts. However, in the Bay I use the very small Drones for Spanish mackerel.

They come in all sorts of colors and finishes including strips of reflective tape glued to them. They also make a double thick version that could possibly be used for casting. If you don’t have any Drones in your tackle box, you ought to get some for the Spanish and Taylor blues run. Troll them 5-7 knots and the Spanish will eat them up.

You couldn’t talk about Spanish mackerel without thinking of Clark spoons. No other lure has their unusual shape as far as I know. They are sort of like two elongated triangles connected together by the wide ends.

They have a red bead at the swivel end and a bare hook on the rear. I use them in gold and silver on No. 1 and No. 2 planers and light inlines. They will be in my spread at all times and bring in their fair share of Spanish and Taylor blues.

Getting back to freshwater, I have two other spoons that deserve some recognition. The first is the Little Cleo. The Cleo’s configuration is very similar to the “Krocodile” except that it is relatively shorter and wider than the Kroc.

I’ve caught bass with them trolling in Lake Moomaw, but the best luck I ever had was on lake trout up on Lake Ontario. I believe that Bob Holzer and I got 28 lakers one afternoon using the Cleo’s in the channel around Stony Island.

My final choice for this already lengthy blurb is the Nungesser spoon. They come in gold, silver and painted colors. I believe there are three sizes. The ones I use are 1 3/8 inches long. What do you suppose these little fellows are good for? I’ll tell you. It’s shad.

Go down to the James River in the spring around the time the dogwoods bloom, and anchor up by the I-95 bridge. Use an open face spinning outfit in the 4-12 pound test class with 8 or 10 pound line. Put a 1/4 or 3/8 oz. bullet weight on the line above a snap swivel. Pin the weight with a toothpick.

Tie the spoon on with a loop knot using a 2 to 3 ft. mono leader. Cast down stream at about a 45-degree angle to either side and reel in moderately slowly. You’ll know it when a poor man’s tarpon hits.

There you have it shipmates. I suppose the postscript to this tale is that I now have a set of sterling flatware. The problem, though, is that my dear wife won’t let me put the silver spoon in my mouth except at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Still it’s nice to know that I have a silver spoon to eat with like the rich kids did.