Thanks for helping spread the news. The old style hooks are VMC, a quality brand, and it's adversed on the old package. A forum I'm on had three guys posting that the split rings failed on the China brand. My local tackle shop owner said the china ones don't glow as long, but i haven't comparred tham because i won't buy wven one Chinese spoon. And lastly, the new company obvously saved a ton of money with the cheaper hooks, split rings, and yet it is not reflected on the shelf. They still cost about 10 bucks. I bought as many USA ones as I think I'll ever need and my plan is to never buy another Moonshine brand.
As I've now heard, all hooks goin forward will all be VMC again. I also don't know about the glow, I didn't test it because I don't think they'd mess with that but I'm not 100% sure.
You touched briefly on weight. I make spoons, have been for 50 years, and I can tell you the material used, and thickness thereof, makes an enormous difference. That 1g weight difference may seem insignificant, but it can make an enormous difference in the action. Brass and copper weigh significantly more than some of the cheap sheet metals some manufacturers use. They sound different when the split ring moves on them too. The sound of metal on metal is NOT natural, and if the fish are being moody, that tinny sound of the cheap metal can be game over. IMO brass and copper spoons are by far the best, because of the weight, and because they are softer and therefore, quieter. I won't even pull anything else. Color, I'm NOT a believer in needing 1000 colors. Other than dark, medium, and light color I don't care. A big contrasting eye? Absolutely! White belly vs black belly vs chrome belly? OK.it changes the overall light vs dark of the offering. Colored tape? Other than the fact that it changes the sound, especially on the cheaper metals, I'm not a fan of tape. A thin coat of paint, and 2 coats of clear, and I'm done!
@@ChiCityYaker I guess the short of what I was trying to say is, if they changed the material used, and/or the thickness, they changed the product in a significant way. The slight color variations mean nothing.
Great job on the video very informative! Glad I bought a bunch for spares before ACME took over knew this was going to happen very sad! Such a great spoon too! I would be curious to see if they glow as long as the originals?
It’s just a bummer that they changed things. Hard to believe they can’t duplicate the colors any better. I struggle sometimes getting colors close but not as bad as that. And the tape thing I mean come on! Just hope the glow hasn’t changed much! I struggle making a good glow for my baits! But I keep trying! And the weight difference can be huge even if it’s 1g on the action it could be bad but could be better speeds may differ from the old blanks! Great info Michael thanks for sharing your findings!
Looks like salmon candy has now put out a few colors that are very close to some of all our fav moonshine colors.. cudos to captain Russel and the whole salmon candy crew.. I have a variety of different salmon candy tackle on my boat and will now replace old lost moonshine spoons to their salmon candy made in USA equivalents….
Weird thing is I bought some moonshine spoons the other day and the China made ones were about $1 more. I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't look at the package after watching the video.
It's a shame seeing them change... it was pointed out to me by my local bait shop that the production changed(But they didn't haven't ordered any of the new production ones yet so I couldn't buy one on the spot to test)... However to play devil's advocate in a way(Mind you, I placed an order for a ton of casting spoons for the approaching salmon season, but don't currently have the new ones)... I was never the biggest fan of the VMC hooks, and I always preferred to swap them out for Gamakatsu's along with the split ring... but seeing the alternatives the bait shop has started carrying to serve a replacement for the Moonshines are a completely different shape and carry a different action I've disliked over the years.... Outside of the hooks and the split rings, if the main issue is them not glowing as long, atleast from a casting perspective, if I have to light it up with a UV flashlight every 10 minutes instead of every 15-20 minutes it's not the biggest dealbreaker... In the meantime I guess it's time to start looking for other smaller brands that are made in the US that hold up to the standard that Moonshine did... and see if I find one I like if I can get the local bait shop to start carrying them because many local to me will be in the same boat during the salmon run...
as far as I know the glow formula has not changed nor do I suspect it will. That was a big part of the Moonshine hype all these years. If anything, I expect we'll see the paint formula on other ACME products.
I did a video on it which is on my channel if you look back to last year. Here's the link for it: lakemichiganangler.com/products/spoon-boxes?variant=43479787929830
Spoon Tender by TLC Tackle. LMA sells them but you can find them in local shops depending on where you are. Great for storage though I wish the box was a little more stout for a boating environment.
I did a video on it last year that you can find on my channel if you go back a little bit. @marismiglans4127 mentioned it already but its a Spoon Tender box. You can find it here: lakemichiganangler.com/products/spoon-boxes?variant=43479787929830
Now it's time to stock up.Most tackle shops are being flooded with the Chinese junk.I've been able to stock up on some of the originals to stash away. These are only gonna go up in value as collectors items. A similar historical situation happened with the wiggle wart crank baits by storm pre Rapala.
Better stock up on Moonshines and buy up all the American made stock before I boycott Acme as I do not support China or any off-shoring. Haven’t seen Chinese made product here in Canada yet. Suggest ACME passes on savings if we need to replace hooks.
My old eyes noticed a sparkle in all the USA spoons compared to China spoons. Thanks for showing the difference, if i can see the difference i,m sure the fish have better eyesight than me..
I buy my spawn netting at Hobby lobby in the fabric dept. . You will slap yourself in the face when you see how much you can get for $5.00 (in several different colors ).
Made in china…..thats all we need to know. This is a shame. Iv been fishing moonshines sinc they came out in the early 2000s. Seen this same thing happen to storm.
That's another fantastic video. Good job! Unfortunately most of the spoons made in China are coming in pretty crappy. I need to know where did you get that spoon box. I need one that is fantastic. Keep up the good videos. Thank you
Sure, you can find them here: lakemichiganangler.com/products/spoon-boxes?variant=43479787929830 - there's also a video on my channel where I cover these spoon boxes if wanted to see that before purchasing.
Yeah I personally am bothered with that change because that is literally my favorite spoon ever and now it's a totally different spoon because of the tape. I hope they fix it.
I'm guessing all my moonshines are the OG ones they had a clear on them and are very heavy allowing you to troll quite fast without them blowing out. sad when a company sells but i get it making lures is probably a pretty tough business. the crazy glow they have is it the same. a lot of the folks that buy these make their living from these products because it helps their clients catch more fish. that hook looks like a galvanized saltwater hook ok but not the strongest or sharpest. many folks change hooks anyway. glad you had the courage to put this video out nowadays with all the crazy, sad, bs out there but would guess you will be hearing from ACME soon. strange what they don't get is salmon fishing is very expensive saving a buck on a spoon is not high on our lists we want them to work
as far as I know the glow formula has not changed nor do I suspect it will. That was a big part of the Moonshine hype all these years. If anything, I expect we'll see the paint formula on other ACME products.
All I use anymore is cheap China lures from Amazon anymore. All the American made stuff is way to expensive to fish with. I'd rather lose a 4 dollar China crank than a 12 dollar name brand.😅 still catch fish.
Most of the big brands have gone the route of outsourcing their manufacturing to China. There are many products like that, you can get a dozen "x raps" for the price of one rapala brand x rap. Same factory, same mold, different lot #.
as far as I know the glow formula has not changed nor do I suspect it will. That was a big part of the Moonshine hype all these years. If anything, I expect we'll see the paint formula on other ACME products.
