I love the ltlcleos but am going to switch to the mortac's when my supply of cleo's goes down.Cost and availability are the reason.Rather order bulk online than a bunch of retail bubble packs with the wrong hooks anyways.

I hate trebble hooks.I lose fish but snag up more with them.Hell it is hard to cast a treble without it getting wraped up in the line.Then when it does finally hook a fish it gets a little piece of meat instead of the corner of the jaw,or you pin its mouth shut and get half the fight!

Gold and silver are my mainstays probably 90% of my fishing,but i do use half and half with other colors i.e silver and blue...

When you get comfortable with spoons you can effectivly fish a hole from top to bottem in a few minutes and pretty well know if there is a fish in there that is in the mood to cooperate.A very effective means of covering water.

I use a 10'6'' spinning rod and really believe that the long rod is crucial to effectivly fishing spoons.Alot of the same reasons that the jig fishermen use them,basicly it boils down added controll with more line out of the water.I think the reel is more of a preferance.I also use super braids alot.gives you a better feel of the action,doesn't spin up,you get more of your snags free,lasts a whole season,and gives you an edge on a horny twenty pounder!

I have added weight upstream of my spoons on a few acasions and it does kill the performance of the spoon.It kills the action and puts you out of touch with the action of the spoon,makes it feel like a solid pull instead of a side to side throb.That feel is crucial to knowing what your'e spoon is doing.After hooking up a few times you learn what kind of action you want to feel.That action also gives you control on the depth of the spoon during the swing,slower deeper in the run and faster higher up in the run.

I recomend that you stick with only a couple of styles at first,then you are only learning the action of one style at a time.Oval and tear drop are my favorite.

I think you would be hard pressed to find a better means of hunting down Ike,especialy if you are bank bound and are able and willing to hike a couple of miles,also a great way to start somebody off!
GOOD LUCK,If you stick with them I am sure you will be rewarded!