Veteran Owned and American Made Spoons

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to meet Tom Murphy over at ICAST in Orlando, Florida. Dixie Jet had a successful run for many years but after the founders death in the 1970’s production came to a halt. Dixie Jet was started in the 1960’s and these American made spoons were catching all sorts of fish from freshwater to saltwater. After many unsuccessful attempts to bring back Dixie Jet it was unknown if these high quality spoons would ever come back. Fast forward to 2010, Tom Murphy brought Dixie Jet back to life and the spoons were back and better than before. When I stopped by Tom’s booth, I quickly noticed his Talon spoon. The Talon is a 6 inch long by 2 inch wide flutter spoon with 3 VMC wide gap treble hooks. This spoon is made for big fish! Elite series angler Cody Huff won the College All American a few years back on the Dixie Jet Talon spoon. Recently he took second place at the Pickwick Lake event. Mark Zona was so intrigued by watching Cody catching quality fish on our Talon spoon. Cody was flipping a 6.5lb largemouth into the boat he asked the camera man to get a closeup of that spoon so he could see what brand it was. Then, Zona relayed on National television that it was a Dixie Jet Talon Spoon. He said on National Television that “whoever made that spoon and put three treble hooks on it…was a genius.” Because of Cody Huff and his stellar performance seen on that broadcast, Tom sold almost $42,000 worth of not only the Talon Spoon, but every spoon and color they sell.

 

Why Dixie Jet?

First and foremost this company is disabled Veteran owned company by Tom Murphy, who loves this Country and our way of life. Tom served on active duty as a Lieutenant Colonel for 25 years and is now retired. Dixie Jet Spoons are made with Marine Grade Brass and the slab spoons are made with pure lead. Tom assures his customers they never run out of product and if there are fish that eat shad or any other bait fish they will eat a Dixie Jet Spoon. The plating process is also second to none. On their gold spoons, they use real gold leaf during the plating process and the paint and plating process stay on the spoons. Tom says, “they are like potato chips, you can’t have just one. They are addictive once you catch a fish on it.” Dixie Jet is introducing two new styles of spoons shortly and the new spoons are: Dixie Jet 1/2 oz Crappie Slab Spoons and the new Dixie Jet Falcon Spoon. The Crappie Slab comes in 4 colors: White, Table Rock Shad, Silver, and Coleslaw. The new Falcon spoon has the same length also with 3 treble hooks as the Dixie Jet Talon Spoon but is narrower (about1/2 the width) than the Talon. See photos: Dixie Jet has a total of 7 different spoons in a variety of sizes and colors, make sure to get some for your next fishing trip.

 

On the water

After meeting Tom, I couldn’t wait to get back to Lake Pleasant and try the Talons out. We knew they would attract some big stripers and largemouth and thats exactly what happened when we put them to the test. If you see schooling stripers this thing is awesome to watch on your livescope. With such a big profile you can see the spoon land right on top of them and watch them go crazy, usually getting hit with in the first few seconds if they are an active school. Conrad caught quite a few giant stripers on the Talon, seen in pictures below. The Talon is also a great flutter spoon to target big Largies like Cody Huff has successfully done in his elite series events. If fishing in Arizona, Roosevelt Lake would be a great option to throw the Talon when you see the Largemouth sitting in the trees. The livescope once again will help you locate the trees and the depth of the fish. When stroked off the bottom or in open water they back up 1 foot for every foot lifted. Make sure to use the right gear and to check your line if fishing the trees. I have had two monsters break me off on the Talon this fall because of not paying attention to line fray. This is a heavy spoon weighing 2 3/4 oz so your set up will be crucial to your success. I like using the Alpha Angler Wide Glide with a Daiwa Lexa on 20lb Sunline Sniper.

We are excited to be partnered with Dixie Jet Lures for our 2023 Cactus Cup Team Trail season. For those fishing the series you will have a chance to win some spoons at one of our events this season. If you would like to get out on a guided fishing trip in Arizona and put these spoons to the test, we would love to take you out to show you how great these American made spoons really are. For anyone that would like to purchase some spoons for themselves please use our code FISHIN48 at checkout on the Dixie Jet website and you can save some money. Thanks again to Tom with Dixie Jet for joining us this year, we are excited to catch more fish with his spoons and introduce the rest of our anglers to Dixie Jet. Support veterans and support this great company making American made fishing products, you wont be disappointed.