Sutton Substitutes???

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

I see. You didn't mention its logo was sutton. We make a 35. Exact copy of it. Many years of changes involved, but still quite similar. The nut and bolt is confusing. Where is Les! He might shed some light on this. As far as i know, we are the only company using them.

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[Sk8man]

The spoon in question is a Sutton #28 silver finish flutter weight for pulling copper. You will notice in the pic the Sutton 88 is on the left the 28 is in the middle and the 35 is on the right. Notice the difference in shape of the 35 especially....similar in shape to the 28 but not exact. It is possible that the spoon was "re-hooked" which could explain the screw and nut but on the other hand many of my Sutton's have the screw and nut while others have the common rivet

Edited March 9, 2015 by Sk8man

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

I knew you would know!

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[Sk8man]

  I was watching Wicked Tuna so didn't get on here until late

[Nautitroller]

Paul finally caught one! Big money fish:D

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[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

Now that i'm viewing it on my computer and not my phone, I can see a nut and bolt on the both of them.  Also see the nut and bolt on Les's examples too. Interesting, Curious where the nut and bolt came from. I'm guessing someone re hooked them, as Les said. Our # 35 is an almost exact copy, except for the fact it is now made from .015 stainless steel. I will try and find some of the older ones we made that were plated and post some pics. They are almost exactly the same. The only difference I was ever aware of was nut and bolt instead of a rivet. (until we switched to stainless)

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

So here are some pics of the GL#35. Kausch called it a 12, we changed the # to 35 some years ago. The GL 44 and 35 are as close to a Sutton as you can get. They can be formed in 2 different dies, one is the original form and the second is for todays higher speed trolling. 

 

These are Kausch # 7 and # 12. The 12 is what we now call #35. Notice the nut and bolt. When we purchased Kausch, all their fixed hooks were assembled with a nut and bolt and there were tons of extra nut and bolts, which is how we took on the idea.

 

Another view of the 12. Without it's logo, you would not know the difference between Sutton or Kausch. As far as I knew, the nut and bolt were the "give away" 

 

These are Great Lakes made #12's. ( now #35) They are brass plated in chrome. (These came after we sold all the silver ones that came with the purchase of Kausch.) I only have a few of the originals left. Maybe 50? 

 

When we retired the original dies, this became our version. Made from Stainless.  Notice the difference in how the hook fits the lure. We have tried several different ways of attaching the hook. 

 

Here is a closer look at the hook "Saddle". We have since changed that as well. 

 

These are the Kausch spoons that we can produce today. With the exception of the 2 on the right and the dodgers. (second in from the left is a copy of the pine valley "Laker" spoon) All new dies have been made to produce them. We are in the process of bringing one at a time back by having new dies made up. We will no longer use the originals as the are collectibles and have been shelved. The next will be the Silver Soldier in the medium size. Not sure which one we will do after that. Have to see what others think.

 

With the exception of the Silver Soldier, these are all the lures Kausch made. We had a different display for the SS. We can produce any of those lures in the future. Just havent decided which to do next. 

 

As you can see, with the exception of a different metal, our lures are quite similar to Sutton's and are as close to a Sutton as you can get nowadays. We have different forming dies that can form them in the original form or in new forming dies which allow them to be run at todays higher trolling speeds. When people order, I ask them what speeds they prefer to run, so I can send the form they will be most likely to want. 

 

We have made every effort to keep the lures as close to original as we can, as well as providing lures that can be used in today's fishing methods and speeds. 

 

Comments and suggestions on how we can continue to do that are always welcome.

 

Thank you,

Jason

Edited March 9, 2015 by Great Lakes Lure Maker

[bluetop]

Some of the replies refer to me. I make Sutton substitute spoons and sell them on eBay, listed under "Sutton Fishing Spoons", under the name Bluetop3 or Bluetop4. I have lots of 44 size. My spoons are recognizable by their colorful finishes. They aren't much over $3 each. I was a Sutton dealer, but use only my spoons. I wouldn't if they weren't at least as good as Suttons. Fish-On's brother bought lots of Suttons from me, as well as the spoons I make. When I told him I was having trouble getting more Suttons, he said he didn't care because my spoons were "fishing the hell out of the Suttons".

[Sk8man]

I think I'd be a little careful about using Sutton's name in my advertising regardless of the similarity of the shape etc. because of possible legalities.

[bluetop]

When I was selling Suttons as well as making my own spoons, I complained multiple times to eBay that other makes of spoon were being sold in their "Sutton Fishing Spoon" category and that was hurting sales for those,like myself, that were listing true Suttons only. Other makes were getting into the category by mentioning Sutton's name in their listing title such as "X-Spoons, Preferred Over Suttons". When eBay wouldn't do anything about it, I told them that I make my own spoons that have Sutton type action and said that if I couldn't lick them, I'd join them. I just say my spoons have Sutton type action (which they do), etc. and they allow it into the Sutton Spoon category.

[Sk8man]

Ah...probably the folks at the Sutton store don't even have a computer or Internet service because many companies would be launching a "brand name infringement" legal case over the use of their name for "similar" products which can be quite misleading but Ebay would have enough dough to fend it off anyway probably. I'm not being critical either of you or your product by the way.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Sk8man

[bluetop]

Thanks. Yes, Sutton is electronically challenged. They used pencil and paper instead of a calculator in totaling up my purchases the last time I was there. Once I told them that it was all over the internet that they were out of business, but they just said "that's a bunch of crap" and never countered the rumors on the internet.

[poverty stricken II]

I just found my dad's #44 die and former. Have to make a new hole punch jig but that's the easy one. I also found about 1000 copper, brass, and stainless blanks. I don't know where to get anything plated so I'll just play with and airbrush for now. I think it'll be fun to catch fish on your own stuff.

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