I had a pile of old spoons to clean up, including ones which looked to be beyond redemption. I don’t get too stressed about metal spoons which have lost their shine, some times the fish seem to actually prefer dull ones. Indeed, that fine fisher and endlessly entertaining raconteur the late Eamonn Miliffe used to toss some of his baits into the embers of an open fire to deliberately dull the surfaces of them. However, today I decided this lot of lures could use a spruce up so I turned to the well known expedient of soaking them in coke for a few hours to loosen the grim and bring back some shine.

I’d never drink this stuff but it does have its uses…………..

A soak in Coke, then a wash in warm water before a gentle rub with a normal disused brush followed by a good rinse under a hot tap was all that was required to finish them off. Some had lost the plated finish and would remain dull but others made a spectacular recovery and look good to catch me some more salmon.

Immerse the lure(s) in a bath of coke and leave them for a few hours. Overnight is good if you have the time

There is no mention of this liquid’s cleaning properties, but trust me, this works

That’s better! After a few hours remove from the liquid, clean in warm soapy water and rub the surface with a soft scrubbing brush. An old toothbrush is ideal.

Nice and shiny again, these spoons now need the hardware checked and changed where necessary before they go back into the box