Commercial Salmon Trolling Forum

Just learning to troll and trying to take proper care of my lures. I brought some hydrotone from Kolstrand and diluted it according to the instructions. Put a few antique copper and brass lures in it for a few days and expected to remove them bright and shiny. When I removed them , they were worse than when I put them in. Not what I expected. I called Kolstrand and asked the salesman the proper way to use hydrotone, he said he had been there seven years and no one ever asked him before. He suggested maybe it is not for brass and and copper. Is he correct? Am I using it wrong? Is it just a rinse after fishing? Also, I have been told some antifteeze is good for cleaning lures. True/False? What is the best way to take care of lures? I have a box of antique brass and copper lures, and I would like to revive them. Thanks for any info.

Try soaking them in Tarn-x. A local fisherman turned me onto it, and it seems to do the job well. I don't really know much about preventative maintainance though.

Hydrotone and antifreeze are for your aluminum spoon bucket to help keep the bright metal finishes shiny. They are not intended as polishers or brightners.

I didn't have much luck with the copper, but the Gold, brass, gold/bronze, and chrome lures really responded well to a vinegar soak.

What is Tarn-X?

Tarn-x is a tarnish remover that an antique lure hound told me I should use. It comes in a black plastic bottle with white lettering, or at least the one I got some years back did. It says to wipe on, rinse off, but I just soaked my worst cases overnight in it. Nothing was going to make them any worse. It says on the back not to use on brass, but I dont think I paid that any mind. It seems to work well, but I haven't really experimented around much.

Brasso or red bear works good

Be very careful with "Brasso" or "Red Bear" on newer bright metal spoons, especially those that have a bi-metal [50/50] finish. I suspect I must have been used to using these products on older, high-quality bright metal spoons, but I discovered that the contemporary electro-plating on most of the current brands is so marginal (poor-quality) that any friction will remove the finish and leave you with a dull surface.

I don't have experience with Tarn-X, but I have used "Super Clean" cleaner-degreaser http://www.supercleanbrands.com/products to revitalize some nasty looking metallic spoons and had good results. For the dimples on the "hammered" finishes, I used an old soft-bristle toothbush to remove the residue. My primary use of this particular product is for cleaning-up soot and oil on surfaces in enginerooms, or anywhere there may have been an oil leak, but I was pleasantly surprised when I experimented with it on bright tarnished spoons.