There will always be tons of spam, and that number will only get higher as the number of users increase.
What we should be trying to do is find hidden gems that deserve to be discovered. That would probably be a lot more fruitful.
I've written a post on this. give it a read if you don't mind.
I actually considered rewarding hidden gems yesterday as well.
I will consider it depending on the success of this campaign.
Yes there will probably always be spam, the aim is to discourage prominent spam from being well rewarded.
As long as the bulk of spam gets nested quickly and only receives a few cents, then the network isn't so troubled.