Little Cleo 1/3 Oz

[Jigfishn10]

Hey guys, the state just stocked our waters with trout so I wanted to target both trout and bass this month, do you think a 1/3 oz Little Cleo is a good all around size for both species?

I'm not a spoon fisher and really want to learn to fish them, what are some of your techniques?

[guitarglynn1]

I am by no means a spoon expert. I just started using them early this summer and they are all I have used 99% of the time since and I have a ton to learn but at the same time I feel like I have progressed well so far and I am having more success. I can't speak for trout because I am yet to fish for them with spoons. But bass yes.

 

For me it has taken trial and error to dial in the right size spoons. I primarily have rotated from 1/8,1/4,1/3 and I keep several different shapes, colors, and designs with me at all times. I try to match the size with the bait fish in the lake. Small fat head type minnows are what I see in the lake. I love the cleos and that bass in my avi I caught in Aug with a tiger striped 1/3 cleo wigl dancing girl. The past month or so I have switched primarily to kast master type spoons and side winder type. They have much tighter action and I think they can nail a distressed bait fish to almost a T and I have success with them. If I am not having success with one type I will try something else. On saturday for example, I was using a very small under 2" silver/chrome weber champ which is like a kast master design and is so small I can't even get a weight reading on my digital scale. I figured it might be the perfect size and design for one spot I fish and I did not get any bites on it after trying for about an hour. I switched to a kast master design brass spoon that is a 1/4 and the bass wouldn't leave it alone all morning. So it was the same exact style but slightly bigger and a different color and it seemed to make all the difference. And it seems like I can almost always find a spoon that gets fish biting

 

Right now I am have been doing a pause when I retrieve the spoon after a few turns of my reel. If you keep your pole tip up high when you reel in and then when you pause you drop the tip a bit to create slack so when you pause the spoon flutters down deeper like a distressed bait fish. If you keep the line tight it won't ' dance ' down deeper the right way. It just sinks basically. 

 

Hope this helps some and good luck!

[Choporoz]

Thanks, Glynn.  I've got a bunch of old spoons in the basement left over from my walleye/northern youth.  I look at them longingly every so often, but never take them out.  Cleos, Johnsons, Daredevils, Webers.....  I don't know why I've never thrown them.  Seems perfect for those deeper, suspended bass I find on ledges, but can't entice with jigs, cranks or plastics.  My spoon experience was with trolling and long casting, but I imagine a fluttery drop might be just what I need some days.  Going to go digging tonight.....

[J Francho]

Yes, they work.  See the pick for mods I do to a Cleo.  I fish them on a straight retrieve, occasionally adding a pause.  What's more important is to get the speed right so it's a random wobble, not a stready vibration, though that catches, too.

 

[Jigfishn10]

Great post guitarglynn1! Sounds like you're becoming a "spoon expert"! Thanks for the tips.

 

JF, you think 1/3 oz will work for both species? BTW, I forgot all about that pic, that pic never gets old. When I was doing some online searches an old thread from 2012 from here showed that pic, I beleive I said the same thing...LOL... What size is that lure? Thanks for the retrieve tip. 

 

Based on what I read, I guess you can fish these things much the same way as a lipless crank?

[J Francho]

That's a 1/3 oz.  I carry many weights.  Each weight has a depth it runs best.  The trick is to get it so it ticks bottom, or whatever cover your fishing.  There other styles as well.  I KO Wobbler will run shallower with it's wide shape, at a slower speed, but still have a big profile.  A Krocidile or Cyclops will run deeper, due to is narrow shape.  They catch every species of game fish for me - black bass, pike, pickerel, kings, coho, steelhead, browns, white bass... I think my biggest bowfin was caught on a blue and silver or green and silver Cleo.

[guitarglynn1]

Thanks, Glynn.  I've got a bunch of old spoons in the basement left over from my walleye/northern youth.  I look at them longingly every so often, but never take them out.  Cleos, Johnsons, Daredevils, Webers.....  I don't know why I've never thrown them.  Seems perfect for those deeper, suspended bass I find on ledges, but can't entice with jigs, cranks or plastics.  My spoon experience was with trolling and long casting, but I imagine a fluttery drop might be just what I need some days.  Going to go digging tonight.....

 

You're welcome. I was the same way kind of. I had some in my tackle box for a long time and never tried them. for some reason I had this thought in my mind I would never catch a fish with something that looked like a spoon. One day early this summer after about 3 hours of nothing I was frustrated and started digging through my stuff and tied on a 1/8 gold Colorado and on my very first cast with it I caught a bass. Completely changed my outlook on things. 

[guitarglynn1]

Great post guitarglynn1! Sounds like you're becoming a "spoon expert"! Thanks for the tips.

 

JF, you think 1/3 oz will work for both species? BTW, I forgot all about that pic, that pic never gets old. When I was doing some online searches an old thread from 2012 from here showed that pic, I beleive I said the same thing...LOL... What size is that lure? Thanks for the retrieve tip. 

 

Based on what I read, I guess you can fish these things much the same way as a lipless crank?

 

ha thanks man! I'm no expert that is for sure. I am just learning. They are a lot of fun to fish with though! I have had the same experience as J Francho albeit not nearly as many species of fish. But my best pickerel all came on spoons, yellow perch love them out here, baby blues go crazy for them and in late summer you can catch a fish a cast with spoons from the surf fishing for snappers. I even catch the occasional bluegil. 

[J Francho]

I'll even be so nice to add a couple more that work very well....

 

L-J Hus-Lure*, Super Duper, Phoebe, Kastmaster...

 

I REALLY don't like putting this one on the interwebz, lol.  It's a really good option for slow presentations.

[SirSnookalot]

I fish many types of spoons, including Krocs, Gators, Kastmaster, LJ cast champ, and jigging spoons, but when it when comes to bass fishing I've whittled it down to 2 or 3.  Redfish key spoon gold hammered, Mepps cyclops (I use the sw version, it's gold plated and won't rust or tarnish) and a Clark single hook spoon.  All 3 are sw spoons but I prefer them for fresh.

 

For the surf, try a Gotcha if you haven't, it's a great fish catcher.

[A-Jay]

Check out the Williams Warbler - High Quality bait with a Killer action. 

 

Been around a Long time and is a Multi - Species favorite.

 

The half gold / half silver job is my personal go - to spoons for rainbows.

 

A-Jay

[Chris S]

Guys out my way fish little cleos under a bobber for trout. 

[everythingthatswims]

Guys out my way fish little cleos under a bobber for trout. 

WHAT?

[S Hovanec]

I'll even be so nice to add a couple more that work very well....

 

L-J Hus-Lure*, Super Duper, Phoebe, Kastmaster...

 

I REALLY don't like putting this one on the interwebz, lol.  It's a really good option for slow presentations.

 

 

Those Hus Lures don't work.  Especially not in 1/4oz gold on gold trolling downstream in the Yough River a mile from my house for stupid pelletheads!

[Snakehead Whisperer]

WHAT?

Similar concept to a float and fly for smallies. Killer technique. We used to do this in California when I was a kid too. The technique only really works in swift moving water that gives the spoon some flutter. You lose less gear too, those spoons aren't cheap.

[Bluebasser86]

WHAT?

Twitch the bobber, spoon lifts up and then swings and wobbles back down until it's under the bobber. I prefer small jigs for it but the Cleo works too.

 

I prefer the 1/8oz Cleo for trout. Like J said, retrieve speed is vital. Get it so it's fluttering side to side during the retrieve instead of doing full revolutions and the catch rate will go up big time. I've caught lots and lots of bass on the 1/8oz Cleo too. 

[Jigfishn10]

So I went out this morning to put what I learned on here into action: 1 bite no hook up,  I believe it was a trout, there was a boil on the surface and the water temps were pretty cold, that doesn't mean there were no bass around, but I'm pretty sure it was a trout. About 4 or 5 cast later in the same area I hook into a really nice rainbow trout. Bent down to pick it up to remove the hook and it unbuttoned itself. 0 for 2, but getting closer. Moved around a bit with no luck. It was time I hit the road to go to work so I made a 2 casts at the spot where I had some luck and low and behold, I landed a rainbow trout! It was bleeding pretty good, so instead of going thru the process of taking a pic, I decided to get it back in the water. I know, pics or it didn't happen, that's up to you...LOL 

 

Anyway, here's what I used:

 

JF and Bluebasser, you're absolutely right, getting the right speed is key.

 

It felt great to actually catch a fish with these lures and I can see why they've been around for so long. They have unbelievable action and what surprised me was you can actually fish them pretty slow. I always thought you had to fish these fast which is probably why I was doing it all wrong to begin with.

 

Many thanks for the tips guys, all were very helpful. I like how you added you favorite spoons to the thread, now I have something for the Bait Monkey!

[Chris S]

Twitch the bobber, spoon lifts up and then swings and wobbles back down until it's under the bobber. I prefer small jigs for it but the Cleo works too.

 

I prefer the 1/8oz Cleo for trout. Like J said, retrieve speed is vital. Get it so it's fluttering side to side during the retrieve instead of doing full revolutions and the catch rate will go up big time. I've caught lots and lots of bass on the 1/8oz Cleo too. 

This would be the guy out my way that uses the bobber  

[Bluebasser86]

This would be the guy out my way that uses the bobber

I've also seen the variation where they use a slip bobber so it's kind of like vertically jigging a spoon at a distance. 

[Chris S]

I've also seen the variation where they use a slip bobber so it's kind of like vertically jigging a spoon at a distance. 

Or you could just use the ole rodney rattler  if you look close you can see it on the right hand side of the pic! 

[Snakehead Whisperer]

I've also seen the variation where they use a slip bobber so it's kind of like vertically jigging a spoon at a distance. 

This is how I fish it. Good presentation for suspended crappie too.

[Choporoz]

Many (most?) spoons are painted on just one side - generally the convex side.  And they tend to fall wobbling with the painted side down (or forward if trolled/reeled.)  I've got a very thin, fluttery that's painted on the concave side - it flutters nicely, but seems counter intuitive for the painted side to be UP as it is falling.  Thus, I've rarely tossed it and never with any confidence.  I suppose I should give it a shot, however. Does this sound like any spoons that you guys are familiar with?

 

I believe I got it from my Dad or Mom's tackle box years ago...no idea make or model or weight

[J Francho]

A few brands were made with color on the "bottom."  I have a chrome Cleo with an orange bottom.  They wobble so much, that I don't think it matters much.  One thing I notce - most brands I throw, wobble covex side up.  I can see the color on the retrieve.  That's why my hook is oriented in the pic above.

[Dillo]

How to fish them? Just cast and reel. Try different speeds and maybe even do this during your retrieve.

[guitarglynn1]

So I went out this morning to put what I learned on here into action: 1 bite no hook up,  I believe it was a trout, there was a boil on the surface and the water temps were pretty cold, that doesn't mean there were no bass around, but I'm pretty sure it was a trout. About 4 or 5 cast later in the same area I hook into a really nice rainbow trout. Bent down to pick it up to remove the hook and it unbuttoned itself. 0 for 2, but getting closer. Moved around a bit with no luck. It was time I hit the road to go to work so I made a 2 casts at the spot where I had some luck and low and behold, I landed a rainbow trout! It was bleeding pretty good, so instead of going thru the process of taking a pic, I decided to get it back in the water. I know, pics or it didn't happen, that's up to you...LOL 

 

Anyway, here's what I used:

Little Cleo.JPG

 

JF and Bluebasser, you're absolutely right, getting the right speed is key.

 

It felt great to actually catch a fish with these lures and I can see why they've been around for so long. They have unbelievable action and what surprised me was you can actually fish them pretty slow. I always thought you had to fish these fast which is probably why I was doing it all wrong to begin with.

 

Many thanks for the tips guys, all were very helpful. I like how you added you favorite spoons to the thread, now I have something for the Bait Monkey!

 

I am the same way, if a fish is a bit beat up I just get it back in the water. Glad to hear the spoons worked for trout where you fish. A lady was fishing at a spot I got to recently and told me abut a trout spot a town over I had never heard of so I am going to try it with spoons and hopefully I can catch one. I have that same spoon almost except it has the reflective eye on it. That color seems to always land me a yellow perch or two