NEW LAKE

[jimmyjoe]

   Good evening. I fish casting spoons in the river, mostly Eppinger and Thomas. I've always had good luck, with the understandable off-day thrown in. I've been turned on to a new lake, and it has slightly stained water that's clear to about 8 feet. So far, nothing works except soft plastic; senko, beaver and 10' worm lures. I'm frustrated, a bit mad and puzzled as to why I can't get ANY response out of spoons. Nothing. Not big spoons, not little spoons. Not twitched, not jerked and not steady retrieve. Not high and not low. Is there such a thing as a lake that doesn't respond at all to spoons, or am I  missing something? And yes,  I have about every color under the sun. Can anyone give me any advice?    jj

[Graham]

I typically wouldn’t throw a spoon in a lake, but I’m sure somebody is doing it with success. What type of bass are in the lake? Sounds to me like you want to throw some moving baits which is understandable as power fishing is tons of fun. Might I suggest you try: lipless cranks, squarebill cranks, spinnerbaits (willow bladed), and bladed jigs (chatterbait). I think you will find that these baits fish very similar to your beloved spoons, and they potentially will yield better results. Sounds like you’ve been able to adapt and catch them on finesse presentations, so if nothing works you’ve got that down. Hope that helps, go catch some giants!

[jimmyjoe]

    Thnx. Yeah, I can see I'm kinda fixated on spoons from fishing the river(s). Why willow blade spinnerbaits? Because of the clarity of the water? I ask because I think I have .... one. Just one. It's buried somewhere at the bottom of one of my junk bags. Colorado or double colorado always work better in the river. I can see I've got a lot to learn about fishing in clear water! The fish here are largemouth. (At least I don't have to worry about pike.)

     As a general rule, for any and all types of lures, does clear water indicate a smaller size of lure or a larger size? jj

[jimmyjoe]

   For anyone with similar questions, here's what I found out. 1) Use "natural" colored lures. This generally means darker, as if it's camouflaged. After all, prey tries to hide. 2) Start small. I have an identical pattern in 3 spinnerbaits; a 1/8, a 1/4 and a 3/8. The 1/8 catches fish far more consistently.  3) Stay close to weedlines, treetrunks or the bottom. In a muddy river forage fish have more leeway to move, but not in a clear lake. 4) I was told by "someone who knew" that I had to speed up my lures, and not give the fish time to look them over. In other words, get more of a reaction bite. HOWEVER ......... I found that to be false. Slow rolling that little spinnerbait up and down over rocks and submerged trees got me more fish than anything else.  5) Spoons can be ok, but not steady retrieve spoons. Instead, find ones that flutter on the drop. Let'em drop, snap'em up, repeat. The hit is on the drop.

   That's what little I've learned in 3 weeks, and 3 weeks isn't time to learn very much. Talk to me in a year. ?   jj