For you spoon guys

[Bream Master]

Guys,

What different brands have you tried and which brands seem to be the best?  I mainly fish Kastmaster spoons but have noticed Hopkins spoons are much less expensive.  How does the Hopkins spoons compare with the Kastmaster spoons?  How about other brands?

Cheers.

[Shadcranker]

For jigging spoons, I like the War Eagle ones in 1/2 and 3/4 oz.

As far as large wobble spoons for structure fishing (ala Kelly Jordan on Ultimate Match Fishing), the Joe Spaits Big Joe and Lake Fork Tackle spoon in 4" and 5" seem to be the ticket, but I haven't used them yet.

For casting smaller spoons, I have a had a lot of luck in the past on the small Kastmasters.

[roadwarrior]

Expand on the topic. This is my 2008 focus lure

or technique.  I have fished spoons for trout and

in salt water, but never for bass.

8-)

[Bassackward]

Same here. After seeing what Kelly Jordan did( I think around 15lb in 4 min or something like that) I think they might have to find a place in my tackle box!

[CJ]

I picked up a couple 5" flutter spoons and plan on trying them.Hangin' em' up is all I'm concerned about.I believe the fish is gonna bite them.

[Shadcranker]

Really three different tecniques:

Jiggin spoon- fish it down into schools of suspended baitfish . This is a standby pattern in the Fall and Winter in my area on highland reservoirs like Center Hill, Tims Ford, and Dale Hollow. It really works well on big spotted bass. We look for big balls of bait suspended in 15-30 ft over say 50 ft of water, and simply drop her down through the bait. The fish are usually under the school waiting for dying or struggling baitfish.

Flutter Spoon- a new tecnique for many, but apparently is was developed around Lake Fork to catch ledge oriented fish and namely bigguns. It's a 4-6" spoon that weighs close to one ounce, presumably imitates a large shad, yellow bass, or white bass. Kelly Jordan made this deal public on KY Lake on Ultimate Match Fishing, filmed in May of '07. He whacked em like I've never seen out on a main lake ledge. By whacked em, I mean like probably 15 fish b/w 3-6 lbs in 9 1/2 minutes! The bait flutters down to the fish, and they eat it. Looks pretty simple to fish. I'm anxious to try it. You can Google Lake Fork Marina, and they sell the Joe Spaits "big joe", or Lake Fork tackle sells one that is almost identical.

Small castng spoons (like the 1/4 oz Kastmaster)-great for fishing on Mussel beds on TN River lakes when the fish are feeding on smaller threadfin shad. you can throw this spoon on spinning tackle and pop it, swim it, flutter it, and it will trigger fish. No telling what all you will catch. Kind of like the jiggin spoon, you may have to wade through tons of white and yellow bass, but they can be fun too. Also a great bait for schooling fish.

[GeorgiaSpotSticker]

I only use spoons for catching suspended fish in the summer/winter. In the winter it really works well. I like a Flex-It spoon for Spotted Bass. The spots will load up on structure and in schools, and when they suspend the only way to catch them is on a spoon/drop shot.

I also like a silver Hopkins Shorty spoon in 1/4oz. If your on the right school, you can load the boat with 30-40 spots per stop.

[Jig Man]

I have been fishing jigging spoons for many many years.  The Hopkins shorty 75 is the best one I have ever used but now that I have a mold I make my own Babbit spoons.  They don't cost much to break off.

[ghost]

Acme Phoebe in 1/6 & 1/4 oz are great for bass, or other fish.  Casts great & has a great wobble.  I highly recommend using a swivel though.

I cast it out, let it sink for so many seconds & reel slow to medium, & I'll stop reeling & let it sink.  I get hits either way.

[Bream Master]

Are those spoons available at BPS or Cabelas, guys?

[sal669]

Good info on spoons for open water fishing !!! Gotta try it this summer.

The spoon I most often use it's the Johnson Silver Minow with a plastic trailer, works great in and around weeds and wood.

[roadwarrior]

BPS has the Johnson Silver Minnow on close-out sale for $0.99.

8-)

[Tokyo Tony]

BPS has the Johnson Silver Minnow on close-out sale for $0.99.

8-)

Where?  I just checked the website, and they're not on clearance there.  I would love to find some for $.99

[roadwarrior]

Call them, they don't usually advertise in-store specials or close-outs.

I bought some at the local Memphis store.

BTW:

All sizes were on sale for the same price!

I bought two silver, one gold, all 1/2 oz.

8-)

[ba7ss3in]

just noticed that strike king have some out in the sexy shad

[RoLo]

In my humble opinion, I believe that the 'spoon' is a highly overlooked lure today.

When I was just a kid there were only five basic lure-types:

Plugs - Spoons - Spinners - Jigs - Flies (and the subdivisions of each)

Soft-plastics didn't really gain a substantial foothold until the early 1960s,

beginning with Nick Creme's Scoundrel Worm introduced around 1950.

When spoons were still enormously popular I tried as many as I could like a kid at a candy shop (they're gone too).

Although this stuff makes me sad (I can feel the door slowly closing on my life),

I'll try to recollect the spoons I've fished throughout the years:

> Eppinger Dardevle

> Johnson Silver Minnow

> Hopkins Shorty

> Hopkins No=Eql

> Heddon Moss Boss

> Acme Little Cleo

> Bay De Noc Swedish Pimple

> Mepps Syclops (pike, muskies)

> Mepps Timber Doodle

> Williams Wabler (pike, muskies)

> Hoffschneider Red Eye Wiggler (defunct)

> Acme Kastmaster (saltwater)

> Luhr-Jensen Krocodile

> Glen Evans Spoon (defunct)

> Tony Accetta Pet Spoon (saltwater)

> Huntington Drone (saltwater)

> I'm sure I've overlooked a few

Remarkably, one-by-one each of the above spoons gradually evaporated from my lure arsenal.

As it happens, the only survivors today are the first three listed spoons:

Johnson Spoon, Eppinger Daredevle and Hopkins Shorty (excepting bladebaits).

The heavier gauge of the daredevle spoon is useful for working greater depths

especially where a slower wobble is preferred. On average though, I prefer the Johnson Spoon to any other,

due to its thinner gauge metal, superior flutter, weedlessness and outstanding fish-catching properties.

Roland Martin and I are the same age, yet in his book he states that his dad's favorite lure was the Johnson Spoon,

which later became his son's favorite lure as well. Roland's favorite bass lure was a "black" 1/2 oz Johnson Spoon

dressed with either a black pork strip or black plastic worm.

Following is an excerpt from Roland's book, "101 Bass-catching Secrets":

Quote from Roland Martin

That year was a super year, and in that month of May was when I set all my personal bass records at Santee. My customers and I caught 42 bass over 8 pounds that month. On May 14, I caught 10 largemouths which totaled 87 pounds, and they were all caught on that 1/2-ounce No. 2 Johnson Spoon with the black worm trailer. Five days later I caught ten on the spoon that totaled 79 pounds, and three of them were each over 10 pounds.

Roger

[senile1]

That was an interesting post, Roger.  I still fish the Johnson Silver Minnow and the Heddon Moss Boss but, being a child of the 60s (born in 1960), I am not familiar with all the spoons you mention.  I had forgotten about the Little Cleo and the Timber Doodle.  Like Roadwarrior I want to become more adept at using spoons other than these two.  I saw a great episode of The Bass Pros a couple of weeks ago where Jason Quinn had the main segment and was showing his techniques for fishing some spoons.  I believe he was using  1" and 1.5" Hopkins spoons.  I really want to give these techniques a try.

[T-rig]

I have fished spoons for trout and

in salt water

x2. I tried to catch bass but it just doesn't work around here.

I have one like this and it's supposed be a good spoon for bass, but not for me. :'(

http://www.tsunekichi-inc.com/brand/metalbait/zmetal/zmetal.html

[RoLo]

I saw a great episode of The Bass Pros a couple of weeks ago where Jason Quinn had the main segment and was showing his techniques for fishing some spoons. I believe he was using 1" and 1.5" Hopkins spoons. I really want to give these techniques a try.

I didn't catch that episode with Jason Quinn, but the hopkins shorty is one of the best metals we've used for jump fishing in fall.

They modestly mimic the profile of a shad, but more importantly they cast far and sink fast, which jump fishing is all about (very short-lived).

Roger

[Zel]

I will assume from the original post, that the person asking the post is mainly questioning jigging spoons.

Although I don't consider myself an expert at anything fishing (otherwise I would be a professional), I have been using jigging spoons since 1991 as a main part of my arsenal in fishing lakes (both fun and tournament) in PA and NJ. My answer/opinion is only intended to represent my experience and applications of jigging spoons. How about that as a qualifier in posting an opinion?

I have tried many makes and types of jigging spoons over the years. Cheap, expensive, current, discontinued, loads of colors, etc. I've never used very large spoons for jigging. Recently, I have narrowed my current choices down to two types (for the lakes I fish), and in two colors. I currently like the Kastmaster and the Hopkins (including the BPS Strata Spoon) types. I think they each deliver a different feel. The Kastmaster is my choice when I want a slower fall rate, and the Hopkins when I am not concerned with rate of fall but I want a better feeling of the lure on the end of my line. I catch both LM & SM in equal numbers on both types. I use gold in overcast conditions and silver in sunny conditions.

Something I just started last year was removing the split ring from the spoon where you attach the line. Instead I now thread the line though the top hole and then attach the line to a red treble hook. I like the results I've been getting so far, but feel it is too soon to recommend this application as being better.

One thing I notice in novice jigging spooners is the problem when the spoon hangs up on the bottom they tend to break a lot off. The technique I use with success is to get the end of your rod directly over the hung up spoon, with the line tight when holding the rod at 10 o'clock. Then move the rod to 8 o'clock allowing slack in the line (slack is key to getting the spoon unhung). I then shake the rod tip vigorously between 8 and 10 and very fast. More times than not the spoon pops loose. (I hope I explained that correctly)

And thanks Rolo, that list sure brought back some memories. Do you remember what that Mann's jigging spoon was called?

(opinions expressed in this post are strictly those of the poster. The contents of this post have not been reviewed or approved by Certified Experts).

[Crestliner2008]

I'm happy this has been brought up. Two questions: 1) I've seen several fishing shows on verticle jigging. They all use a SMOOTH finish Hopkins typle spoon in the 1 - 1 1/2 oz. sizes. But I can't find them anywhere!? Does anyone know where to get this type of finish? 2) Has anyone tried those new "Free-style" jigging spoons - those with the double singer hooks? Thanks!

[Infidel.]

Do you remember what that Mann's jigging spoon was called?

Mann-o-lure. They still make them. I was at a tackle shop in northern California on Sunday and they had them hanging on the wall.

1) I've seen several fishing shows on verticle jigging. They all use a SMOOTH finish Hopkins typle spoon in the 1 - 1 1/2 oz. sizes. But I can't find them anywhere!? Does anyone know where to get this type of finish?

It's probably a Hopkins smoothie. Here is a link.

http://www.tackledirect.com/hopsmootlur.html

2) Has anyone tried those new "Free-style" jigging spoons - those with the double singer hooks? Thanks!

The spoon that BPS is advertising as "Free-style" spoons are a freshwater adpatation of the "butterfly spoons" that have been used for deep water salt water fishing. I have been useing the Gamakatsu stinger hooks on megabait, hopkins, and war eagle spoons for two years now and while it is a geat remedy for catching your line on your treble, I perfer an EWG treble. And BTW, I don't care for the BPS spoons.