Spooning

[Crestliner2008]

Actually talking about spoon fishing for smallies in particular, so I put this in the "Smallmouth" section vs. "Fishing Tackle". Hope this is O.K.? Please move if necessary.

This month's issue of In'Fisherman has an in-depth article on spoon fishing for smallies. Very informative, as few new presentation are coming forth for fishing this time of the year. I've picked up a few Tony's Spoons and some ReelBait Clackers to give them a whirl next time I'm up on the Quabbin. Will let you know how I make out. Has anyone tried these techniques?

[jiggszter]

I'd be interested to read how you make out. What size spoons did the article recommend? I can't imagine terribly large ones...

[J Francho]

I have a few different spoons, but the standard Hopkins Shorty in hammered chrome is a distant 1st in terms of numbers and size. I generally site fish on the graph. You can see the zig-zag of your spoon, and normally a blob will appear. That's a smallie. You won't feel the take, but on the next pump, it'll feel like you snagged a log.

[Chris W]

I pretty much fish a spoon the same way, usually a hopkins shorty, either in 1/2 or 3/4 of an ounce. I will give you a couple of tips if the In Fisherman article did not. Always fish with a ball bearing swivel when fishing a spoon or else you will get MAJOR line twist, if you will tie a set of feathers on the treble hook you will have a better hook up ratio. Also if you want you can take a larger treble hook and just put it on your line above the spoon this will increase your hook ups too. Do not tie the treble hook to the line just thread it through the eye loose so it can move freely up and down. Many times with a spoon you are fishing for schooling fish and if one grabs it others will try to take it away. I cannot count how many times I have had doubles on a spoon with the treble hook on the line above it. One last one make sure you do not use a rod that is too stiff you need a soft tip to help keep the fish from throwing the bait.

[Dwight Hottle]

I have spooned a few times in the summer probing deeper water structure after the spawn. Deeper water is 25-40 feet. I use mostly hopkins & northland buck shot rattle spoons. I do change out the hooks on the hopkins to a larger size & usually use triple grips on the spoons. Spoon jigging is mostly a vertical presentation for me with a mostly stationary boat or slow drifting boat not exceeding 1 mph on the gps. Faster than that you lose the vertical technique even with a heavier spoon. Spoon jigging does work. My biggest problem is keeping the sheephead off . I probably catch two sheepies for every smallie using this technique. I drop the spoon down on semi slack line until I fell bottom contact. Then I jig with one to two foot hops trying to feel for the bite on the descent. I always use 10lb or 20lb braid with a mono leader made from 12lb maxima ultra green. Much better than fc for me. Very abrasive resistant & ties up good knots without having to baby it like floro. Most fish are hooked on the up sweep. I hold my rod by the reel seat but tuck the rear handle under my forearm at all times. This helps distribute the shock of a bigger fish grabbing your spoon while saving your wrist. Any fish over 5lbs gets your attention pretty quick when that weight is suddenly there. Jigging with spoons is a lot of fun when you are over fish. It is boring as h when you are not. With smallies they sometime want a slower jigging speed & sometimes a much faster speed between pumps. When they are aggressive they will hit the spoon on the drop before it hits bottom. Sometimes they will follow the spoon up as your reeling up to start over. Changing speed is the biggest trigger for those curious smallies. Actually changing speed or cadence or rhythm as Catt likes to call it is the best trigger you can use for increasing your quantity & quality of smallies caught.

[Rsc450]

Here in Michigan we have a ton of smallies in our rivers. I fish a little cleo casting spoon in copper color and just skip it across the water or cast where ever I see the smallies chasing the bait fish. You can see the little bait fish jumping out of the water as they are being chased and those are the areas I target. Also casting it toward shore around brush piles seems to work for me.

[backwater4]

Hopkins shorty and a silver buddy, 2 of the best for me.

[ICU812]

man lots of great information on here - thanks a lot to all posters! I'm looking forward to trying this out!

[Crestliner2008]

Well, this past weekend I tried the spoon presentation at a deep, clear water reservoir for smallmouth. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to present it correctly. The bottom in just about every GPS location I stopped at had a thick bed of grass on the bottom. This made the treble pick up tons of grass. The presentation calling for an on/off bottom retrieve.

I also tried to count it down, but no smallies seemed to be interested. Caught between 15 - 18 decent smallies (>2 lbs.) on the drop shot, catching 2 - 3 at each of my stops. So the fish were there, just not interested in the spoon. Disappointing. Here are some of the smallies we caught on the drop shot:

And here's 2 pics of my largest fatty:

Like I said, the smallies were there; just not interested in the spoon presentation.

[J Francho]

Yeah, the spoon doesn't work so well in weeds. It's a rocky bottom presentation. Some good looking fish, though.

[Steve K]

For this presentation InFish. uses a 7ft. rod with braid. I am trying to find what rod would work best for this. I have a 7ft. Med (Graphite Crankbait) or a 7ft MH.

Also what type of line works best for ripping spoons? Thanks!

[Chris W]

My rod varies depending on what size spoon and water temps. The standard spoon I use is a 1/2oz Shorty and depending on the water temps I will use different size rods. Anywhere from a 6ft rod to a 7 1/2ft rod. The warmer the water the longer the rod. For really warm water 80+ I like a 7ft3" or longer to rip the spoons I usually use 15lb to 17lb fluorocarbon and a Medium or Medium Heavy rod. In colder water I will use smaller line and a shorter rod, so my action to the spoon is not as dramatic. Once the water gets below 55 degrees is when I switch to the shorter 6'6" and smaller rods with lighter line but never below about 10lb. I have never liked braid on my spoons as it seems to get tangled up to much on the freefall.

[Steve K]

My rod varies depending on what size spoon and water temps. The standard spoon I use is a 1/2oz Shorty and depending on the water temps I will use different size rods. Anywhere from a 6ft rod to a 7 1/2ft rod. The warmer the water the longer the rod. For really warm water 80+ I like a 7ft3" or longer to rip the spoons I usually use 15lb to 17lb fluorocarbon and a Medium or Medium Heavy rod. In colder water I will use smaller line and a shorter rod, so my action to the spoon is not as dramatic. Once the water gets below 55 degrees is when I switch to the shorter 6'6" and smaller rods with lighter line but never below about 10lb. I have never liked braid on my spoons as it seems to get tangled up to much on the freefall.

This is what I was looking for thanks Chris!

[bobbyc]

Caught a few sm on a Mepps 'lil wolf' in quarter oz, the three- quarter oz. is great for Northern's.The spoon is best when you see baitfish breaking surface.