Spoonmaster fished with me today and we fished Crystal Lake due to the mud on the Elbow side of the lake. Tried shallow pulls to now avail, but we moved over 40-53 feet with downrods and spoons and got a nice mix with 3 23 inchers, several shorts, a 2.5 pound crappie, a bunch of nice perch, 2 black bass, and 5 cats that weighed 37 pounds. Though it was not exactly what I had in mind, it was nice to catch fish again. It’s always a treat to have Spoon join me.
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175 Yammy Jammer
As always, another fun trip with Fogman. I’m guessing we had atleast 55 lbs. of fish in the cooler, probably more like 65. Most of mine hit a 3/4 ounce silver Cotton Cordell spoon and a 3/4 ounce Berry spoon that was white with silver glitter. One of the high points for me was the triple we had. It’s really fun for two guys to have fish on three rods at the same time. About all you can do is enjoy it while it lasts.
Thanks Fog. I think, instead of laughter, fishing (especially when they’re biting) is the best medicine.
how do you guys rig and fish your spoon?
With spoons under an ounce, I usually just tie to directly to the lures with 10-12 pound test. The reel is a low profile bait caster, and the rod is a 5’ 6" medium action. With heavier spoons, I use a snap swivel for more action and 20 pound line with heavier rods and reels like my Daiwa LC 17 and medium heavy big water ugly stick. As for fishing, we bump bottom and jig through suspended schools. Vary the action, and let the bait fall on a semi-taut line to detect strikes. Above all else, use your imagination and think like a fish.
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175 Yammy Jammer
Oh yeah. The presentation is usually vertical on spotlock or a slow drift.
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175 Yammy Jammer
I usually rig the spoons in one of two ways and never ever use a snap swivel. Snap swivels have come unbuttoned and cost me some very big fish! A lot of the time I tie directly to the spoon. My other method requires a barrel swivel, preferrably ball bearing, tied approximately 24" above the spoon. This helps prevent line twist which spoons are notorious for doing. I don’t usually use less than 14# test and have used as high as 20#. I prefer fluorocarbon because it stretches less than mono and is basically invisible in water. To me less stretch means a better hookset. I only fish the spoons with baitcasters, mainly because line twist doesn’t affect them as much as other reels when spoon fishing. I fish the spoons vertically, almost always letting them contact the bottom on every fall. Pay close attention while the spoon is falling. A lot of fish, stripers and largemouth particularly, will hit the spoons on the fall. If you feel anything odd or the line just doesn’t seem to be falling as fast as it should, set the hook hard. Hooksets are free. Experiment with the way you work the spoons. Sometimes changing the length, speed or cadence of your upward pull will trigger strikes.I also change out the hooks on the 1/2 ounce Berry’s to larger red trebles. The 1/2 ounce Berry’s spoons have great action but I want stronger hooks than they have on them. It pays to retie your line often due to the wear and tear from fish mouths and wear from bouncing the spoons on the bottom.
Fog was posting at the same time I was. His advice is as good as it gets. What we didn’t mention was depthfinders. If you have one spend some time idling around looking for baitfish on or very near the bottom. Sometimes depending on how good your depthfinder is, you can see the larger fish mixed in with the baitfish. Once you find the fish at a certain depth you can usually find more at other nearby similar spots at the same depth, if the water clarity and temperature don’t change.
Lots of good info in these posts. Thanks guys.
2000 2220 KeyWest CC 225ox66 “Drippin Wet”
Good catch there Spoon. Tying a 2 foot leader with a barrel swivel is great for preventing line twist. I also, as anyone who spoon jerks with me knows, like to attach a crappie jig a foot or so above the perch spoon. This gives the fish a choice and sometimes yields a double on the same line. With larger striper spoons, we can accomplish the same by adding a small bucktail above the big spoons.
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175 Yammy Jammer
Fogman; I took your advise and tried to think like a fish back this summer and (**() near drowned in my pool. I think that I need to change tactics. lol lol
quote:
Originally posted by FogmanGood catch there Spoon. Tying a 2 foot leader with a barrel swivel is great for preventing line twist. I also, as anyone who spoon jerks with me knows, like to attach a crappie jig a foot or so above the perch spoon. This gives the fish a choice and sometimes yields a double on the same line. With larger striper spoons, we can accomplish the same by adding a small bucktail above the big spoons.
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175 Yammy Jammer
Fogman,
When tying the additional jig or bucktail on, do you simply tie it on and leave an additional foot of line to secure the spoon or do you fasten it to the line in some other fashion?
I use a surgeon’s loop to give the jig more action and leave a foot to 18 inchers to tie the spoon our snap to the bottom. Sure. This weakens the leader a little, but I check everything especially after I hook a decent sized fish. You can use a three-way swivel for more strength; however, that can lead to tangles when hard jigging. The surgeons loop is demonstrated on Animated Knots. There’s a link to that website on the MSC webpage.
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175 Yammy Jammer
Thanks Fogman. I’ll try that loop when tying additional lures on a line. BTW-that link is awesome. I like how it automatically scrolls through the process to make it easy to understand.
The loop gives the crappie jig or ice fly a good action even while you set the rod in a holder to take a break. I set my perch outfit in a Driftmaster to grab a downrod that was going off on Saturday. When I turned back around, the perch rod was bent double with what turned out to be a channel cat weighing 8-9 pounds. His mouth was sewn shut with both the jig and spoon. A couple of years ago, I boated a 29.42 pound striper that also took both baits. After a 15 minute battle on 10 pound line, the leader broke in the net. That’s my personal best striper:smiley:
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175 Yammy Jammer