It’s about that time folks; it’s almost here; spoon time!
If by now you don’t know that fishing a spoon is a favorite tactic of mine, you might live under a rock.
I don’t think I’ve written more about any other tactic or technique.
Spoon fishing became an obsession for me a few years ago and one that caused a lot of frustration before meeting my buddy Jimmy. Since then, my success rate has soared, and my enjoyment of the spoon technique is even more now than before.
New changes for the 2023-2024 season. The biggest change I am making is in my personal spoon rod. I have gone to a BassX rod by St. Croix that is 6’6” and medium-heavy action.
It does have some flex but it’s admittedly stiff. I love the butt section of this rod because it’s kind of short and doesn’t get in the way of my BBQ gut. I truly prefer casting rods here. I do have spinning rods set up now for spooning in case a customer wants to use one or is too timid for a bait caster. But in all honesty, the feel, the reaction time, and the fishability of the bait caster is a big advantage.
I’m still using a 20lb fluorocarbon line (I prefer SunLine FC Sniper) and I make sure every spoon I use has good swivels on it.
Line twist is insane with this technique. To me, the stiffness of this line helps to keep the spoons from getting tangled in the line.
Plus, if I hook a big striper or hybrid I’ve got the rod, reel and line to boat it and I can still enjoy small white bass and hybrids on this setup.
I’m trying two new spoons this year. The first one is by LiveTarget and called the Erratic Shiner.
It’s a radically bent spoon and therefore has a ton of action. The next spoon new to my box is the Strike King Ledge Spoon. This is a heavy chunk of lead, folks.
You need a medium-heavy to heavy rod to handle it.
For me, this is a deeper presentation spoon. It’s an ounce in weight so it’s going to get to the bottom quick! Toward the end of last winter, I was catching some deeper-than-average for Oconee fish so I am hoping to experiment with these heavier spoons to see how it might impact my success.
On a recent trip to Florida, I was talking with a friend of my father’s about spoon fishing. He’s a fanatic about it, too.
We have really different approaches but, in the end, it came down to this technique really works!
He is much more aggressive year-round with his spoon actions than I am.
The colder it gets, the less I will hop a spoon. He never changes, really. I never really cast spoons. He will in a heartbeat. To me, once it goes to casting, I would rather toss a tail spinner or blade bait. He uses spinning gear. Me? Just bait casters for this!
Just remember this, the only truly wrong way is to never fish a spoon. So, get out there and try them!