The Luvin Spoonful

[Ham]

I'm pretty new to the jigging spoon game. I have had some modest success droppong a spoon on fish, but I have questions about rod preferences for this technique. I have mostly used a MH rod to this point. The spoon weights of 1/2 to 3/4 of an ounce made this seem like a reasonable choice. However, I do have some smaller spoons which seem to have been designed for panfish primarily. I might drop those on a M or even ML spinning rod. What power rod do ya'll like to fish the jigging spoon on? Is rod length a factor at all?

I can see where using floro could be an advantage, but so far have been using co-poly. Do ya'll have a line preference for jigging spoons?

I carry a mixed bag of spoons. I usually reach for a 1/2 oz CC spoon first, but I also like the Luhr Jenson Crippled Herring a lot too. Any brand spoons in particular that I should try or try to avoid?

I notice that the Bink's spoon comes with a swivel attached via a split ring. I have slplit rings attached to all of my jigging spoons and tend to use a swivel. Should I go ahead and attached a swivel to the split rings on all jiggiing spoons?

I'm interested in hearing what gear that you guys that are true spoon fishermen rely on.

[Mike Mueller]

Ham...I'm no spoon expert, but I've been known to do "pretty good" with them! Even though I'm no expert, I learned spooning from an expert. My rod of choice for a 3/4 oz. spoon is the Razr Rod C007 model (www.razrrods.com). This is a 6'6" medium action rod. This rod has the backbone to get a good hookset in the deep waters of Table Rock, yet the tip is soft enough to not lose them once they get to the boat. I used to use a different high-end brand 6'6" MH rod for this, but I feel that I lost too many fish with the stronger action.

Another perfect rod to use if you're using a smaller 1/2 oz. spoon is the Spinning Rod version - this Razr Rod model is also the 007 and works great for me with the smaller spoons and lighter line. Razr Rods are eally a great line of Rods - very strong and extremely light-weight...you can spoon all day long and only get tired from the amount of fish you catch!

As for the swivel/split ring question, I never use a swivel on my baitcasters, but I will on my spinning gear. As for the split ring - it should give the lure more freedom of movement as opposed to tying directly to the lure. However in my setup, I tie nothing directly to the lure itself...and I always use a double-treble hook system. Improves my catch-rate dramatically. Won a CPA Team tournment at Table Rock this summer exclusively on a spoon. Also won a CPA pro-am event solely on a spoon at Table Rock the year before that! I kind of like using them!

I'm sure that you will get some great advice from the guys out here...but thess are my opinions...

Mike

[Ham]

Thanks for the input Mike. I'm still hoping for more observations and opinions. Maybe I should have put this in the Table Rock forum.

[Guest]

War Eagle spoons come with a built in swivel.

I started cutting off the swivel with sidecutters.

The swivel caused the spoon's hooks to foul around the line too often.

I might try a medium action baitcaster for its flexibility.

I only use 3/4-1oz spoons, I don't like light weight spoons.

I would rather use a marabou crappie jig or smoke grub in that scenario.

[zipstick]

Spooning is a great way to fish deep in shad laden, clear impoundments. I've spooned from Canada to Arkansas, and if yuou are around fish, it can be very satisfying. The times I've gone on Table Rock, it was with the legend, Dave Barker. He's done it for about 30 years staring his season when the water temps hit the lower 50's. He idles around looking for the major bait concentrations which are usually found in the deep guts of the major coves or creek arms. Generally, he'll start looking for balls that cover his entire depthfinder in 35-60 feet of water and he may be fishing from the bottom or for suspended bass. He may not see bass arches on his graph, but occasionally he will. Using a 2x magnification on his Lowrance, he can follow the spoon down to the bait schools and stop his spoon just in or over the top of the school. He will usually snap his rod from 9-11 o'clock, and let it tumble back on a semislack line to give it some action on the fall. If he gets a tick or a thump, he sets the hook. He favors a white 3/4 oz. spoon that was made locally by Hawg Jaw which may or may not be in business. He attaches a swivel to the eyelet to stop twist, and may put an extra treble on the ring eye. He will fish a school of bait for 15 minutes or so moving his boat to position it around another ball of shad. He simply releases the spool on his baitcaster and drops the lure down freespool always watching it's descent on his graph. I think he uses 15 pound test. Occasionally, he will see a bass come up to tag the spoon as it descends, so tuning the depthfinder is key here. Over the course of many years, he's pretty confident where to look for shad balls, but each year the bass can act a little differently. (That's fishing!) In a given short winter day, he will ususally try to hit about 6 spots and often catches 15-50 bass. Of course he catches all three species for TR doing this. By the way do release these deep caught bass quickly unless you are adept at fizzing them or they will often die from the bends.

I don't know Rick LaPointm but he ius known as a very good spoon man as well. Maybe someone will unveil a few of his secrets on this thread.

And one last thing, if crappie fishing around brushy impoundments like Truman or Twain, going to a slightly smaller jigging spoon can be extra deadly. I guided several years on Twain and never used a minnow to catch crappie. If Twain gets two or more feet of vis starting in June, a silver spoon bouced in and around the trees just off the channels from 8-20 feet deep using 15 pound test will prove deadly; and bonus bass, cats, and walleye are always welcomed.