The Spoon's a Boon
by Dave Page

INTRODUCTION by Brian Barwell, Deputy Editor
It's very refreshing to read about a very basic and fundamental side of lure-fishing that's sometimes over-looked — traditional fishing with spoons. For many years I have been using plugs, spinners and spinnerbaits but my spoons were almost completely forgotten.

After proof-reading Dave's ace article, the penny finally dropped, and now my spoons have once again become some of my all time top catchers — it's hard for me to believe that I fished for so many years without giving them a serious go ... that's my loss, don't make it yours! Follow Dave Page's top tips:-

CHANGING LURES IS NOT NECESSARILY FOR THE BETTER!
"If you're not catching, change your lure, and keep on changing until you do!" -- I've heard this said and seen it written time and time again but it doesn't work for everyone and it certainly doesn't work for me. I reckon that if you're not catching there's probably 101 reasons why not, and maybe only one or two of them are to do with the actual you're fishing with.

For example, it's pretty obvious that changing your lure won't do you much good if there are no fish where you're fishing, or if the fish that are there just aren't feeding. I think that moving-on gets better results than to keep changing your lure again and again. OK, so you could argue that if I don't change my lures every few minutes, how do I know that changing them wouldn't get more takes - I don't, but I have tried it often enough in the past to convince myself that moving-on gets better results.

OK, so some people say you can make pike take lures simply by annoying them enough into taking them out of aggression or whatever, but I reckon that a lot of lure-anglers often retrieve their lures much too fast and much too shallow, miles above where that canny old grandma pike is hiding. This is why I love my spoons so much. They're heavy, easy to cast and they get right down deep to where the fish usually are.

PLASTIC SURFACE SPOONS
Pike are well camouflaged and mainly hide and ambush their prey. Pike save their energy for short sharp bursts of speed and a quick grab so they're hardly going to waste their energy hanging about in mid-depth water waiting for their prey or your lure to pass by, are they? That's my theory anyway, and it works for me with my spoons so maybe it'll work for you too if you actually try it. OK so in the summer shallows, things are different but then even I still use a plastic surface spoon, a Moss Boss!

I'll also fish a Moss Boss with an uptrace weight to keep it right down in the water. This weedless plastic spoon's right up my street and I simply catch loads on it - top tackle, Moss Boss!

DIFFERENT STYLES OF SPOON
I've only got 4 or 5 different styles of spoons and 2 of them are home-made and I just keep at it with one or other of them. If I'm not catching I'll move on to another swim and sooner or later bump into a pike, perch or chub.... I've even had a couple of eels on spoons!!

As for production lures I tend to go for the Rapala Weedless Minnow spoon (normal version see right), and like most of you I hate losing any lures on snags whether they're home-made or bought. That's why it's best to fish a bit heavier and with braids you can get away with it. It might seem a bit OTT to use 30 or even 50 lb braid, and 30 lb or even heavier wire, but it's very, very rare indeed for me to lose a lure or, more importantly, pike!

OK, so there's a problem with working 'normal' spoons along the bottom, in around and over snags because they do get caught-up, so I usually make my DIY versions weedless and customise shop-bought lures if necessary. This greatly reduces snag-ups and keeps the lure fishing in a tight spot, where the pike usually hang-out.

FAVOURITE SPOONS
My favourite spoon is one of my DIY jobs, that's a sort of cross between and Abu Atom, a Blair (no, not NOT him!) and an Atlantic spoon — I call it my Magic Mongrel Spoon because it's got a bit of everything and it's, well...magic! After a while they start to look a bit rough with all the hammering fish action. They're originally copper on one side and silvery grey on the other but soon gets scratched and bitten off, but the pike and perch (and the occasional big chub) don't seem to mind as they just keep-on grabbing-hold, which is all that matters to me!

I also rate Lucky Strike Lizards and Atlantics because they deliver serious fish, for me anyway, and are a doddle to make weedless if you want to. How? Well, cut off one of the hooks off the treble with a pair of strong side-cutters so that the two hooks that are left are mainly facing upwards and then make them more or less weedless with some springy wire or nylon. The doubles wobble about on the split rings but they snag up much less than trebles.

I also buy large single hooks with weed guards already fitted to them and use those big wriggly rubber tails to make them even more weedless, instead of a treble hook. OK, so perhaps singles don't give me quite such good hook-up rates as doubles or trebles but I think that this is more than compensated for by the tricky places that you can get into after those big pike with weedless spoons.

MY TACKLE
Before I forget, Nick & Brian asked me to mention my rods, line and other stuff. Well, I've got to admit that I'm a big fan of Abu tackle; I've been using it for years with no probs. Ambassadeur multiplier reels and tough 6 & 7 ft baitcasters that'll handle lures up to about 3 or 4 ounces.

I've already mentioned lines and I really like 30 lb & 50 lb Spiderwire Stealth. As for wire, I don't reckon you can beat American Fishing Wires — I use 30 & 50 lb and as I've said, I don't lose many lures, fish or snags. I'll get most things back to the bank where I'm standing, or will go in after them and get them back that way! I've pulled out loads of useful tackle and rubbish over the years helping to clean up the environment i.e. snags with lures attached, yards of line, floats, shot, hooks etc. left by poorly tackled coarse anglers, nets and even the odd rod and reel. Can't beat a nice 20 lb pike though, can you?

Anyway, I hope you like some of my ideas....give them a try and see how you get on and hope you catch even more fish. I reckon all this business about changing your lure every couple of casts is a mug's game; it's OK have a good few lures in your bucket but there's no need to keep chopping and changing all the time. You've first got to ask yourself is a fish likely to be in that swim, if not - keep moving, keep spooning, and hopefully you'll keep catching — for me, spoons are definitely a boon! Successful spooning ! David Page

Please click here to go back to the top of this page

Please click here to go back to the Lure-fishing Menu

If you've got any questions or comments,
please contact me Brian Barwell (Dep. Ed.)
or Nick Caine, (Editor)
email us at: NickCaine @ Talk21.com