| Spoon-Spectrum Pike - Part 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By:
by Doug Stange for |
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Sometimes the difference between what you catch with one spoon and another is the difference between a dime and a dollar. This is due to differences in the flash, profile, and particularly the wobble of various spoons. For most fishermen, though, spoons are spoons, and they have, lying in their tackle box, one of these and two of those and maybe four of those in five different colors and three different sizes. We suggest a more systematic approach to stocking up. We assemble spectrums of spoon designs and sizes. One spoon spectrum I've used in preparing for trips to Canada and in preparation for trips to western reservoirs is this one. Open your Eppinger catalog and complete this order: (1) Huskie Devle (3-1/4 ounces, 5-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches) (1) Huskie Junior (2 ounces, 4-1/2 x 2 inches) (1) Troll Devle (1-1/4 ounces, 3-5/8 x 1-1/4 inches) (1) Dardevle (1 ounce, 3-5/8 x 1-1/4 inches) (1) Dardevlet (3/4 ounce, 2-7/8 x 1-3/16 inch) These are classic pike spoons made of heavy stamped metal. The shapes change only slightly with each size change. All spoons in this first spectrum should be the same color. One of our all-around colors usually produces no matter the water color. We prefer silver-bellied spoons in clear water, though, and brass-bellied spoons in stained water. Stripes, scales, or hammering aren't visible when spoons are moving. But the flash and color pattern change as colors and belly finishes change. Perhaps you prefer to match the baitfish in the waters you fish; other color patterns may give you more confidence. Look at the color schemes in the catalogs and dream big. A Basic Spoon Spectrum
About size: We've carried this or similar spoon spectrums wherever we've fished for pike, from Holland to New York to Nebraska to the Northwest Territories. Add additional spoons of a certain size, given where you fish and when. A trip to big-fish water during summer and early fall may require extra spoons in larger sizes. A trip to most waters during summer and fall calls for enough spoons in medium (about 1-ounce) sizes. During spring, carry a few extra 1/2- and 3/4-ounce spoons. WOBBLE (VIBRATION) Pike, one of the longest fish in freshwater, have large sensory pores along their long lateral lines, which run from their face, the length of their bodies. Pike are sensitive to low-frequency vibrations, just the kind given off by distressed baitfish -- sizes varying from minnows to 10-inch panfish to 18-inch and larger walleyes or suckers. Older (often larger) pike have learned (become conditioned through experience) to tell the differences among vibration patterns, just as they have learned about the color and characteristic action and size of prey they seek. This isn't a deductive thing where pike calculate the size of prey to the nearest 1/2 inch, determine species designation down to its Latin name, and check a color chart before biting. Conditioning just develops through time and circumstance. The pike get into this or that particular habit within this or that particular environment. The habitat has this predominant size and type of baitfish that exhibit this characteristic color and movement pattern. Pretty soon this package of characteristic color, size, and movement is sort of tattooed into the pike's beady brain. Right nearby is a little tiny bingo button. Your job is to push the bingo button with the most characteristic presentation package. Aura Of Duplication: The best lures often don't exactly duplicate what a fish eats so much as they create an aura of duplication, an illusion of life. Lying there in your hand, a spoon doesn't look like a hapless little walleye, but just the right style, size, and color spoon moving at about the right speed creates an aura of moving color, flash, size, and vibration. Often it's better than the real thing at duplicating the package that pushes the bingo button. Vibration, though, is perhaps the most overlooked factor in fishing, particularly for pike. Admittedly, maintaining depth control is the first prerogative in catching fish. The bait needs to be right there where it needs to be, at the same level as the fish -- in the fish's face. Speed's important, too. Too slow, too fast, no go by fish. But after depth control, vibration often should be factored equal to speed in getting fish to bite. The logic goes like this (given, now, that depth control remains constant): Speed alone may be the reason a fish strikes. And granted, speed affects vibration. Speed up and vibration frequency usually increases. Slow down and vibration frequency usually decreases. So speed alone may be the critical factor. Or speed and subsequent vibration in combination may be the critical factors. But sometimes, vibration alone is the critical factor (again, given that depth control remains constant.) Different baits create different vibration patterns. Maintain depth control -- get the bait in the fish's face -- and move two baits with distinctly different vibration patterns at the same speed, and one bait often will vastly outproduce the other. It's not speed -- and color's a secondary factor. It's vibration. Speed isn't the key to getting some baits to produce; it's finding the right speed to produce an optimum vibration pattern. This is particularly true for crankbaits like the Swim Whizz and Believer. But it's also true of all baits, including spoons. Vibration and sound patterns precede the fish's ability to see what's coming, even in the clearest water. Via vibration, fish sense something's there, sense something's coming, before they see it. And pike, again, are one of the most vibration-sensitive freshwater fish. Thus the reason the heavy low-frequency thumping of a big pike spoon produces when the tinklings of smaller spoons attract only smaller fish. Those bigger pike often are conditioned to feeding on one- and two-pound walleyes and whitefish. Go to: Spoon-Spectrum Pike > Page 2 Go to: Spoon-Spectrum Pike > Page 3 Copyright
& copy; 1999 In-Fisherman
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