| Spoon-Spectrum Pike - Part 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By: Doug Stange for |
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It is arguable that spoons often are better than most other lures today, given that spoons are so overlooked in the rush to use all the other modern baits -- crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and jerkbaits. We often want to be using a good bait that few others are using. Spoons are a good bait, a distinctive bait. But pike get conditioned to spoons. So we don't necessarily want to throw spoons where everyone else throws them. About the only place where that happens today is in Canada. Yes, we know that when your guide slips into that little bay 10 miles from camp, you think you're the first one to fish this secret spot. In most of these lakes, though, there are only so many places to fish and only so many big pike to go around. And guides often hit the same spots for the entire season. During the first couple weeks of fishing at an outpost camp, spoons usually are one of the best possible baits. Then you may need to make a switch in spoon styles -- toss Red Eye Wobblers where everyone else is tossing Dardevles -- or switch to crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, or flies. Much farther south in natural lakes, reservoirs, and river backwaters, smaller spoons or lighter-weight medium-size spoons often produce shortly after ice-out. Also crankbaits like the #13 Floating Husky Rapala or #9 or #11 Countdown Rapalas. James Linder With
Pike Early on, spoons also are good in combination with live or deadbait. Find a spot in a backwater. Pike probably are lethargic, so lay out a string of deadbaits. In the meantime, nearby or right there, while waiting for pike to take those baits, cast a 3/4-ounce spoon, working it back ever so slowly. Sometimes pike will eat the spoon. Often, though, the wobble of the spoon draws pike into your deadbait set and they eat the deadbaits. Just before summer sets in, water temperatures generally are in the upper 60 degrees Fahrenheit range in the tier of states from Minnesota to New York, and they're in the low 70 degrees Fahrenheit range a bit farther south. Spoons are productive over emerging weedgrowth on main lake and reservoir flats. Try them at the mouth of river backwaters too, where the backwater leads into the main river. Although other baits may be as productive during summer in most of North America, spoons are almost always worth a try in most situations most of the time. After first speed trolling crankbaits along a distinct weededge surrounding a major point, we made a memorable catch of 7-pound fish last summer in a lake where these days 10-pound fish are tough to find. The speed technique had worked the week before. This time we slowly backtrolled along the edge, using Dardevles in a lift-fall sequence at the base of the weedline. We'd lift our rod tips slowly three feet to get the spoon wobbling distinctively off the bottom before following the spoon back with the rod tip on a slow wobble toward the bottom. Some days it can be as simple as that. As simple as not outsmarting yourself with complicated schemes and exotic baits. Rods and Reels - At least two rod-and-reel combinations are necessary to handle spoon spectrums. A 7-1/2-foot flippin' stick coupled with a reel like the Abu Garcia 6500 filled with a tough 14-pound-test line allows long casts and comfortable and effective fishing with spoons ranging from 3/4 to 1-1/2 ounces. Seventeen-pound-test line couples better with spoons in the upper part of this weight range. Leaders -
A spoon spectrum can last almost a lifetime, fished with the right line and first-rate wire leaders. A leader's absolutely necessary to prevent bite-offs. Try single-strand wire leaders from Windels Tackle Company (218/586-3565) or a stranded wire leader from Bait Rigs (608/256-3232). Cortland also offers stranded leaders (800/847-6787). So does South Bend (800/622-9662). To ensure consistent spoon action, the Cross-Loc snap should be on the spoon end of the leader, the swivel on the line end. Fish with leaders that have Cross-Loc or Coastlock snaps Replacement Hooks -
Carry replacement hooks, either to replace hooks gnarled from pike duty or because the hooks just aren't quite right in the first place. The treble hook should be almost as wide as the spoon end and between 1/3 and 1/2 the length of the spoon. Two sturdy options include the Eagle Claw L374 and the Mustad 3551. Mustad W3551s makes your favorite spoons weedless in a moment. Always use a file to reduce the barb on hooks and to keep hooks sharp. When you're into lots of pike, replace trebles with single hooks like the Mustad 3406. The Eagle Claw 249W is a weedless option Back to: Spoon-Spectrum Pike < Page 1 Back to: Spoon-Spectrum Pike < Page 2 Copyright & copy; 1999 In-Fisherman
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