I use spinners and spoons almost exclusively and have been fishing that way for about 7 years. I prefer to use a spoon in deeper water or faster water because I can get them down to where the fish are faster. Of course it depends on which spoon I am using. Steelie spoons are useful for fishing summer runs and shallow water holding areas. I consider them basically a surface lure. Mostly I use Mor-Tac and, when I can find them, Pentac spoons. In heavier flows I'll use the 3/5ths.

There are several 'tricks' to getting a spoon to the desired depth...First use a longer rod if you can, this will keep more of your line off the water and help reduce the belly in your line. Instead of quartering your cast upstream as you would with a spinner cast slightly downstream. Instaed of clamping your thumb on the reel when the lure hits the water, stop the lure so you don't get a back lash and then let the spoon sink, engage the reel when you think you are close to the bottom. In fast water that extra rod length really comes in handy because you can put a mend in the line and keep it off the water.

Lastly if you haven't already, change all of your hooks to Siwash. There are three extremely good reasons to do this...1. Higher hooked and landed percentage....2.Fewer hangups and lost lures...3. Better hydronamics, the lures will sink better.

Hope this helps...btw...I use a lot more spinners in the summer time because the flows are generally lower which makes for a better spinner presentation, IMO.