I'm a pretty dedicated spoon fisherman for steelhead. I hook up on a fairly regular basis but unfortunately a lot of the bigger fish are lost. Usually from throwing the hook. I have read here that the land rate on spoons can be lower due to the difficulty of setting that big single hook but I do not have this problem with the average hatchery sized fish.

Any advice for a trout/bass guy that is getting his ass handed to him by 12lb+ slabs out there? After loosing a beast yesterday, I'm desparate! Drag settings? Rod angle? Water to stay clear of?

Thanks,
O

Olo...as long as you have a rod and line stout enough to jam a big single hook in there, then you've got that covered.

A spoon shaking all over with a barbless hook is just one of those things that is going to fall out of the fish a lot...not much you can do about it.

Try putting a big and quality barrel swivel between the back split ring and the hook...besides hooking them in the bony part of the jaw more often, it also allows the spoon to shake around a lot more without having the hook pull out.

Fish on...

Todd

Thanks Todd. The rod was a MH with 12 or 15lb Maxima. That felt sufficient. I'll try the hook swivel. I remember you showing that at 3 Rivers some time back. I tried it a bit but got frustrated with the spoon hooking back on itself more often. That's a hassle I can easily live with if I can land these pigs more often.

This last session I added a swivel about 10 inches up the line to help with line twist. Prior to this my line would bung up and lead to birds nest casts after a few solid hours of spoon fishing. The extra swivel did seem to delay the issue but it returned at the end of day two. I think much of this comes from reeling in the lure too fast at the end of a drift so the lure starts to rotate instead of wobble. Impatience is my constant enemy while fishing.

O

That spoon represents a lot of weight getting tossed back and forth during the evil headshake.

One of the things that I tried to combat this issue is to use a bead chain lash up.
I'm too lazy to get one and take a picture, but here's the recipe...

Let's call the spoon a BC Steel 2/5 oz.
Components starting from rod end....

Barrel swivel (whatever size and brand you like)
Split ring
Bead chain (attached closest to the concave side, barrel swivel is above closer to the convex side)
The bead chain must be of the proper length so that the hook is presented in the normal position.
Hook (open eye can be closed directly onto the bead chain and/or a split ring added to get to proper length)

The tail end of the spoon stays naked.
When you observe this rig in the current swimming it looks like a conventional lash up. The hook trails in the normal position.
When Mr. Big gets hung up on it, he has a harder time getting rid of it because your connection to him does not flow through the spoon.

It's not conventional, it doesn't look normal, it's not on the radar screen of many (most) spoon fisherman, but it works.

Interesting, DD...how's the tangle up factor on that one?

Fish on...

Todd

I switched to sickles hooks, and that made a big change for the good, at least for me.

Cool idea, DD. I've been thinking about the bead chain off the front of the spoon to help with fighting fish and line twist.

Put a 2/0 or 3/0 big river open eye on there with a swivel and you'll be fine! I have hooked more than my fair share of fish with spoons and I don't loose many fish ever! As for your line 15lb is the norm for me, I never run anything less than that.

Glad to see this topic come up.

When fishing a spoon I figure my landing ratio is somewhere around 60%_70% with some days well under 50%. With fish of all sizes being lost.

I have tried different hooks, added swivels, waited longer to set the hook. But nothing seems to increase the landing ratio.

I usually use a 2/3oz spoon with a 2/0 hook. 15lb line and a 10 mtc
The rod is a tad under rated for that weight of a lure witch could be a problem.

Any way what are your guys landing ratios when spoon fishing?

It's not bad at all. But fouling has a lot to do with casting style so YMMV.
I thought about making a "hairpin" out of light wire that would hold the hook up against the spoon via the tail hole.
Then it would release with headshake torque.

Fouling was not much of an issue so I didn't pursue it.

When he's hooked up to it, it's a good thing. Definitely harder for him to shake it.
Test it....if you like it do an STS How To on it.

I'ma give it a try, DD...thanks!

riverdick...without the swivel on the back I'm about 70% hook to land on most fish, but if they spend much time out of the water then it's down more around 60%. With the swivel on the back you can kick those numbers up to 80 and 70, give or take.

We've all lost four or five in a row, and then landed the next ten or twelve...just part of the game.

Fish on...

Todd

My lashup trails to the rear and presents the hook in the normal position.
I don't have much trouble with line twist when fishing spoons.
Now spinners, my fave, that's a different story....the #1 reason I change out line.

I'd like to see a pic of one of those big BC bucks with one of those hangin' out of his mouth.

I set my spoons up like this...

Split ring on each eyelit of the spoon. 2/0 or 3/0 siwash off the trailing split ring (no swivel), and a barrel swivel off the top split ring for mainline attach point. I land more with this set up than I lose. I'm not sure if there's a difference between hookup to land ratio when you run a swivel up front versus runing a swivel between the hook and rear split ring? The only difference I see would be more of a hangback on the hook which could be a good thing.

Extending that hook back with the bead chain sounds like a different twist on "Extenze Field Testing".

I like the idea as it takes away the direct connection from heavy spoon to hook.

Curious what it does to the action without something to physically weigh down the butt end of that spoon in the current?

Working spoons against the current is like flying a kite with a precisely controlled wobble. The hooks, split rings, swivels, or other adornments we apply to the spoons butt end is analogous to the tail of a kite, helping to stabilize that wobble. Put on a heavy tail and the kite rides straight as an arrow... basically no action. A bit less tail and she starts to wobble a bit. Even less tail gives a more pronounced wobble. While no tail may result in the kite spinning completely out of control. Of course much of that depends on the wind speed (current). You get my drift?

Beefier rod in 9 1/2'- 10' with 15+ lb. line and EXACTLY what fishnbear said. Sickles changed hook to land ratio big time!

It doesn't seem to affect the action of the spoon.
It may even free it up.

Hotshot #30 has a belly hook and it swims beautifully with its bare ass.
Enter #35 with the new butt hook location....not quite the same.

I don't believe this to be an issue at all with the bead chain spoon lashup.

I've always thought that having the connection to the fish flow through the spoon to be a detriment.
The bead chain lashup takes much (not all) of the spoon out of play after the hookup.

So why would it matter whether the swivel is on the mainline end of the spoon or the business end? I run a swivel off the front. Seems like it's gonna do it's job regardless. or are you guys saying to add an additional swivel to the hook end of the spoon?

I realize it's not even close to casting/swinging spoons for steel, but I've been experimenting with a different kind of spoonin' for the past few salmon seasons, and each year my confidence in hangback and bent metal grows.

Can't really complain about the hookup:landed ratio either.

Tension is still transmitted thru the spoon during the battle, but eliminating the direct spoon-butt-to-hook connection does a lot to minimize the direct leverage on the hook shank when all that shakin' is going on.

Of course, so does keeping the rod tip in the water.

Drew, yes...the point is that there is some play between the spoon and the hook since it is the weight of the spoon flopping around that pulls the barbless hook out.

This works even better when fish start death rolling, whether they be steelhead or coho.

Fish on...

Todd