The Basics of the Spoon Lure

The spoon lure was invented around 1848 by Julio T. Buel. The basic style of the spoon is a simple, elongated, ovular, concave piece of metal with a single treble hook on the end. Over time, the use of silicone skirts, and wire or bristle weed guards have increased the effectiveness of spoon fishing.

The spoon lure is heavy, and made to enable anglers to cast very long distances, and be able to retrieve the lure through a give strike zone, from well behind it. This gives the angler the chance to land the lure, without spooking the fish. Later on, fisherman adapted the use of the spoon for trolling, and created a lighter version of the spoon, giving it the ability to suspend (when combined with a specific amount of weights) at certain depths and trolling speeds to cover a wide fishing area.

Some Spoon Fishing Tips

One of the more widely known methods of spoon fishing is jigging it up and down. In this scenario, the fisherman locates a school of fish, and trolls in and around the school, working the spoon. You’ll want to drop the spoon straight down to the suspected depth of the fish, and then use a vertical “jerking” motion to cause the spoon to bob up and down in the water. Usually the strike will come as the lure is sinking.

Another method of fishing spoons is trolling. Often, striper anglers will use their fish finder to locate fish in a particular area, and then set several poles at different depths, and work the area until the find the fish. Using different lengths of slack in the line combined with weights, the angler can achieve precision depths for a given speed during the troll.

The main downside to fishing with spoons is getting tangled. Because the lure is good at dropping to the bottom very quickly, and because fisherman will often bounce the lure off the bottom, this lure is prone to getting stuck on the bottom. I can’t tell you how many of these lures I have lost in the past. But sometimes, if you troll around the area where the spoon is snagged, you can jerk it off from behind or the side. I have been able to save a few spoons using this method.

Professional bass fisherman have the experience and arsenal to be able to hunt down and catch bass based on a myriad of factors. It is those factors that determine what type of lure you should be using. Don’t just try one and forget the rest, use this systematic approach to selecting the best bass lure for the day you are fishing.

Know the Depth of the Water You Are Fishing

Perhaps the single most important factor when selecting the right lure, you need to understand what the depths of the areas you are fishing really are. If possible, use a depth finder or fish finder to help you to know how deep you are fishing. For water less than 10 feet deep, you’ll probably be looking at topwater fishing plugs, spinnerbaits, shallow or floating worms, or shallow running crankbaits. For depths greater than 10 feet, use heavily weighted worms, deep running crankbaits, or heavy spinnerbaits.

Check the Water Temperature

As previously noted, bass  prefer water temperatures around 68 to 80 degrees Farenheit. This is when bass activity will be the highest, and you will be able to use larger baits with faster retrieves. A 7 or 8 inch worm will work better in this temperature range than a shorter worm. But in cooler temperatures, you’ll want to use a shorter worm (maybe 4 to 5 inches) with a slow retrieve, perhaps just dragging the bottom.

Work the Cover Areas

Largemouth bass love covered areas. Places where there is submerged tree branches, bulrushes, or man made objects like docks, etc. are great places to find bass. In deep cover areas, consider using a Texas rig with a worm, ensuring a weedless setup, and work your way through the weeds. Other weedless lures like weedless spoons and weedless spinnerbaits can pay good dividends in these heavy cover areas. In light cover areas, you can look to open spinnerbaits, buzz baits, and crankbaits for catching bass. Just be sure to work the edges of the cover, preferably on the shade side, as bass love the shade.

Be Mindful of the Water Clarity

When fishing bright areas of clear water, consider using natural colors over darker colors. There is an exception here, as purple and black colored worms seem to work well in most waters, regardless of clarity. For dirty or murky water, use fluorescents like yellow, chartreuse, pumpkin and orange to get better results. When light levels are low, darker colors will generally outperform lighter colors.

So to reiterate, there isn’t any one best bass lure, or “super” lure. Selecting the right lure for the job depends on the day, the water depth, temperature, color and amount of cover that you will be fishing. Be mindful of these, selecting the appropriate lure, and you chances will increase greatly.

March Bass Fishing In Cool Waters

Depending on what region of the country you are in, you are going to be experiencing different temperatures. Water temperatures of about 40 degrees or less is generally not the best for the spring spawn. So where I am in Texas, early March is still pretty cold on the lake. This is also frustrating as getting out to your spots can be rather chilling if there is any wind out.

So when you face these water temperatures, use lures that run deep. Check your fish finder for approximate depths of the fish, and try to match that up with your lure choice. Using plastic worms, bass assasins, grubs, tubes and jigs with a very slow retrieve or dead stick should yield better results. Cranks and jerks may work as well, however they need to be deep runners, suspending, and also with a slow retrieve. The fish are sluggish, and usually hang out in deeper water, where it is warmer.

March Bass Fishing In “The Zone”

On the other hand, when you get into 45 to 50 degree waters, that is when the action is going to be fast and furious. My favorite lure is the Bomber “Flat A” in the ghost white color. It runs about 4-6 feet deep (although you can get it in the 8-12 feet deep range) and really hits well with large mouth, small mouth, whites and hybrids. It is also a suspending model, so you can run a jerk and retrieve pattern on the fish, if they tend to be sluggish.

As with cooler temperatures, you can also pull out your worms and jigs to go after these fish. Many of the state record fish were caught with worms. I like a 6-7 inch worm using a Carolina or Texas style rig. Mostly use a slow retrieve on the bottom of the lake, and waiting for that tap. Give the fish some time though, as they don’t usually just suck down a worm, often they will tap it before they fully commit. When you feel the tap, give it a few seconds to let the fish take the bait, then hit ‘em!

So don’t wait, get out there on your favorite lake, and take advantage of one of the best months for bass fishing, March! If it is cold, bring your deep running lures and work them slow, if it is warmer, go for the more shallow running, fast action baits and knock ‘em dead!