Spoon fed walleye

[FISHBATTEREDBEER]

In the last couple yrs I have been leaning away from the traditional jig ,I have lost a few trophy walleye because of the jig bending or just unhooking.I have about 4 spoons that really work good for me and have landed a lot more big walleye.I have even learned how to present the spoon to finicky fish with great success.My favorite big fish is a tear dropped,hammer finished spoon in gold.The ever popular Slender spoon slightly tweaked to flutter better and an online LED spoon I bought yrs ago.The PK peanut shaped spoons work good when they are wanting a fast fall and a flutter.I have several others too but these are my top 4.On big fish lakes I use giant spoons.


What's your go to spoon?

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by FISHBATTEREDBEER

What's your go to spoon?

Five of Diamonds!

[FISHBATTEREDBEER]

Originally Posted by Stinky Buffalo

Five of Diamonds!

also one of my top 10 hooks

[Drewski Canuck]

Fished Dore Lake in Sask last June. We were in the far north end at T Bay, and in the channel going into T Bay, started catching walleye to 6 pds on a yellow five of diamonds. Secret was a dead slow retrieve to keep the spoon just above the weeds.

You could actually see the walleye appear from nowhere, then inhale the spoon. I did this repeatedly, and sometimes it was a walleye, and sometimes it was a very good pike, but it consistently worked.


I also saw the strangest thing at Calling last year where one of the neighbours was putting a jig body on a spoon treble hook, and slowly working it off the bottom, and catching nice walleye that way. The spoon would sit on the bottom like a jig, then they would lift and twitch and let it drop. Hard to say if it was a hit on a jig or a hit on a spoon, but they did catch fish.

Drewski

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by FISHBATTEREDBEER

also one of my top 10 hooks

I catch about as many walleye on casting spoons as I do jigs (though not so many as I do on bottom bouncers) and the 1/2 oz 5oD is my top producer. I enjoy using casting spoons for walleye, they will catch walleye as well as anything else but you really have to fish them, not like a bottom bouncer which is pretty much idiot proof.

I've got a bunch of different ways I fish spoons, but one of the most effective ways when I'm after walleyes is as follows...
Run the boat way slower than is required to get the spoon to work, I want the boat going slow enough that when I slowly sweep my rod forwards the spoon is moving at the proper speed. Then I drop the spoon to the bottom and sweep my rod forward with the bail open to let out more line, that way I can establish how much line I need out (ie, drop the spoon and sweep the rod 2x). Then I proceed sort of rip jig the spoon as I slow troll, except that the "rip" is a slow sweep and the spoon flutters down much slower than a jigging lure. I want enough line out that when the line goes tight again after the sweep the spoon is just off the bottom. Not too many days this wont catch walleye.

[Talking moose]

Biggest Len Thomson spoon in 5 of diamond (red not black diamonds). Big fish lakes. If walleye are feeding you will still catch even 2 lbers.

[FISHBATTEREDBEER]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

Fished Dore Lake in Sask last June. We were in the far north end at T Bay, and in the channel going into T Bay, started catching walleye to 6 pds on a yellow five of diamonds. Secret was a dead slow retrieve to keep the spoon just above the weeds.

You could actually see the walleye appear from nowhere, then inhale the spoon. I did this repeatedly, and sometimes it was a walleye, and sometimes it was a very good pike, but it consistently worked.


I also saw the strangest thing at Calling last year where one of the neighbours was putting a jig body on a spoon treble hook, and slowly working it off the bottom, and catching nice walleye that way. The spoon would sit on the bottom like a jig, then they would lift and twitch and let it drop. Hard to say if it was a hit on a jig or a hit on a spoon, but they did catch fish.

Drewski

A 6" rubber worm on a treble on a spoon helps it flutter slower to the bottom.It also ads another added movement to your rig.The slender spoon can be altered in a similar way and is deadly.I start off with fast falling/fluttering spoons and slow down until I find out what they want.This can change during the day several times,find a pattern and fish it until they stop biting.sometimes I rip the hook very aggressively and I find this works for bigger fish when there are many bites.

[3blade]

Interesting. I've only ever caught walleye on spoons in current, but I suspect I wasn't running them deep enough in lakes. Something to try this year.

[jednastka]

I have caught walleye on jigs, light and heavy spoons, downrigging, virtually all of the Rapala fish-like baits, in-line and safety pin spinners, and even one on a bass buzz bait. Presentation is part of the story, but much of it is crossover to other species like pike, perch, and bass. The only time I restrict myself to jigs is fishing rocky rivers where you need to get down right in the rocks and break-offs are frequent.

To the comment of jig bodies on spoons, both Rapala & Krokodile made spoons that took jig bodies in the 80s, but it required removing the treble to mount the body.

On the comment about bent or broken jig hooks, this is exactly what led me to casting my own jigs. I used only hardened Eagle Claw hooks and never had a problem. I. did that for about a decade, sold my gear, and I am still working off of old, unsold inventory!

Vic

[Fishwhere]

I have had walleye bite them too but mostly while fishing for pike - my go to in absolute desperate situations that will almost always put fish out is a williams wobbler 50-80 in silver either the realy bumpy one or the smoother hammered fisnish that is a little bit newer. Theyre such light hooks that you can let them sink and reel very slow at the depth you want. Its a killer.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Fishwhere

I have had walleye bite them too but mostly while fishing for pike - my go to in absolute desperate situations that will almost always put fish out is a williams wobbler 50-80 in silver either the realy bumpy one or the smoother hammered fisnish that is a little bit newer. Theyre such light hooks that you can let them sink and reel very slow at the depth you want. Its a killer.

I fish Wablers quite a bit too, as well as the Trophy spoons. With their wide, erratic wobble, slow retrieve, and superior flash they can sometimes work very well on trout and pike when nothing else is getting a bite. That said, while I've coaxed walleye to bite them they don't work anywhere as well as a lot of other spoons. IMO walleye generally like a tighter wobble on most days, and a spoon you can count down to greater depths more quickly is easyer to put in front of them. Len Thompsons sink fairly quickly with a moderate flutter, and in the smaller sizes have a pretty tight wobble, they are pretty much an ideal spoon for walleye.

One spoon that fits my Walleye recipe like a glove is the Kastmaster, however for some reason my results with this spoon have always been disappointing. I guess some things just cant be summed up with a couple tidy rules of thumb.

[Avidhuntr]

caught my biggest walleye 9lbs on a blue and silver Williams wobbler

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Avidhuntr

caught my biggest walleye 9lbs on a blue and silver Williams wobbler

Congrats! Not saying it won't happen, I've caught some nice walleye on Williams spoons as well. But I usually fish for walleye 2-4x a week, and I fish spoons at least some of the time almost every time I go fishing... day in and day out I do better with the spoons I described.

[iYearn]

How about not abandoning the jig, but adding a treble stinger to avoid the jig hook bending or not hooking up?

I have found that the walleye also don't take the jig down as far allowing for better C&R with the stinger.

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by iYearn

How about not abandoning the jig, but adding a treble stinger to avoid the jig hook bending or not hooking up?

I have found that the walleye also don't take the jig down as far allowing for better C&R with the stinger.

What do you attach the treble stinger to avoid bending jig hook? Jig eyelet?

[Vook]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

What do you attach the treble stinger to avoid bending jig hook? Jig eyelet?

Joint structure jig: http://www.cabelas.ca/product/96778/...ndom-selection

[cube]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

What do you attach the treble stinger to avoid bending jig hook? Jig eyelet?

That's what I do.

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by cube

That's what I do.

Flourocarbon?

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by Vook

Joint structure jig: http://www.cabelas.ca/product/96778/...ndom-selection

Thx Vook.

[iYearn]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

What do you attach the treble stinger to avoid bending jig hook? Jig eyelet?

Yes...and we use titanium leader material:

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/25183/...t-2-kinky-wire.

We use this in the spring when fly fishing for pike in the shallows.

Tough to tie

But a perfection knot does the trick with some practice.