Walleye spoons?

[DJ 17]

Was just wondering what everyone's thought were on spoons? I figured I would try to start a thread where we could share info and try to help everyone on this new site.   Do you seem to catch less off target species by chance? Sheepshead and white bass are a pain.

I have read that they are a large part of the arsenal when fishing the western basin but I have not found as much info regarding the eastern end.  I am always trying to learn new techniques and was wondering if guys here would be willing to share some info? I only get to Erie once a year during the summer and have always gone out of Barcelona.  In the past we have run sticks(firetiger, Black and purple) and harnesses and usually have done better on willow leaf firetiger harnesses.  But last year we ran all sticks and caught just as many fish.  And on a far wider range of colors the 2 mentioned above but also white, root beer, black  and silver, and probably few more I can't remember.

Last year the sheepshead and white bass were a relentless annoyance. Like everyone else,  I am really trying to find a way to avoid them and still catch eyes.

I would think that the stinger scorpion size spoons in proven walleye colors would be a good start?

Any favorite brands or color suggestions would be helpful to all who read this.

[Puking Dog]

In the eighties we used to use spoons a lot. Once the zebra mussels cleared up the water, spoons became much less effective. Off Barcelona it would probably work well to do at least one, because there are a lot of steel head there close to shore in the spring.

If I'm trolling deep diver stick baits (bomber long A's), I'll occasionally use a 3 way swivel and tie a small light spoon above the stick bait on a 3 foot leader. I like alpena diamonds the best, but they are very hard to find these days.  Walleyes will almost always hit the spoon because they think the stick is chasing the small spoon I guess.

When the white bass and sheep head are brutal, or you run out of night crawlers, I switch to shallow stick bags (Renosky's).

Take off the front hook so it doesn't get caught in the net. Walleyes never hit the front hook anyway. Put a half a crawler on the back hook or a full crawler on the middle hook.

[fatboyjack1]

 We run riggers late in the year for walleye out of Erie PA. Usually run stingers and scorpions, but always have a variety of other brands (specifically moonshine). We stack lines and run the top spoon about 10 feet above the bottom spoon, using a 3-5 foot lead. We catch plenty of walleye this way, and typically catch the larger guys on spoons. 90% of the time we get the strike on the top spoon. We also run sliders if fishing down deep and want the second spoon to stay at the 50-50 mark. 

We get our share of Sheephead, but very few white bass. We also get a bonus pellet head now and again. Got 1 nice cat on them a few years back as well. However, there have been days that the sheephead were gladly welcomed, expecially when the bite is tough and the kiddo's want to catch something. Nothing worse than a boat full of kids and no action while trolling. 

 In the last 20 years, spoons have been left behind on lake Erie and most people viewpoint is that the pellet head and laker guys only use them. I can't say they out-fish spinners, but certainly worth a try on a slow day.  

 I think walleye fishing has more to do with presentation, speed and depth. Some days I swear you could throw down a pop can with a hook and catch them. Other days I swear the walleye hate me and won't bite on anything. 

 

[DJ 17]

Cool. Good start guys! We also take the front hook off our large sticks to widen the wobble and make removal easier.

Jack,

When you are running them on riggers how long is your lead off the rigger ball?  Also, are you running steel cable on your riggers or braid for downrigger line?

[fatboyjack1]

DJ,

 

 We vary our lead length. Usually 20-30 back is a start for us, but have went 50 back for tough days. From my experience on Lake O, where you are running 5-10' off the ball, short leads can be tough with walleye (again, in my experience). There are days where I would like to run longer leads, but my riggers are fairly close together, and when you get 4 dipseys or boards out, plus the 2 riggers down, the long leads can become an issue (at least for me). I am a bad driver....lol. I rarely pay attention to my heading, so I certainly make a lot of "S" turns.

 

My riggers are steel cable. I initially bought them for Lake O, so didn't see the sense in changing them out just for Erie. I like steel. However, I have thought about tagging a few feet of lesser test braid or steel so my ball can break off when I snag it up. Let's face it, it happens. Lake O is a different critter, only ball I have lost up there is because some idiot (me) forgot to snap the clasp. I have however snagged up good on Erie's bottom. I pour my own balls (8# and 10#, with rubber coating), so losing one isn't a big deal for me. It is hard on my gunwales when you come to that sudden stop !

 

I like spoons, in fact, I have hundreds of them. They are a confidence lure for me when I can pick up my speed, mostly because I have years of experience running them. They are simple, not speed sensitive, and when you get 9 of them down in a short space it makes for good action (2 small boards with guppy weights, 2 dipsey rods, 1 lead-core off the chute, and the 2 riggers with stackers/sliders). Worse thing with spoons is you will get a pellet-head or two, and they can likely ruin your spread in a heart-beat !!!!

[Locoman]

Spoons I run; Stingers, Scorpions, Dreamweaver, Warriors, Northern Kings, Moonshine.

Colors; Monkey Puke, Confusion, Kervorkian, Blue Bubble, Blue Berry Muffin.......these and more always produce for me.

I don't run meat much anymore. Never have a problem boating eyes with just sticks and spoons.

[lineman49]

Got to ask, what is a pellet head??

[J. Sparrow]

I'm thinking ....... steelhead,

but I gotta admit it could be a dead gobbler........

[DJ 17]

2 hours ago, Locoman said:

Spoons I run; Stingers, Scorpions, Dreamweaver, Warriors, Northern Kings, Moonshine.

Colors; Monkey Puke, Confusion, Kervorkian, Blue Bubble, Blue Berry Muffin.......these and more always produce for me.

I don't run meat much anymore. Never have a problem boating eyes with just sticks and spoons.

Andy,

Do you run riggers with similar lead lengths to Jack1? I have caught a few off riggers but only off extremely long leads. I also agree with jack that the long leads can be a huge pain when running other long presentations.  Most of my fish come on lead core.

[lineman49]

  We normally run our sticks & spoons 75-100'  behind the riggers.  We also do the 3 way thing with the spoon above a diver stick bait.  We do this same thing with jets  off the big boards & off dipseys. with 6-8 ft. leaders.

[Locoman]

I'll start my riggers at 50' and let the fish tell me what they are willing to bite. Will drop them back 25' at a time until they fire up to 150'. I coordinate my in-lines and dipsies accordingly to prevent tangles. Hope this helps.

[RD9]

We catch a ton of eyes on wd's. We run them close to the ball on really light leads and really small swivels. Watermelon wd has taken the most. We run spoons on the riggers all year long. I believe running spoons at a 100 ft back going under 2 mph you lose you're target depth on the rigger. Get your down speed at 1.4 to 1.6 mph and you'll catch fish. I see tons of guys trying spoons and there line is to heavy and the swivel is to big. Our favorite bait on a rigger is a wd near the bottom close to the ball. During the south towns tourney last year we were doing days of 20 plus fish, segmented lead cores up top spoons on the bottoms. Spoons consistently produced deep while most had nothing in the bottom of the water column. 

[Sluggo / NY]

We run almost all sticks and spoons.. Once in a while we'll drag some harnesses, but they attract the white bass so badly we seldom run them. As already mentioned.. The front hook gets removed  and on the Renosky's..the remaining hooks get changed out. I love their Stickbaits but hate their hooks! Our best producing spoons are the NK28's in watermellon..tipped with a piece of crawler. As for speeds.. We seldom hit 2 mph..usually closer to 1.5. Like everyone, we have our slow days..but we always seem to have done as well or better than most when we get back to the launch. Can't wait to get out there! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris) 

[Lures with a twist]

Love running spoons mixed in with harness! My go to are

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United Mobile App

[fatboyjack1]

Pellet-head = Steel-head. lol.

 

I have seen quite a few people going to the spoon/harness combo, looks sweet ! Might have to try it this year.

 

I have been wanting to try short leads off the ball, but have a hard time wrapping my head around it. The days where you can do no wrong it might work to keep them tucked in. I seldom run any more than 50 off the ball, which seems to work well for me. I have also put on a 5-7' diver and ran the longer lead, trying to get the diving lure under the ball. However, in my experience, you have to run a stouter release to us the diver on the rigger. It makes it easier to drag a fish though. Learning to read the tip is key when you fish for walleye. When in doubt, reel in and reset if needed. It is also key to have rods that are identical. I use the same two for my riggers, same two alike for dipseys, and two alike rods for small boards.

 

Wow, 150 back off the ball....that is a long way to keep your depth correct. If you are running 1.5-2mph, not sure how you positively know the actual depth. However, like anything trolling related, it isn't about dialing riggers in at one certain depth, it is about repetition once you find the sweet spot.

 

We fished out of point breeze NY last year and I forgot my heavy balls. I only brought one 12# and two 8# balls. We were tuck in a crease in about 80 foot of water, but the blow-back was very severe on the 8# balls. We had no idea the actual depth of the lure. I was freaking out ! A valuable lesson I learned is that it doesn't matter the exact location of the balls, it is dialing in on the depth the fish prefer. We were putting down over 100' of rigger, but were probably only covering the 60-70 FOW zone. In order to keep things alike, I used both 8# balls and left the 12# in the holder. You would think I would have used the one 12# ball to help eliminate the blow-back, but it was easier to repeat my set-up using 8# on both riggers. I made a change on the port rigger to 70 foot of cable down.....wham, fish on. From here I was able to set the other rigger up to 65ish down, wham....fish on. The depth of the balls is irrelevant, as long as it is where the fish prefer to be.

 

Same with walleye fishing guys....dial it in, dial it in......dial it in.

[DJ 17]

On ‎5‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 3:16 PM, RD9 said:

We catch a ton of eyes on wd's. We run them close to the ball on really light leads and really small swivels. Watermelon wd has taken the most. We run spoons on the riggers all year long. I believe running spoons at a 100 ft back going under 2 mph you lose you're target depth on the rigger. Get your down speed at 1.4 to 1.6 mph and you'll catch fish. I see tons of guys trying spoons and there line is to heavy and the swivel is to big. Our favorite bait on a rigger is a wd near the bottom close to the ball. During the south towns tourney last year we were doing days of 20 plus fish, segmented lead cores up top spoons on the bottoms. Spoons consistently produced deep while most had nothing in the bottom of the water column. 

RD,

Sorry, I'm drawing a blank. What's a WD? How close to the ball?

[RD9]

Sometimes under 25ft. WD is a small dream weaver