Will 2008 be the Year of the spoon?

[McCarter]

Trends in bass fishing are a dime a dozen.  Every year, one or two lures or techniques seem to grab the attention of the masses via a big tournament win, or a new lake or even state record, or in other cases from TV exposure.

Think back only a couple years to some of the hot baits and techniques.  Here are a few i remember that started a craze.  Chatterbaits, Shakey heads, Swimbaits, Beavers, Senkos, Basstrix and of course Gobies.  Who here hasnt bought into at least any of these.  I would be willing to bet that every one of you have bought into each.  Me too.  I even went as far as to buy a 8" swimbait to toss around on Kent Lake.  So far, no fish.  And to be honest, no bites.  And to be brutally honest, i havent even seen a fish look in its general direction.  Maybe 8" is a little big.

Point is, we as bass fisherman are always looking for an edge.  Something maybe our friends dont know about yet.  And something the fish havent seen yet, or at least in a while.  Which brings me to my question.  Given the recent exposure on a certain tv show, showing a certain angler fishing a certain lake with a certain lure  and absolutly crushing not only the fish, but some of the best bass anglers in the world, do you think this will be the big trend in 08.

If you dont know yet what i am talking about, Kelly Jordan, Kentucky lake, 5" spoon, Ultimate Match Fishing.  If you havent seen any of the episodes yet, look for the re-runs.  It is some of the most interesting and exciting fishing i have ever seen.  Especially last nights episode against Boyd Duckett for the UMF Championship.  Kelly literally put 20+ lbs of fish in the livewell in 9 minutes.  All with a slab of metal rigged with a treble hook.  They still have a 2 hour 'shoot-out' to fish which will air next Monday night, but so far its looking like KJ pretty much has it wrapped up.

This technique he is using looks so simple stupid you would think anyone could do it.  And perhaps anyone can.  Here are the basics of this technique.  Using a 7 foot or longer medium to medium heavy action rod and 20 lb flourocarbon line, make a long cast with a 5" Lake Fork Tackle Flutter Fork spoon and let it sink on slack line.  Once the lure hits the bottom, raise the tip from 9 o'clock to 12 or 1 o'clock with a snap of the wrist.  Allow the bait to sink again on slack line.  Bites will usually be a sharp thump and will often cause the slack line to jump.  I found this info in an article written by a fellow lake fork guide and friend of Kelly Jordan.

So with that information, how easy does this sound?  And will it work on Michigan waters?  And will we see every tackle mfgr coming out with similar spoons?  And will they sell for $5 in the stores, but $20 on ebay?

Will 2008 be the year of the spoon?

McCarter himself

P.S. I want some!

[dartag]

me thinks at your house the  " spoon " will be plastic coated dipping strained carrots and peas out of a Gerber Jar....  it's a good thing.

Cheetam can learn this one i am the drop shot / Senko guy.

[Waterfoul]

I watched that episode last night and just couldn't believe my eyes when he started hauling in fish on that spoon... one after the other... for 9 minutes!  How would you like to have been Ducket sitting in the back of the boat helpless? 

But, where was he throwing that spoon?  At a point?  A deep drop?  A weed edge?   I think we all know there were schooling bass there... but what was holding them there?

[Durand Dan]

Time to bring back the Dare Devil

[LAPORTE]

Im very alarmed to hear all of this...  

I missed a fishing show last night ? What channel was is on.... ? What time? ...lol

Thanks Don L

[Cheetam]

I've worked jigging spoons like this, but not 5", 2 oz slabs o' metal.  In-Fisherman had an article on fishing those big spoons on Lake Fork last month or the month before.  I wish I got UMF...it sounds like a good show.

[Waterfoul]

It's on the Outdoorchannel at 10:30 monday nights.  One of my favorite shows on T.V.  I've asked both Outdoorchannel and UMF via email if these shows are available on DVD... and have never gotten a response from either.

[dhuff]

That was a good show last night.  Kelly Jordan is without a doubt one of the best structure fisherman not to mention grass fisherman in the world.  A buddy of mine lives not far from him in Texas and used to fish some tournaments with him and against him and he told me that this guy is special when it comes to locating fish off the banks.  I bet that spoon will work here and I am sure it will get a lot of strikes from those big pike!

[BryanP]

That spoon is actually made by a local guy down in Texas.  It sounds like it all of a sudden became the "Lake Fork Tackle Flutter Fork spoon"   At any rate, Strike King also has a knock off in the works.  If any of you guys saw the FLW show this past weekend, Mark Rose was using the same thing as his primary bait at Pickwick.  I don't see it wouldn't work on Erie/LSC.

BTW--Swimbaits have worked for me in MI, but the biggest I've used is 6".

[motocross269]

I've got jigging spoons in my box from 20 years ago...It may be time to dig them out.   I have just never had much confidence in them I would rather use a Jig or Drop shot.
Next years hot bait will be a Jitterbug...LOL..It's like clothes, everything is going retro.

[joshimoto son]

McCarter,
It's funny how great minds, warped by shop dust and plastic fumes think alike. That was the same thought I had too.

BryanP, I noticed that on the FLW too, actually, it's really obvious when you see that big thing sticking in the side of that first fish Mark caught. Ouchie!

The good thing here in Michigan, if they don't work for bass, we can always troll for Kings and Cohos on the big lake

joshimoto son

[dashaver63]

I used to throw the Johnson's Silver Minnow out west with a twin tail grub trailer. Swimming it through standing timber and weeds. Great bait and extremely weedless, never thought to even use one here, and good luck trying to find them, haven't seen them for a long time.

[thedude]

table rock that is the tried & true method for catching summer bass congregating around schooling shad. Nothing new down there. I think its just like any technique... every region has its special localized approaches and sometimes those approaches can be applied elsewhere. will it be a fad? hope so! fish are getting used to seeing beavers and senkos so maybe i can get few on them again.

[Skulley]

Threw a Johnson Silver Minnow on Maceday Lake once a long time ago.  Now everytime I go there I throw it.  I do pretty well on it, too.  Clear water and the aquatic grass there.  The bass hold in that or in the pads.

I have always had spoons and metal baits in my arsenal.  There is always a call for them.  I have done well on them on Belleville and even on St. Clair.  Smallies hit jigging spoons and the silver minnow.  spoons are good.  Even when you need them for Gerber strained carrots and peas.  I always liked the Gerber desserts myself.  Especially the apple cobbler.    Of course mine are 13 and 7 so they eat normal food and talk back.  That's what you have to look forward to McCarter............back talk and attitude.  Wait until the daughter starts fighting with her Mother.  You have plenty of time for that.  It usually starts when they are about 9.


BD                      

[djkimmel]

I throw a jigging spoon about that way, but on Erie, if I do that I catch sheephead almost every cast until my arm hurts!!!! I apparently have the sheephead technique down like nothing!!

But I do catch smallies on them in other lakes. I tend to throw blade baits more the past 5 or 6 years though. I catch more bass on them overall, and walleye, and of course, on Erie, still plenty of SHEEPHEAD!!

[fowlmouth]

IJohnson's Silver Minnow out west... Great bait and extremely weedless, never thought to even use one here, and good luck trying to find them, haven't seen them for a long time.

You can find em on basspro, look in the saltwater section. We use them down in the keys, never thought of trying 'em here though, the reds hammer em.

[TCook]

I throw hopkins shorty's once in awhile when the situation calls for it, but never a 5 inch jigging spoon. I think alot of guys still use the smaller jigging spoons if there schooled in deep water.

[nitroderrek]

McCarter,,,  it isn't over for boyd yet... look for him to make a come back on kj....   nitroderrek

[McCarter]

Its not over til the fat lady sings.  Boyd is awesome.  His spot turns on just like KJs does.  He could easily put 20+ in the boat during the shootout.

I hope he can recover from the first half tho.  I dont know if anyone else noticed, but after Jordan took Duckett to school, Boyd seemed off.  He lost 2 very nice fish and was missing hooksets on the jig.  Seeing your competition light it up like that will mess with your head.  I have a feeling once he calms down tho he will give Jordan a run for the money.  Man, i hope so anyway or its going to be a boring episode.

McCarter himself

[bigjc]

OH, that's just great Dan, just when I thought this thread was going to go off without a mention of blade baits, you had to go and spoil it.  Blade baits are one of those regional baits that never got much of a following up here, but you go to any resevouir in KY or TN and you will find some blade fishing mad-men, especially in the Colder months.

Justin mentioned spoons on Table Rock, because we got our butts kicked by a couple of spoon fishin' boys who were clobbering slab spots on spoons, while the rest of the field (including us) were throwing jigs and plastics for smallies.  Guess we should have spent a bit more time chasin' those spots, eh buddy.

JC