Fishing With Spoons, The Basics: Part 2
By: Phil Foo
Spoons, one of my favourite lures, not only for fishing but for humour as well. I like the look of confusion or bewilderment when I tell non-anglers that the fish was caught using a spoon. “Hmm, makes sense. Like us, fish use spoons to eat too right?” That till today is the funniest response I’ve gotten on fishing, from someone who doesn’t fish.
[ Most anglers will have a few favourite or must have colours for a certain fishing hole and fish type… ]
Trip Expectations
As anglers we normally have an idea of what to expect on most of our planned fishing trips. I don’t mean whether fish would be caught or not. What I meant really is the basic information with regards to the place(s) we will be fishing during the planned trip. Information such as:
- Targeted fish species.
- Water type; as in saltwater or freshwater.
- Water conditions such as clear, murky, tannin, etc.
- Temperature of water (rain = cool or sunny = warm)
- Type of fishing such as casting or trolling.
The legendary Abu Island spoon, known as the sebarau killer, the spoon that has helped anglers catch sebarau for the longest time.
Choosing Spoons
It is easy to choose what spoons to take for places that we are familiar with. Of course some things are not in our control such a weather or environmental factors, etc. and it is wise to prepare for them too. For places we’ve not been to before, like a detective we will have to create a picture with the information (or intelligence) gathered.
Spoon Colours
Spoons come in many colours for a variety of factors such as those stated earlier. Most anglers will have a few favourite or must have colours for a certain fishing hole and fish type. These are colours that have been proven to work all the time at that particular lake or river, etc. for various fish species.
The Abu Island Zebra, another awesome spoon that has caught me many snakeheads.
Let us take for example Temenggor Lake (in the state of Perak, Malaysia) targeting sebaraus (Hampala macrolepidota). One of my favourite must have colours for this fish species and lake will be orange with silver or copper.
A Sebarau caught on Abu Island at Temenggor Lake, Perak, Malaysia.
Water Conditions And Colour
Water conditions play a major part too in determining spoon colour choices. This has got to do with the amount of light penetrating the water. Clear waters will have more light penetration (goes deeper) as compared to tannin or stained water. Murky water on the other hand will have the least light penetration.
[ Colours like green, purple, blue, maroon, black, etc. tend to disappear first with brighter colours disappearing deeper… ]
As a general colour choice; brighter colours such as red, yellow, orange, and white do well in clearer waters where penetration of light is the highest. Darker colours and also those with luminous colours that glow in the dark work well in deeper waters where light penetration is very low. These are amongst the last colours to disappear the deeper the lure goes or spoon goes.
Great spoons to prowl the bottom with. These two has helped me catch a good number of snakeheads on various trip.
When it comes to silver and gold coloured spoons, this will depend very much on the fish species. Some fish species are attracted by bright flashes. Some actually get spooked and go into hiding (heavily fished waters). Silver and gold gives out high levels of flash. In general, they work well in clear and slightly stained waters.
As for stained or murkier waters. The opposite happens. Colours like green, purple, blue, maroon, black, etc. tend to disappear first with brighter colours disappearing deeper. However, if the water is really murky bright coloured lures or spoons will look more like shadows the deeper they go while the darker colours blend into the darkness.
Another snakehead catcher that has helped me catch a good number of snakeheads.
Spoon Sizes
When it comes to sizes there is no hard and fast rule. The norm is to match the spoon size with the targeted fish species (or average fish sizes). Example would be larger spoons for giant snakeheads (toman), mackerels, etc., and smaller spoons for smaller fishes such as tarpons (Indo-Pacific tarpon), permits, etc.
This is not to say that larger fish will not take small spoons and small fishes do not take larger spoons.
Things to take note are:-
- The larger the spoon, the more flash it emits.
- The larger the spoon the better it is seen.
- The larger the spoon, the higher the resistance underwater.
A Murray cod caught on spoon at the Murray River in Adelaide, Australia.
All these can play both ways. They will either help you catch more fish or scare away the fish depending on the circumstances. On a bright sun shiny day, a large flashy spoon may spook fishes. A larger spoon will be more visible in murky waters but in clear waters it too may spook fishes.
So generally, in clear waters I would go with a larger spoon at dusk and dawn where the level of lights is low. When the sun climbs higher and there is more light I will scale down to smaller spoons only if the fishes stop biting. Again this depends on the targeted fish species.
Types Of Spoons
The type of spoons to bring will depend on the type of fishing you will be doing. If you will be doing only casting, then almost all spoon types are okay. Add weedless spoons if you will be fishing around weedy areas. Use spoons that swim right at the bottom for bottom feeders like marble goby, and groupers.
Larger spoons for saltwater fishing.
So generally, in clear waters I would go with a larger spoon at dusk and dawn where the level of lights is low. When the sun climbs higher and there is more light I will scale down to smaller spoons only if the fishes stop biting. Again this depends on the targeted fish species.
Should you be doing some trolling, you will want to bring along some slimmer spoons that are ideal for trolling. This is not to say that usual spoons used for casting cannot be trolled. They can and they do, but still I will recommend bringing spoons that are designed for trolling.
Abu Garcia’s 100 Years Anniversary Retro spoons are certainly spoons to get.
Try Them Out
So what spoons should you choose? Depending on the factors and circumstances mentioned earlier choose spoons that will match and cover these circumstances. Try out what you’ve learnt here on your next fishing trip and who knows, you could be smiling right next to a whopper.
