Spoon size?

[AllenW]

I fish mostly the north shore of Superior and use spoons a majority of the time for trout and salmon, mostly trout is what I catch.

Most spoons I have run from 3 3/4" to about 5" and I have been doing ok for a newbie.

But I see the occasional large (30#+) trout caught and am wondering if running a bigger (6-8") spoon on a line would be better for fish this size?

If so, where do you find them?

Got a lot of help here getting set up with the spoons I have but never found larger spoons.

TIA

al

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

Al, here's another thing to think about. Cut open the fish stomachs when filleting them and take note of the size of the alewives. Try to match that dead bait with the current spoons you are using during that period of time. Many will usually be about the same size, that's what will catch fish. Also, I know quite a few lure companies have Super Mags, some may be bigger than 5", google it. I know Yeck makes some in excess of 5", more like 6-7" if I had to guess. I've seen some real lunkers over the years, and quite a few were taken on mini spoons too, used to call some C-5's, about 2" to match the existing quarry of baitfish around at that time.

[AllenW]

Al, here's another thing to think about. Cut open the fish stomachs when filleting them and take note of the size of the alewives. Try to match that dead bait with the current spoons you are using during that period of time. Many will usually be about the same size, that's what will catch fish. Also, I know quite a few lure companies have Super Mags, some may be bigger than 5", google it. I know Yeck makes some in excess of 5", more like 6-7" if I had to guess. I've seen some real lunkers over the years, and quite a few were taken on mini spoons too, used to call some C-5's, about 2" to match the existing quarry of baitfish around at that time.

Thanks much, I rarely keep fish and haven't paid attention to what size baitfish were in their stomach when I do, something in learning curve I missed.

I did figure best I could tell alewife did get over 10" so a 6-8" spoon might not be to far off.

Did google it and checked the few places I've ordered from with no luck, but I'll keep trying and I'll check Yeck, thanks.

Al

[SeaCatMich]

I would think bigger might be better but also look at your speed. Bigger lake trout are somewhat lazy and I would think in the even colder water of Lake Superior they would be wanting to expend even less energy in feeding. I'd go slowwww at sub 1.5 mph.

I doubt that alewife are their primary food, especially in Superior. I would go with larger lures imitating sculpin, chubs, and smaller whitefish that run at slower speeds with a side to side wobble. Larger size Evil Eye, Williams Wobbler and the super mag Yek spoons should all be good. Northport Nailer used to make a super mag size too but have not seen them in a few years. Another lure I'd try that runs great at slow speeds and has a real side to side action is the Flatfish.

[AllenW]

I would think bigger might be better but also look at your speed. Bigger lake trout are somewhat lazy and I would think in the even colder water of Lake Superior they would be wanting to expend even less energy in feeding. I'd go slowwww at sub 1.5 mph.

I doubt that alewife are their primary food, especially in Superior. I would go with larger lures imitating sculpin, chubs, and smaller whitefish that run at slower speeds with a side to side wobble. Larger size Evil Eye, Williams Wobbler and the super mag Yek spoons should all be good. Northport Nailer used to make a super mag size too but have not seen them in a few years. Another lure I'd try that runs great at slow speeds and has a real side to side action is the Flatfish.

Thanks, I'll look into them lures.

I run an ITroll on my kicker so I can set it to run back and forth from sub 1.5 to whatever the smaller lures like, probably doing more harm than good, but on paper it sounds good..

I have found for me variety is the spice of life when it comes to speed and many of the strikes I get are at speed changes, so it should work.. maybe.

Al

[SeaCatMich]

Another technique that has worked very well for me with bigger lakers on Lake Michigan is what I call "dead fishy". Basically I throw the boat in neutral long enough for the downrigger rods to nearly straighten up and then put it back in gear to resume trolling speed. This causes the heavy lures (spoons, dodners, flashers) to flutter down and the buoyant lures to rise (plugs, stick baits, Flatfish). Most hits happen when the boat goes back in gear.

[AllenW]

Another technique that has worked very well for me with bigger lakers on Lake Michigan is what I call "dead fishy". Basically I throw the boat in neutral long enough for the downrigger rods to nearly straighten up and then put it back in gear to resume trolling speed. This causes the heavy lures (spoons, dodners, flashers) to flutter down and the buoyant lures to rise (plugs, stick baits, Flatfish). Most hits happen when the boat goes back in gear.

I have done the same thing, usually when something goes wrong though.

Once got a line wrapped around the skeg of the main motor, while stopped and freeing it up, I noticed the left planer board was gone, only to resurface and disappear again, I was hanging off the motor and the other guy had the tangled rod in his hands, needless to say we lost what was ever on the planer board line, but it was a bit exciting for a minute or two.

I have slowed down but not completely stopped, I'll give that a try, thanks.

Al

[SeaCatMich]

Don't let the boat's forward motion stop completely -- just long enough in neutral for the blowback on the rigger weights to be reduced significantly and take the tension off the rods. When I do this, someone is positioned right by the rods because the forward motion of the boat isn't gong to set the hook as well and getting right on the fish is important.

I really like using this with buoyant lures like FlatFish trolled right near bottom for Lake Trout. U20 and X5 work very well. Great for staging salmon off the bottom too.

[AllenW]

Thanks a ton Ryan, I see a trip to Mich this next spring, maybe I can buy the first round if we can meet.

al

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

Al, I haven't fished Lk. Superior, so I really can't make accurate judgments about your lake there. What Ryan states is specific to Lk. Mich. Trout fishing, and of course, speed has been a very important factor in my experiences too. I've trolled from .7 mph - 1.2 mph for best results just off bottom. Unless we were in a fast downtroll, then, like Ryan stated, sometimes you can only slow down by going from neutral to forward, with seabags out. Around Ludington, best was 60-80 fow, bouncing bottom. That flatfish sounds real familiar, but it would be nice if I saw a pic. of it again to refresh the memory banks. Wasn't that a Norweigan lure? We primarily used, and still do when necessary, peanuts and cowbells, as they always worked, and still do if you can find them. Of course flashers/squid/flies have also worked well, with a 15'-20' lead off the ball for me mostly.

[AllenW]

Al, I haven't fished Lk. Superior, so I really can't make accurate judgments about your lake there. What Ryan states is specific to Lk. Mich. Trout fishing, and of course, speed has been a very important factor in my experiences too. I've trolled from .7 mph - 1.2 mph for best results just off bottom. Unless we were in a fast downtroll, then, like Ryan stated, sometimes you can only slow down by going from neutral to forward, with seabags out. Around Ludington, best was 60-80 fow, bouncing bottom. That flatfish sounds real familiar, but it would be nice if I saw a pic. of it again to refresh the memory banks. Wasn't that a Norweigan lure? We primarily used, and still do when necessary, peanuts and cowbells, as they always worked, and still do if you can find them. Of course flashers/squid/flies have also worked well, with a 15'-20' lead off the ball for me mostly.

Flatfish reminds me of a lazy Ike, if you remember them, flat nose and curved body, don't have one so going by pictures.

My 2020 Larson trolls down pretty slow with the 9.9 kicker, so going slow should be doable, unless lots of wind.

Trying to find out what peanuts and cowbells are, Google isn't much help on them.

Just starting to use flies and flashers, more of that learning curve.

North shore of Superior is a bit varied, the southern end has varied contours/depths you can fish, gradually getting deeper, a bit north and it goes from shore to deep, then deeper, not hard to be a 100 yards or so off shore and be in close to 300 fow.

No expert but it seems fish (trout) are either in under 60-80 fow no matter what the depth or on the bottom in 100+ fow, interesting fishing.

I think I see fish in over 300 fow on the bottom, can't get there with my riggers and think possibly the only way I could with what I have, is jigging...maybe?

al

[SeaCatMich]

The original FlatFish was made by Hellin Lures of Detroit. They are still made but now owned by Wordens/Yakima (http://www.yakimabait.com/products/flatfish/). The original ones were made of wood and are now plastic. Most of the original models had two pairs of small trebles that work great for fish like stream trout, bass, walleye and pike but for big water salmon/trout there were models with two heavier trebles.

For the big water trolling I prefer the blue scale, pearl, chartreuse, and chromed colors.

Here is a picture of one with the 4 trebles. Color is great for Steelhead!

Here is one with the 2 trebles:

[Big Country]

Al, if you are fishing the North Shore of Superior you should be fishing spoons that mimic the baitfish that trout are looking for. If you are in search of lakers then smelt and small herring are what you are emulating. Those are the feed that most all predators in Superior chow on. Alewives are not the source like what most of the Great Lakes have as forage. Stop in at marine general and pick up some Jims flashback spoons. They work awesome when trolling. If you are just casting from the North Shore pick up some little Cleos. They have some weight which will help you get out there and have action that most trout can't resist.

[AllenW]

Al, if you are fishing the North Shore of Superior you should be fishing spoons that mimic the baitfish that trout are looking for. If you are in search of lakers then smelt and small herring are what you are emulating. Those are the feed that most all predators in Superior chow on. Alewives are not the source like what most of the Great Lakes have as forage. Stop in at marine general and pick up some Jims flashback spoons. They work awesome when trolling. If you are just casting from the North Shore pick up some little Cleos. They have some weight which will help you get out there and have action that most trout can't resist.

Thanks, got sidetracked on using alewives but stocking up on smelt and herring colored ones.

Good people at MG, amazing how much stuff they have jammed into that store.

Green with blue spoons has worked well for us also.

Monkey puke I think they're called.

al