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Ten Step Spooning Primer
Story and Photos by Brian Sak

Have you heard of a dance called the two-step? In our latest magazine issue, writer Brian Sak tells you how to dance a jigging spoon...in ten steps. Heat up your cold weather fishing by learning how to do the tango with these heavy-weight baits.

Most anglers hang up their gear as the last few autumn leaves drop from their branches and the crisp fall air turns to the cold of winter, only to dream about what the distant spring will bring. For some, however, blustery conditions are not a signal to stop fishing, but a time to modify tactics. Choose the right one, and the action will keep you braving the weather all season.

An excellent cold-water technique, and one that often out-fishes all others during late fall and winter, is vertically jigging heavy slabs of metal designed to imitate baitfish - better known in bass fishing circles as spooning.

Spoons have lots of potential when the weather heads south, but haphazardly dropping one to the bottom is a sure-fire path to frustration. There are several basics methods, and a few details you must master before you can consider yourself a proficient spooner. Luckily, it doesn't take long to learn to fish these molded pieces of steel properly - especially when instructed by one of the best there is at spooning up bass.

Inside Line asked California pro Mike Rold, one of the West's premier spoon anglers, to share a few of his secrets. We ended up with this 10 step primer to probing the depths with spoons in cold weather.

1. Know When To Spoon

Spooning is like all other bass fishing techniques - if you do it long enough you will eventually catch a fish or two. There are times and situations, however, when specific baits and approaches out-perform all others. Knowing when to spoon is your first step toward success.

Any time the water dips below 60 degrees is a good rule-of-thumb for pulling out your spoons, but don't rely completely on temperature, because schooling fish are the key. "Let the bass tell you when they want it (spoon)," stresses Rold, "because there are times when they'll school up and eat spoons, even when the water is still in the 60s." When scouting for fish, look for concentrations of bass on points and in the backs of creek channels – when you find them there, it's time to spoon ‘em up.

2. Proper Gear, Proper Rigging

You locate a school of bass, tie on a spoon, drop it to the bottom and catch fish, right? Maybe. But having the right gear and rigging your spoons correctly will increase the odds of filling that livewell.

Start off with a six to seven-foot rod, and make sure it's ultra-sensitive. Bass seldom whack a spoon, so you will need to be able to feel the subtlest changes in your bait's action. Rold suggests spooling your reel with 15-pound test fluorocarbon, unless you're fishing deeper than 90-feet, when braided line will provide a little more sensitivity. Super sharp treble hooks are also a must - for added action use one with a bucktail dressing.

Tie a ball-bearing swivel to your line, then add an 18 to 24-inch leader, and your lure. Attach the leader to the spoon with a thin wire snap (remove the split ring). "It (a snap) seems to work a whole lot better, because the spoon looks more natural," says Rold, "and the swivel prevents line twist."

3. Simple Colors

The real attraction when it comes to spoon fishing, at least to bass, is the flash that these lures produce. "For the most part," advises Rold, "chrome spoons are a good choice. But at times, fish seem to want gold - especially whenever clouds are blocking the sun." The only other color that Rold recommends is white. There's really no need to be extravagant, but if you want to try chartreuse, orange or any other color for that matter, go ahead. The most important thing when it comes to spoon fishing is confidence, and if it works for you, use it.

4. Understand Your Electronics

You can buy the best electronics in the world (and you definitely have to own quality equipment for this type of fishing), but if you don't know how to use your sonar you probably won't catch many bass. "It's paramount to have top-of-the-line electronics for spooning," asserts Rold, "because with a good fish-finder you can actually tell if a bass is looking at your spoon, and you should be able to see them hit it about half of the time."

Set your electronics with the "grayline" feature turned on and a tight school of bait will show up as a dark splotch with a gray band running through it. Be ready for fast action if you see larger fish (bass) hanging below, or to the back of the school. "When I have a big ball of bait go across my graph," reveals Rold, "I usually get bit after it moves off (his graph)." Bass trailing a ball of bait pick-off weak or injured fish as they drop out of the school - don't crank in your lure just because you don't see the bait anymore.

5. Find The Bait

Once you're comfortable with your electronics, it's time to find some baitfish - particularly bait that bass are corralling into tight balls, and Rold emphasizes the word tight. Don't waste your time on scattered baitfish, regardless of how big the school, because there is nothing trying to eat them.

Rold starts his search at major points leading into creeks, and while keeping an eye on his sonar, crisscrosses the channel as he works toward the back. "Try to notice where the bait is holding," recommends Rold, "whether they're suspended, on the bottom or right on the bank." If you don't find bait in the main channel, check secondary points and feeder creeks.

6. Locate Ambush Points

Schools of baitfish are always on the move, and although it's possible to follow a ball of bait around, knowing where bass hold to wait for food to come to them will save you a lot of trouble. This is especially true when fishing several different areas, or on multiple days - you can go directly to a spot rather than spending time searching an entire area.

Key ambush points to look for include break lines, rock piles and submerged brush or trees that lie along creek channels. Rold reveals that one of his favorite areas is where feeder creeks drop into main channels. "There was one tournament that I finished second in last year," recalls Rold, "where I waited for the bait to show up for two hours. The bait finally came through, then the bass came through and I caught ten keepers in the amount of time it would take you to snap your fingers."

7. Look For Reaction Strikes

Even though spoons are typically used when the fishing is tough, they are still reaction-type baits that capitalize on active bass. But dropping your spoon to bass feeding on tight schools of bait does not guarantee a strike. "When fish know there is something wrong (like this thing isn't real)," cautions Rold, "they get a negative cue and will not eat." Rold compares the behavior to bass exposed to countless presentations in casting tanks at fishing seminars - they may follow the presenters offering closely, but rarely hit it.

Watch your sonar closely and you may see a fish move to your spoon on the initial drop, and then disappear. When you see bass exhibiting this behavior it's time to reel in and try again. "I'll hop it (spoon) only a minute or two," admits Rold, "but if nothing happens I bring it up, move a little bit then drop it right down again and hope to get that reaction strike."

8. Tune In To Your Bait's Action

Different spoons have different actions, dependent on their weight and shape, and it's up to you to rely on the bass to let you know what they want. "The action of spoons fall into two categories," offers Rold. "Those with a straight drop and ones that have lots of wobble." As examples, Rold points out that a standard Hopkins spoon sinks fast with a straight drop type of flutter, while the bent shape of a Shasta Tackle Double Dancer has a very distinctive wobble as it falls relatively slowly. When bass ignore what you're using, throw them a curve by changing to a different type of spoon.

9. Never Lose Contact

Ninety-nine percent of pick-ups come when spoons are fluttering to the bottom. And fish don't hold on long! If you don't keep in contact with your bait you may never feel a bass take it. Rold points out that "every spoon has its own characteristic feel." Be comfortable with each type that you own, so you'll sense even the slightest change - always set the hook if you feel anything different.

Even with the most sensitive equipment and excellent technique, some spoon bites are so light they are undetectable to the touch. "You have to know what depth you're in," stresses Rold, "and if that spoon stops six-inches, a foot, even three-inches early and your line starts to coil on the water, you set that hook." Any delay may cost you a fish.

10. Experiment With Different Techniques

Some anglers claim that the little things don't make a difference. But bass are finicky, and how you work a spoon, often times, does matter. Spoons are versatile - work them subtly, aggressively and every way in between, until the bass tell you what they want, that day.

The most refined method of spooning, and the one that takes the most faith and patience, is dead-sticking. "If the water is real clear," claims Rold, "get the spoon down there, rip it up a couple of times then let it lie there - the fish know that thing is there and eventually eat it right off the bottom."

There are occasions when bass want a spoon that is hopping up-and-down only an inch or two, and other times when fish want it ripped up several feet. "A lot of the time I do a double clutch - jerk, jerk," explains Rold, "or I'll jerk a foot and drop it, jerk six-inches and drop it, then jerk two-feet and drop it." Regardless of the cadence you use, the important thing is to mix it up until you know what the bass are looking for. The proof is in the livewell!

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