Do you love big bluegill?

I'm Finally Getting the Knack for This Spoon Thing...

Fished in two different lakes today and got a bout 20 gills on the 1/16 oz RF spoon, firetiger and on the 1/8 oz gold. Most of the fish came from a pond we just got back from but the biggest fish, a 10 + incher, came from a small southern Pa lake.

Tipped the spoon with chuncks of worms and had a blast on ultra light! Thanks again for Bill and his videos and instruction on this tactic. Check out the pix!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bill "Musky" Modica on August 31, 2009 at 5:49pm

Sweet!.....you definitely have to be patient when developing a knack for this type of fishing....I've shared this technique with literally thousands of fisherman that simply could just not get it! and quickly return to their old faithful presentations.

Spoons draw reaction strikes from even the most inactive fish when presented correctly.........Jim, were the initial strikes rather violent?

Permalink Reply by Jim Gronaw on August 31, 2009 at 6:04pm

Yes, Bill...the bigger fish, especially the 10 incher, smashed the spoon...no doubt about it! I caught some gills that were not much bigger than the spoon! But thats a testimony as to the great effectiveness of this lure and tactic.

I watched your spooning video twice last night and figured I was going to devote the majority of the trip to spooning, regardless of the results. Numbers wise, I had my best spoon outing yet. That 10 incher didn't hurt, either!

I haven't caught many, but I have managed 5 hybrids over 10 and one pure gill over 10 inches on the spoon gig. My top spoon fish is an 11 1/2 in hybrid that likely exceeded 1 1/2 lbs! It's like anything else...you have to keep at it, as there is a learning curve to most fishing tactics. Thanks!

Permalink Reply by Jim Gronaw on August 31, 2009 at 6:10pm

Bill, don't know if my first reply came through, but, indeed, those fish were smashing the spoon, especially that 10 incher!

This was my best 'spoon' trip yet, and even though I haven't caught a lot of fish, I have caught 5 hybrids over 10 and one pure gill over 10 inches, including a 11 1/2 in hybrid that likely exceeded 1 /1/2 lbs.

Yes, there is a learning curve to this...thanks again, Bill!

Permalink Reply by Bill "Musky" Modica on August 31, 2009 at 6:29pm

Jim Gronaw wrote.... "Yes, Bill...the bigger fish, especially the 10 incher, smashed the spoon...no doubt about it! I caught some gills that were not much bigger than the spoon! But thats a testimony as to the great effectiveness of this lure and tactic."

Last Saturday my partner and I contacted close to 100 angry bluegills that viciously attacked our spoon offerings in 20 FOW.....my 1/8 oz RFS had the rattle torn off and the acrylic coating of the spoon was also ravaged.....I could honestly say that bluegills DO NOT mouth this bait!

Permalink Reply by Bob Davis on August 31, 2009 at 9:32pm

Some friends fished one of the Madison Chains on Friday and the bite was so intense they couldn't keep 2 rods going, deadsticking. I went back with one of them this morning and the bite was exactly the same so I figured if I can't catch fish with a spoon in these kind of conditions, I ain't ever gonna get the hang of it! Well the 1/5th oz. chrome with lime green taped Swedish Pimp hardly got to the bottom (16 feet of water) and I felt a smash on the working end before I could even get ready. I won't say I out fished my buddy's dead stick approach but I had hits on every retrieve and caught several in the 8+" range. Caught a lot of small ones, and a few perch as well. This was the lake I wanted to take you to Bill. Have some friends coming from Indiana this weekend. I'll set them up with dead sticks and then I plan to "play" with the spoons. Should have a ton of fun on Saturday. Bob

Permalink Reply by Dave Lipps on September 1, 2009 at 5:32am

Jim..great you are getting "the hang" of spooning. Wish I was able to say the same here in Michigan..have very limited catch to date...very few, but what was caught has been quality size gill and perch. I attempted the FR firetiger spoon yesterday without success, while catching 23 several 8" gills and some 10"+perch using my old trusty method of small gold hook and red worms on 4lb test line, just casting out in 25 FOW. Please share more detail as to the learning curve and technic you employ to garner such good catch....I must be doing it all wrong,,but will continue to try spooning on each outing.
Dave

Permalink Reply by Bob Davis on September 4, 2009 at 8:26am

Dave, I'm not convinced "spoonin" is the ultimate approach to gill hunting but I do feel it's another awesome weapon in the test of wits. I have yet to have the spooning approach out fish any of the several forms of gill fishing I've used but will say the attack is like no other. When they smash it, it's as Bill has stated, "It's like hitting a brick with a lawn mower". And that can't be duplicated by crawlers, redworms, or most other baits. I like fishing them with foam baits I tie as well and having a big gill rip the surface for a floating bug is special as well. They all are great forms of the sport but I really think it's not the "magic bullet" that will out fish any other form of fishing at any given time. Just my opinion. I have found out that not being afraid of using bigger spoons in deeper waters will help you control the feel. You want to have complete contact with the bait at all times when either lifting/twitch/lifting/twitch/drop ect. to your retrieve. It's much easier to do with a heavier bait and the size doesn't intimidate any of them! Hope some of this helps. Bob

Permalink Reply by Jim Gronaw on September 4, 2009 at 2:23pm

Hey Bob...I don't think there is an 'ultimate' approach to gilling...just a number of tactics that work most of the time and under a variety of situations. I am still basically a live bait guy and the highest majority of my bigger gills in my lifetime have been on bait. But I do find Bills' spooning tactics intrieging and I feel an urgency to learn and perfect this technique on some of my local bodies of water.

The first 5 or 6 times I tried spooning, I didn't catch a fish. But, as in most fishing situations, there is a learning curve that has to be dealt with and with me that curve may take a while.

I'll still keep the bait rod handy, but spoonin may be a good choice on some of my local lakes. We'll see!

Permalink Reply by Bob Davis on September 8, 2009 at 7:04am

Jim, Had a chance to host some friends from out of state (Indiana) who don't get to fish too often so took them out to a Madison lake we've been doing very well on, on Sunday. I set them up with the dead-sticking approach I knew was hot and my wife sat at the other end of the pontoon and fished the same way. After getting them going, I went to the back of the pontoon with my wife and started spoonin' just to "play" while the others were fishing with what I knew they'd catch fish on. I had a ball dead sticking with a converted fly rod with a spinning handle but had to take it out of the water because I just couldn't manage both rigs with the way the fish were biting. I got hits with each cast of the spoon but actually had my best luck just as the spoon reached near vertical and just jigged it straight up and down over the side of the boat. Don't know if I was casting out too far or what but just seemed to have really good luck in the near vertical position that day. Will say I took home more gills then I cared to clean but for friends I did it for them. They had a ball and so did I. I used the new Swedish Pimples in the 1/8 oz. size and the "ice" color patterns. Did well on black ice, and the pink ice as well. That day I probably could have thrown any color at them and they'd have taken it! Now that's fishin! Bob

Permalink Reply by Jim Gronaw on September 8, 2009 at 9:40am

Very cool, Bob! I am going out in about 2 hours to see if I can do the same! Just got a new shipment in of the RF spoons and I am going to try the Fireline Crystal at 6 Lb test to see if I can get better strike detection. Thanks!

Permalink Reply by John Sheehan on January 13, 2012 at 2:27pm

Chuck-Dead sticking is when you put your pole down to eat a sandwich and when you pick up the pole again there's a fish on! Seriously I dont know how many times I've worked out a snag in my reel only to find leaving the bait or lure there was the RIGHT action for the moment.A 5 and 1/2 lb Bass ,one of my best was caught deadsticking .I just have to recall to do it on purpose!Happy fishin'- John

Permalink Reply by John Sheehan on September 8, 2009 at 12:26pm

I am believing the narrow profile is a great attractor for more species of panfish than bluegills in my home lake .It does seem to make BGills attack with a distinct viciousness as they might realize, at some level ,that this is just gonna fit in their mouths and they need to stun their little prey.Energy expenditure principal.Tipping the spoon with a piece of bait and using a slow lift and drop action is initially essential in my experience as I think it represents to the gill a feeding behavior of a potential easy meal that is vulnerable,like a hawk at a bird feeder.I always like to test the bare spoon after getting gills worked up with a bait tipped spoon. It's worked for me several times .If they stop hitting a bare spoon the bait tipping gets employed again.