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Looking to see what are your favorite trolling spoons for walleyes. (manufacturer, size, colors would be appreciated) Also would like to know the time frame when spoons become more effective. Heading to the lake the second week of May and will invest in more spoons if that time frame will produce on that style bait.
dreamweaver dw spoons are 1 of my top favorite in the 3 3/4 size. the best color we have used is the purple alewife. but they have many good colors.
another great spoon is the Michigan Stingger in the standard or I've had great luck with the scorpion. I had great luck with anything that has purple in it. but other colors have produced very well. I haven't used them lately but they had a bad problem with the paint peeling off back then. another color is the Dr Korvorkion. I used the scorpion spoon when I used them. the larger spoons I use now came later.
another great spoon for us has been galeforcetackle.com spoons and worm harnesses. we use mostly the smaller spoons from them. Dr Death, reverse muffin, and other colors have worked well. but our very best is the jawbreaker, it's mostly pink with spots which I believe are blue.
other brands will also work for you. try a mix of the small spoons and the medium spoons and let the fish choose the size they want that day.
OH, I forgot we like to run them around 2.5 to 3.0 but mostly shoot for 2.7 and adjust the speed up or down if needed.
I make a trip to fish the middle of May and a trip the first week of June. My May trip is mostly pulling crawler harnesses "meat". There are people pulling spoons during this time. I just think crawlers this time of year is a more consistent bite. Then by the first week of June the spoon bite has kicked in. I mainly have Michigan stinger spoons. Colors are allover the place for me. Blueberry muffin and a red head wonder bread are usually in the starting line up. Hope this helps
Most people use those Michigan stinger spoons or scorpion size spoons.Several years ago we switched to the spoon harnesses or another name is worm burners.I get them from Gale Force Tackle.They give you great paint jobs that don't chip off.Think I found them from a Sherman recommendation.The colors that work best in those spoons are green,white and purple with a copper back .
If you are planning to fish the second week in May, be prepared to use both cranks and spoons.Was looking in my journal I keep and that is when the water usually reaches 52 degrees.That is the temp that the bite changes from a crank/ jig bite to a spoon/harness bite.We had a more difficult bite the past two seasons in that second week in May during that transition.Did well the week before with cranks and the week after using spoons,but during that transition we put out both cranks and spoons and let the fish tell you what they want that day.Good luck
Early May might be a little early as others have said. Depends on water temp. By then the forum will be very busy. Most of the posters are pretty honest about what they are using. When spoons are working most anything will work. Have a decent selection, and try different colors. I pull mostly stingers. Must haves are wonder bread with copper back. White back works too. Monkey puke, and perch are the 3 I start with when I’m by myself running 3 rods. Wonder bread is my #1. Sometimes I end up with that on all 3 rods. Only problem is the farm animals love the wonder bread too. Try to have at least 2 of everything. I’ve had days that I caught all 6 on 1 rod. I now keep 3-6 of each of my favorites on the boat just in case!
Thanks for the replies. I will have a full compliment of cranks, spoons and crawler harnesses.
it depends on which basin your fishing for the best colors...west basin colors are not the best for central or eastern...pink panties, purple demon, bloody nose, helmut uv, copper watermelon, cat dog, all work good in western...scorpion stingers and silver streak juniors are the best sizes in western...bigger sizes work in central and eastern
just so you know while fishing the central basin out of Geneva Ohio when we fisf harnesses we start at the 1.8 to 2.0 speed. but have fished down to 1.6 or 2.2 to get fish. when running small spoons I like to run 2.5 but when using larger spoons we've had better luck around 2.7 to 3.2. this is fishing the last part of July. A 0.2 difference in speed can make a huge difference in your catch rate. always pay attention when turning the boat to see if you catch fish on one side over the other. if the fish hits on the outside of your turn you might want to try going a little faster when trolling straight, and if you get fish on the inside of the turn you might need to slow your troll down.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod3262
many experienced fishermen every so often will start trolling in an S pattern just to see if they start getting more hits on one side over the other letting them know if they should adjust the speed up or down.