Anyone use trolling spoons for casting?

[huzzsaba]

I have some nice (proven) trolling spoons that glow nicely.  Was thinking of using those for night casting off the pier.  They obviously don't have the weight of a normal spoon but thought I would try with some split shots before the spoon.

I have tried all the usual glow spoons (cleos, moonshine, len thompson) which I have caught on before, but for some reason have no luck with them. Want to change it up.

 

thanks

[BillM]

Get some 1/2 bullet weights or egg sinkers and thread them on your line before your snap or swivel.  Simplest way to add a bit of weight to a lure.  I do this all the time for spinnerbaits when fishing deep weed edges and it works great.

[huzzsaba]

21 minutes ago, BillM said:

Get some 1/2 bullet weights or egg sinkers and thread them on your line before your snap or swivel.  Simplest way to add a bit of weight to a lure.  I do this all the time for spinnerbaits when fishing deep weed edges and it works great.

Thanks for your reply Bill.  In a pinch, do you think some split shots would work? How far up from the spoon do you tie the sinker?

[BillM]

I'm sure they would.  They might muck up the action of your spoon a bit though.   I'd squeeze them on as close to the swivel as possible.   You have any Rapal J13s?   One of my favs for casting chinnies off the piers or from a boat.

Edited September 18, 2019 by BillM

[huzzsaba]

I do have the J13.  Unfortunately broke the lip on it, hopefully some glue would fix it.  J13 would work at night as good as a glow spoon?

 

Quote

I'm sure they would.  They might muck up the action of your spoon a bit though.   I'd squeeze them on as close to the swivel as possible.   You have any Rapal J13s?   One of my favs for casting chinnies off the piers or from a boat.

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by huzzsaba

[BillM]

I catch as many fish at night on J13s as I do glow spoons.  Just depends on what the fish are in the mood for.

[Snidley]

If you have identical trolling spoons double them up using as small an "O" ring as you can manage and with your fav colour exosed. They will then be heavy enough to cast and they will also rattle a bit. Downside is that a breakoff will be expensive. I used to do this with some trolling spoons but also with Williams Wabblers which are a tad light for long distance chucking. In my experience the best salmon lures these days are Moonshine casting spoons, especially the Bloody Nose colour and the Chartruse Tiger colour. They both glow blue when lit. Sometimes they like the smaller triangle style other times the traditional Canadian spoon pattern. The glow lasts a long time when you flash on them but as usual they are good so they are also expensive. Sail probably still has some. I'm now in St Catherines and so far I've not seen much happening here but Bronte had fish last week. As far as crankbaits and jointed baits like J13 or Fast Tracks putting some  glow paint on the bottom helps salmon find them at night. They can find unlit ones with their lateral line but some visual targeting helps too. What really helps most is cold water and stained water, then they will find whatever you throw at them  and you will be into them by double digits. It's coming  any time now.

[J Roelofsen]

Stick with the casting spoons you have. Most people I see reel far too fast with spoons at night. A s..l..o..w retrieve is necessary for proper action with most casting spoons, they should wobble back and forth, not spin. The largest Len Thompson's are a favourite in clearer, deeper water. The small Moonshine tear drops are great all around but shine in murky water when a bright glow is helpful. 

And its unlikely your J13 will run properly after a repair. They're very finicky baits. 

Josh 

[Old Ironmaker]

Believe me I have tried. Some are so light they can go backwards when I tried to throw them out there into a light wind. No matter how much weight is added they just seem to act stupid going through the air. Often the heavy weight would pass the spoon in the air and make a mess of the line. Get out there and give it a try. Why do you want to reinvent the wheel Huzz? Cost? One reason fishin' ain't cheap. 

The orange J-13 was our lake O Rappala way back when. 12 guys on the Hamilton pier and 10 are throwing J-13's. And they casted like turd too into the wind. 

Edited September 18, 2019 by Old Ironmaker

[BillM]

J13s cast like crap even with no wind, lol!   But man the chinnies love them.    

[Snidley]

Lots of lures for salmon that work as well or better than J13's. They cast better as well. Lymans, Fast Tracks, Husky Jerks, Tail Dancers, Shad Raps, Reef Runners as well as virtually all of the Japanese jerkbaits like Lucky Craft Pointers, Slender Pointers, Staysees, Bevy Shad 75, Jackal Squad Minnows, Squirrel 79, Evergeen Sledges, Megabass Leviathons, Yozuri  Flatside Minnow, Hardcore75/90shallow and divers, Live Target Smelt, Jointed and Perch. Crankbaits work too, like Wiggle warts, Mag warts, Flat warts,Big O, Hot Shot 20,25 30,Wordens Fat Fish Flat fish/Kwikfish. The list goes on and on. The downside is they all cost money and lots of it but J13 are now $12-$13, Moonshines are $8-$9  too. but if you are only firing out J13 and some spoons you are not really trying that hard.

[huzzsaba]

13 hours ago, J Roelofsen said:

Stick with the casting spoons you have. Most people I see reel far too fast with spoons at night. A s..l..o..w retrieve is necessary for proper action with most casting spoons, they should wobble back and forth, not spin. The largest Len Thompson's are a favourite in clearer, deeper water. The small Moonshine tear drops are great all around but shine in murky water when a bright glow is helpful. 

And its unlikely your J13 will run properly after a repair. They're very finicky baits. 

Josh 

Thanks for all the wonderful advice. Went out early this morning and had a hit and miss on moonshine white and orange glow spoon.

After 15 mins switched to a size 1 Len Thompson 5 of diamonds glow spoon and was rewarded with this nice 20 lb buck.

Josh, Your advice on a slow retrieve worked. Basically casted it out,let it sink for 6-7 seconds and slow retrieve.  Glad my 2 year salmonless drought is over  .  Also my first ever Bronte Salmon

[Snidley]

I forgot to mention Rattletrap type baits from Spro, Yozuri, Lucky Craft, Jackal, Daiwa, Cotton Cordel. They not only work but cast a mile. I've seen Americans on TV catch inshore salmon on soft plastic minnows from Berkley as well. I'm trying soft plastic swimbaits this year because I know they work for big Steelhead and usually salmon and steelhead will hit similar lures. Again put a heavy jighead on a swimbait and not only does it cast far it also hugs the bottom which is where chinooks often linger when they are not jumping

[J Roelofsen]

Rattletraps definitely have a place in casting box. The large saltwater size in 1/2 red 1/2 white is a personal favorite. I have friends that throw swim baits all the time with lots of success.....theres definitely a ton of effective alternatives to the common spoons/J13's. Maybe one more trip for me when things cool off again next week then it's time to switch gears to Steelheading ? 

Josh 

[FILTHY OAR]

It's pretty dark, half dead/far gone,  did you clean and eat that thing ?  

[12 Volt Man]

i find i can throw my J13 rapalas much better on my baitcasting gear than my spinning gear. not sure why. So I use a spinning rod for spoon chucking and my 7'6 baitcasting rod for J13 rapalas. 

[Old Ironmaker]

2 hours ago, Duckie said:

i find i can throw my J13 rapalas much better on my baitcasting gear than my spinning gear. not sure why. So I use a spinning rod for spoon chucking and my 7'6 baitcasting rod for J13 rapalas. 

Your baitcaster most likely is a far better quality rod and reel. 

[OhioFisherman]

They cast little cleo's and rattletrap style lures here at night for walleye and steelhead from the piers and breakwalls.

[steellee]

Use flutter or  trolling spoons all the time. They work the drifts on Niagara way better than cast and crank style casting spoons for me. For weight I've tried it all and most methods are going to ruin the action. For starters keep a heavier treble on where as heavier spoons I prefer to swap over to a siwash style hook. Then if extra weight is needed you can use the Storm Suspend Strips. These are patches of lead that are designed to sink floating crankbaits so they suspend. They can be trimmed, removed, replaced on the same lure wet, painted. A few centered down the middle back of spoon should do the trick with the least intrusion on the spoons natural action. 8$ or so and your set for years. Also good baitcast gear is pretty essential. I find it better than spin gear and low end baitcast just won't cast in this situation. I run a Calcutta TE DC and can launch these effortlessly. 

Edited September 23, 2019 by steellee

[misfish]

On 9/20/2019 at 9:15 AM, FILTHY OAR said:

It's pretty dark, half dead/far gone,  did you clean and eat that thing ?  

A smoker will make that fish just right for the taste buds. Nice going Huzz.  I was looking at these moon shine spoons yesterday. Crazy pricing. I,ll stick to my rapalas and spinners,kwik fish and flat fish.

[Snidley]

I also use siwash hooks especially when pier chucking. You don't lose nearly as many lures to the bottom and you can add a small twister tail or swimbait tail without messing up the action . You might miss an initial hookup or 2 but once hooked up you will never get a lost fish to a bent out treble hook tyne and if you get a jumper the siwash has way better bite making it mush harder to throw. I've seen guys having success with the flutter spoon technique at the Whirlpool targeting salmon and steelhead. I've seen trolling spoons used but the guy who did best was using small/mid sized Williams Wablers  and Sutton Spoons. Both those lures have a much fatter profile than a typical trolling spoon and they "flutter" more especially the Sutton spoon (actually known as the Sutton Flutter Spoon). The much discussed "Miracle Spoon" is another A Team winner for salmon and steelhead just about everywhere..

[Old Ironmaker]

On 9/18/2019 at 11:10 AM, huzzsaba said:

Thanks for all the wonderful advice. Went out early this morning and had a hit and miss on moonshine white and orange glow spoon.

After 15 mins switched to a size 1 Len Thompson 5 of diamonds glow spoon and was rewarded with this nice 20 lb buck.

Josh, Your advice on a slow retrieve worked. Basically casted it out,let it sink for 6-7 seconds and slow retrieve.  Glad my 2 year salmonless drought is over  .  Also my first ever Bronte Salmon

Huzz, please clean the rust off that 5 of Diamonds.I bet you catch more like that. Nice fish Huzz. I could never tie a spoon in that shape on. But the proof is in the puddin'. Come to think of it that might be fish blood. 

Edited September 24, 2019 by Old Ironmaker

[J Roelofsen]

I just noticed the swivel your using! Yikes!! Do yourself a favour and upgrade those! I wouldn't trust those cheap brassy things to much smaller fish, let alone a big angry chinny ?

Josh 

[steellee]

23 hours ago, Snidley said:

I also use siwash hooks especially when pier chucking. You don't lose nearly as many lures to the bottom and you can add a small twister tail or swimbait tail without messing up the action . You might miss an initial hookup or 2 but once hooked up you will never get a lost fish to a bent out treble hook tyne and if you get a jumper the siwash has way better bite making it mush harder to throw. I've seen guys having success with the flutter spoon technique at the Whirlpool targeting salmon and steelhead. I've seen trolling spoons used but the guy who did best was using small/mid sized Williams Wablers  and Sutton Spoons. Both those lures have a much fatter profile than a typical trolling spoon and they "flutter" more especially the Sutton spoon (actually known as the Sutton Flutter Spoon). The much discussed "Miracle Spoon" is another A Team winner for salmon and steelhead just about everywhere..

Not familiar with sutton spoons but ya smaller williams wabblers are cerainly the most deadly steelhead spoon in my box. Used with almost no retrieve, just angles and a tout line in the current they can be absolute deadly. Larger ones you would run for chinnies are much heavier though and would not require any additional weighting in my opinion even for pier chucking. I've doctored lots of larger williams with glow witch doctor tape on one side of their ridge for night fishing with sucess also. 

[BillM]

Is the OP still alive after eating that thing?