Fishing a spoon

Article 1 : L’ondulante

• Post First published: 3 Feb. 2021 on Morpho-fishing website. See the original article here.
• Reading time: 6 mins read

The “undulating” spoon: Unavoidable lure from the start of the season!

Never, but I mean NEVER, would I dare to go trout fishing without my collection of spoons (or undulating spoons as we call them in France, to differentiate them from the “spinning” spoons)… In France, this metal lure is clearly under rated and forgotten by many fishermen who mainly tuned their choice toward hardbodies. Yet, in the majority of eastern European countries, a spoon is THE go-to lure in search of salmon and trout.

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In my opinion, this boycott comes mainly from the vision that fishing with metal lures (spoons, spinners, metal jig) is “uninteresting, simplistic fishing …” But to me, these lures are much more technical than their appearance at first glance.

One would find loads of “undulating” spoons (as we call them in France to differentiate them from spinner) to target trouts on the tackle shops shelves. Those are mainly small weights and sizes, most of which arising from the Japanese market and the expansion of Area Tournament (trout fishing tournaments in reservoirs). More recently, an increasing number of brands are offering larger models and weights up to 14-17 g. However, most are not directly focussed to trout fishing

• How is an undulating spoon actually working?

The retrieve or the drop of a spoon leads to a confrontation between the speed of the lure and the friction of the water. This will force the undulating to perpetually find a point of balance, resulting in an erratic swim, and intense flashes, unmatched by the vast majority of lures. The action will greatly depend on the shape (curved, flat, concave). Some will have a pronounced S swim, while others will have a more random swim with unpredictable side to side kicks. The profile of the spoon will also greatly influence its flutter on the drop.

Depending on the model, results can be an absolute “all or nothing”. Spoon fishing can be very technical as its effectiveness depends on 3 main factors:
– Amplitude and frequency of flutter
– Intensity and colours of reflections
– Sinking and retrieve rate. It is often necessary to find the right compromises in order to make magnificent catch. However, there are times when they are less difficult, in other words less focused on one type of colour or animation …

• Why is a spoon so deadly, especially early in the season?

When the season opens, a spoon will most likely be the very first thing I would throw. This for multiple reasons.

The first thing to take into account is the fact that the fish haven’t seen a lure in a while Therefore, they are a little less wary than later in the season. Trout would then keenly swim several meters to intercept a lure. This is where the flashing ability of a spoons particularly comes into play.
Then, thanks to their profile and size / weight ratio, spoons allow for longer casts. Since their retrieved is fairly quick, one can cover a lot of ground in a short time.
Finally, early in the season, the currents are generally stronger and food pretty scarce. Fish having not seen lures for a few months will surely not let go a spoon fluttering in well-defined veins (ahah ). Moreover, most strikes are pretty violent, and it is important to get shook by quality bites a few times after months of abstinence (I don’t think I’m the only feeling so… hihi)

• Why do abalone spoon complement metal ones so well ?

One would happily fish exclusively metal spoons early season on all rivers of France. But for many, as spring arrives, the growth of weed beds and the decrease in flow rate become pretty obvious. At this point, fishing with dense lures becomes tricky, except at high retrieve speed. However, most of the time, this turns out to be unsuitable for the fish to commit.

Then, it is not that spoons are only effective at the start of the season, as we often hear. It is “just” that fishing the the right way according to the low flow and denser aquatic vegetation becomes difficult. This is why we had to think about a material with a lower density / size ratio, to build spoons suitable to fish slower current all year round. Here, the “Mother of pearls” comes into play to offer this characteristic. The reflections of the light onto a polished piece of shell can just not be compared with an artificial painting. I’ll let you build your own mind there.

It often happens, especially in lakes, that trout are ambushed on the look for minnows in very shallow water. In such conditions, a low density spoon is absolutely required for discreet landings and low speed animations.

Follows on the sink with dense spoons happen very, vert often. Abalone spoon shine then to answer the issue, with a wider flutter and slower and smooth sinking rate.

Here is a little comparative table to sum things up:

And overall, do not forget that spoons ca catch big ones!… 

See you out there!

Math

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