Rattling and Flashing

By Chris Wallace

The jigging spoon is one of the most well known and most used lures in any ice angler’s box. The jigging spoons have been used from the wide, expansive flats of Lake Erie in search of ten plus pound walleyes, to the Canadian Shield in search of Lake trout to small lakes searching out aggressive panfish and perch.

Spoons are the ultimate locator lure and "pulse" baits any angler uses. Spoons allow you to get down to the fish fast, and pick out the most aggressive fish in the area and move on, with a run and gun style approach.

Spoons are great "pulse" baits, by dropping that lure down, with the use of your electronics you can determine the fish’s mood and get a "pulse" of what the bite is going to be like. If you see fish scatter, its time to start downsizing and slowing your approach down.

Once you have located the fish, don’t be too quick to put the spoon away for the day. Start slowing down your tempo a little bit, and start working over the fish that are down there. One thing most people forget though is once you have a fish looking at your bait, keep jigging it, after all the jigging is what got them to come up to it, so keep doing it.

Let the fish determine your tempo for jigging, some days a simple lift, fall, lift fall is all that takes. Try shaking the spoon in place. My favorite technique on walleyes though especially in the middle of the day or on a negative bite, is take a buckshot spoon with a whole shiner hooked through the back, and pound it into the bottom, letting the drop and minnow action to stir up the silt, that struggling minnow on the bottom is hard to resist for any walleye. Try keeping a rhythm and change it until you find what’s working. It is critical like stated before don’t stop jigging when the fish move in, flash and or noise have them there and that’s what is going to keep them there.

When buying spoons take the time to look at what kind your getting. Spoons with a distinct convex curve to them will have a much slower flutter wobble, comparable to a Willospoon. Spoons that are slender like the Lindy Rattl’r, buckshot spoons have a real flat drop.

Spoons have made it into my arsenal for every species in the winter, from chasing Lake trout with big ½ oz to 3/8 oz spoons all the way down to number two Swedish pimples for chasing bull ‘gills. Give them an honest try and you won’t be disappointed.