The Spoonpluggers Forum

Haha. It’s funny you say that Champ. I was just thinking the same thing. I was actually able to stay out later this year and fish some more but will have to put the boat away this week. I store my boat in a large warehouse with other boats so getting it out is tough. But next year I may pull her out...

Thanks for doing this John. These are great real life exercises to help with our interpretation and understanding. I also appreciate the reminder to be patient and let the fish tell us where and how (depth and speed) they want to eat.

I’ll take a stab at it, John. Assuming “up” is North: 1. The deepest water in the area is at 31’ to the northwest 2. The sharpest break to the deepest water is to the West where the 24’ countour is marked - which also leads to a deeper saddle 3. Another steep breakline is to the North coming out of ...

Tumbleweed, This is my first year as a newbie - trying to earn the label of a Spoonplugger but not worthy yet. I hope you were able to get a little time on the water this fall and give it a try. I found this first year to be one of my most successful from a numbers standpoint. But, it was pretty muc...

Welcome Tumbleweed. I’m a newbie too. This is my first season trying to learn the skills and knowledge of a Spoonplugger. It’s basically been a colossal cluster but I’ve learned a lot and caught more fish this year than I have in a long time. I found this forum a great place to ask questions and lea...

I love this thread because I find it so inspiring. Not because of the electronic mapping tools but because of the knowledge learned over the years by spoonplugging veterans putting in the time to map and interpret their lakes. I have the hummingbird maps and auto-chart. I even bought the PC software...

Interesting comments from John. The question of bass in the weeds versus at the base of a weedline has haunted me. As a new Spoonplugger I am struggling to find any consistency. I knew it would be this way at first so I’m not discouraged. But my observations so far seem to contradict what I was expe...

I witnessed my first migration today (or at least with the knowledge of what was going on). I was on the water working the same bar from 6:00 AM to 10:15. At 9:15 I landed a 4lb LM on the top of the main breakline at 14’ - where it drops into 30’. I looked up and a boat beating the bank landed a sma...

Frank, John and Steve. Thanks for the great comments and suggestions. I’ve already given thought to the CSI (didn’t know they actually had a designation). I’ve spent thousands of dollars on Muskie guides and none could explain to my why that Muskie was in that area or why it was eating (except to to...

Thanks Hal, John and Steve, I’m going thru the rods I have to learn how they feel with each model of spoonplug. I’m only using spoonplugs this year for trolling and focusing mostly on the 1st 3 lures when I can. I’m going to re-spool a couple of reels with No-Bo and keep working. I’m going out this ...

While we are talking about No-Bo and Braid, which rods are your go-to choices and when would you use each. The website has (1) a short handle regular action, (2) a short handle heavy action, and (3) a long cork handle regular action. I assume the short handles are casting rods and the long handle is...

B48D18BD-B46E-4C86-A08F-212AF0840E56.jpeg I fished this breakline on Sunday. The weed line is 9-10’. There is a 4’ breakline at 14’. From a previous structure that morning I found nothing at the weed line. I had only an hour left to fish before the grandkids came over so I decided to fish the 14’-1...

Thanks John. I’ll start looking.

Ken

John, I really want to learn and gain experience. Knowing what you know today, if you had to start where I am, what equipment would you want (boat, motor and electronics). I still work 60 hours/week and don’t have a lot of time or access to the best water color. But I have a lot of lakes and fish wi...

“We do have guidelines that guide us through these challenges and for the most part, we may get some satisfaction from our study and what we learn on the water. There are so many variable to consider in some bodies of water that we may never figure everything out.” John, I’m very interested in how y...