bunker spoons

[addictedtobass]

why is it that the bass would rather bite a piece of metal over live bait???
when bait doesnt produce and you throw in the spoons and hook up...what gives just wondering????

[Gerry Zagorski]

The spoons imitate Bunker and you cover more water/area trolling. Since you cover more ground you are passing over more fish. Simple as that.

Trolling spoons is an age old art and you need to do it right or you might as well be home sitting on the couch....

Here is an article on this very subject.
Inshore Wire Line Trolling Tips




In certain conditions wire line trolling can be one of themost effective ways to catch inshore Stripers and Bluefish. This is especiallytrue when the tide is not moving and there are no concentrations of fish foryou to set up on and drift or anchor and chunk. Trolling allows you to cover more ground and find the fish and it keepsyour lures moving when the tide slacks. In addition, it’s no secret that thelarger fish are usually on the edges or at the bottom of a school. Just likeus, larger/older fish are usually less aggressive, smarter and moreopportunistic feeders then the youngsters. They tend to let the youngsterschase the bait around and casually feed on the bait that falls through theschool to the bottom.



The reason wire line trolling in particular produces so wellis because it allows you to get trolled baits deeper down in the water columnthen monofilament lines. The reason for this is that it’s heavier then mono soit sinks faster. It’s also due to its smaller diameter compared to theequivalent pound test mono. (Side note: Similarly this is one of the samereasons many fluke sharpies will use braided lines instead of mono. The smallerdiameter of braided lines allow you to use less weight to hold bottom in fastmoving currents)





OK… Let’s switch to what equipment you will need….



I prefer to use a 7-foot pole with a soft tip and Carbaloyguides. The soft tip gives bunker spoons the action needed to be effective andCarbaloy guides are needed because wire line will tear through softer materialguides. I also recommend using 300 feetof 30LB Monel wire line backed by a hundred yards of 30 lb mono. Join the 2with a barrel swivel small enough to pass through your reel and rodguides. I don’t like Stainless since itkinks too easy and is difficult to handle. At the end of the wire use a haywire twist to join a beaded chain swivel(this helps reduce line twist) and an 8-10 foot length of 50lb leader material. At the end of the leader geta 100lb test snap swivel and this is where you will connect your trollinglures.







First of all it’s best to troll in an area where there areor there is likely to be fish (duh)

If your not marking fish on your sounder or seeing any birdsI would concentrate on channel edges or any other structures like rips or tidelines you can find. Pay close attention to the depth of the area because hereis where the wire line markings come in handy…. I typically like to troll thebottom 1/3rd of the water column. The general rule of thumb for wireis that it will sink at the rate of 1 foot of depth for every 10 feet of wireyou have out. If your desired depth were 10 feet you’d want to have 100 feet ofwire out. If your line isn’t marked thenI would let enough line out so that your making contact with the bottom andthen crank some line in so your running near the bottom. However, if yourmarking fish on your sounder pretty consistently at 20 feet you’d want 200 feetof wire out. Once you get the desired amount of line out you want to put yourreel in free spool with the clicker on and adjust the line tension just tightenough so no line is coming off the reel. Put the rod in the holder or betteryet out rodders. They keep the pole lower to the water and spread out whichtends to make the lines run deeper and keeps them further away from each otherso the lures don’t get tangled when you make turns. While we are talking aboutturns make wide slow turn or else your lines are likely to cross.



What and how to troll




Trolling speed and direction are very important. Generalrule is slow for Stripers (between 2.5 and 2.8 knots) and 3 knots or more forblues. If your using Bunker spoons I would ignore the speedometer and look atthe rod tip to determine the correct speed. When your pulling a bunker spoon atthe correct speed the rod tip should be pulsing up and down and move from sideto side once and a while. If your rod is constantly pulsing your spoon is spinningand that’s not good As far as direction is concerned this is somewhat trial anderror since there are so many variables like current wind. In general it’s bestto be either trolling with or across the direction of the current and make lazyS turns with your boat. Pay close attention to your direction when you hook upbecause often times the fish will only hit when your trolling in certaindirections. One other tip is to take the boat out of gear once and a while.This allows the lures to flutter down and is often times enough to trigger astrike. I can’t tell you how many times this little tip made the differencebetween fishing and catching.



As far as lures are concerned, in general it’s best to matchthe hatch. You want to have your lures look like whatever baitfish ispresent. I’m after quality fish andthere are mature Bunker around I use Bunker Spoons. If I’m after quantity andthere are small baitfishes around I use Umbrella rigs with tubes or shad rigs.Other effective lures are single red tubes (usually a minimum of 12 inches) orParachute rigs tipped with a pork rind. If you don’t have a wire line set upone way to cheat is to use Stretch 25’s and 30’s. These lures will run 25 or 30feet down on regular mono line since they have large lips on the front of thelure that works against the forward motion to make them dive.



OK so now you’re hooked up……..



Once you get a hook up you engage the reel so you’re nowfighting the fish on the preset drag setting. No need to set the hook as thefish will set it themselves. Your drag should always be set to 30% of thebreaking strength of the line. You can set your drag by using a fish scale witha hook at the end of it. Tie your line off to the hook and pull the scale. Yourdrag should start give line when the scale reads 10 lbs (in this example yourusing 30lb test). Here is the most important part of the whole wire linefishing deal……DO NOT PUMP THE FISH WHILE REELING AND KEEP THE BOAT IN GEAR.Wire line is stiff. If you let any slack in the line the fish will use thatslack as leverage and spit the hook just as sure as ****** Bob can catch SeaRobins…If you pump the pole up and down you may create slack. Reel the polekeeping constant pressure on the fish with the rod tip always pointed up. Youcan slow the boat down some but keeping it in gear keeps pressure on the fish.

[SharkHart]

Cause they are deep on the bottom not pushing bait up to the top and its hard to get a live down to them

[sportfishingusa]

When they are not in feeding mode they are being lazy. i compare it to myself, if i am on the couch chances are i am not getting up for a piece of pie, but if it swam past me slowly i would def grab that shit. hahha

[LeftyReeler]

Originally Posted by sportfishingusa

When they are not in feeding mode they are being lazy. i compare it to myself, if i am on the couch chances are i am not getting up for a piece of pie, but if it swam past me slowly i would def grab that shit. hahha

Ain't that the truth....