Matt Arey discusses his favorite gear for spoon fishing--his preferred rod, reel and line and a rig modification.
I start fishing a spoon later in the summer, through the fall and into the early winter. I use a 7’6” Lew’s Custom Pro Speed Stick Heavy Action, paired with a Lew’s HyperMag Reel in a 7:1 gear ratio. I use 17lb tactical fluorocarbon.
I use a barrel swivel attached to a 10 or 12 inch leader with my spoon tied onto the bottom. I’ll take the leader, before I tie it to the head of my spoon, and slide on a feathered treble hook. I’ll match the size of the hook to the size of the spoon.
What that does is it allows the feathered treble hook to move freely up and down that leader. As you jerk the spoon up and down and the spoon is fluttering and falling, the feather is coming up and fluttering with it. It doesn’t have the same action as the spoon, but it looks like a shad and like an easy meal for fish.
This set-up separates the stinger hook from the spoon, so that when you do hook two fish at one time, the hook moves with the fish as it moves. Not only does it increase your chances of landing that double, it gives it a different look. I use this set up with all sizes of spoon, from big magnum spoons all the way down to 2.5 to 3-inch spoons.
I learned this technique from a buddy several years back, and I have caught several doubles on this set-up.
Recap: Tie your main line to a barrel swivel, then slide your 10-12 inch leader line through a feathered treble hook that’s matched in size with your spoon, then tie the leader to your spoon. This will increase your chances of hooking a double, but also increase your chances of landing a double.
