Trolling with Spoons

The_owl

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Anyone on here ever troll with spoons? I’m talking dare-devil type spoons.

Last summer I chartered a boat on Lake Michigan for salmon and lake trout, we limited out. Half of the lures we were using were simple spoons. The guide even mentioned that further north around Green Bay, people used these for walleye.

I’ve looked around for dive depth info, without luck. I’m interested in trying it but not exactly sure where to start. Looking online at https://dardevle.com they have some interesting color combos I’d like to try.

I’m thinking I should start with a 2 oz snap weights and just start experimenting. Maybe the don’t dive on their own much??

Any info would be appreciated.
 


eyexer

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only ways to really troll with spoons is with downriggers, lead core or snap weights. I don't know anyone that has really tried them. I have a couple times alongside cranks with no luck. But that limited use wouldn't really paint the whole picture. People use em through the ice so there is no reason they wouldn't work trolling. I know a guy that caught a nice walleye casing spoons for northerns once. anything that mimmicks the forage in a lake will work.
 

riverview

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grew up trolling daredevils and lazy ikes, if you wanted them deeper you let more string out.
 

johnr

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I am always afraid of piercings of the old sack effn around with them sonsabitches
 


Brian Renville

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My grandpa told me that’s about the only way they boat fished the big lake back then. I’ve caught walleye with them just not trolling. With all the nice things we have now I don’t think a spoon would outfish anything but I bet you’d put fish in the boat.
 

Stobber

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Hmmmm....I think you could be effective with some pencil syle weights, nice and heavy, maybe 2 or 3 ounces...run that like a bottom bouncer to keep your line vertical(ish) and run about a two food leader above that with a three way swivel, one going to the weight, one with a 4-6' leader running to your spoon and the third running to the reel. This would give you good control and would make it easy to control your depth. hmmmmm....
 

lostinnd

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I haven't chased walleye by trolling spoons but I have done that for lakers. I used dipsy divers and it was pretty easy to dial in the depth all the way down to 40ft or so.
 


Casey Buchholz

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My dad caught some big walleye trolling a red and white Dardevle in 4'-6' of water on Lake Of The Woods several years ago. We were targeting pike but all we caught were walleyes. Every fish he caught was in the slot limit so the poor guy just kept catching and releasing fish hoping for that one giant that never came.
 

Smuscha

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Silver streak JR trolling spoons behind a tadpole diver from offshore tackle
 

MSA

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I've cast & trolled daredevils for miles in my day. Sure I've caught a few walleye, but thats are the last method I would look at for improving catch rates or size when it comes to walleye.

As far as depth control, you'd need something to take the spoon down for you, like dipsy divers, downriggers, or snap weights.
 


NDSportsman

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I've caught a lot of walleye trolling spoons. My dad always had a black and white dare devil on one rod when he fished. I prefer a plain or hammered silver or gold. I think it mimics baby white bass. Seems to work best in 10' or less, deeper I usually switch to cranks.
 

Captain Ahab

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I've cast & trolled daredevils for miles in my day. Sure I've caught a few walleye, but thats are the last method I would look at for improving catch rates or size when it comes to walleye.

As far as depth control, you'd need something to take the spoon down for you, like dipsy divers, downriggers, or snap weights.



I was was going to say the same. If you put a cheap flicker shad on the other rod, it would likely out fish the spoon by a wide margin for walleye.
 

Retired Educator

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50+ years ago when I first started fishing, tackle boxes were much smaller. Assorted DareDevles in a variety of sizes and colors, a couple lazy Ikes was about all you needed. If you were in the upper class (16ft boat w/25hp instead of 14ft w/10hp), you might have also had a couple Flatfish. The only time you knew the depth was when you dropped an anchor. Pretty much trolled the shoreline and if you caught a fish you made a few more passes along that shore. Didn't worry about draining the live well when leaving the lake, used a stringer.

Don't remember catching many walleyes on DareDevles. First experience with a crank bait was when I bought a Rebel. Caught a lot of fish with that lure and when it was lost I bought another as soon as i could. Now I have more than a hundred minnow imitation types of lures. Most have never been in the water. Suppose when I'm gone my wife will sell them in a rummage sale.
 

defiant1

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Anyone on here ever troll with spoons? I’m talking dare-devil type spoons.

I’m thinking I should start with a 2 oz snap weights and just start experimenting. Maybe the don’t dive on their own much??

Any info would be appreciated.

I have used spoons (2.5" - 3" long) connected to braid line off of shorty rods when trolling. I used a 3 oz snap weight. The color of the spoons was gold or gold/silver. I won't say it worked 100% of the time, but used along side crank baits can be a nice change of pace to see if a different presentation gets them to bite. I don't start with spoons, but if trolling is tough going I will throw a couple on and test the waters, as it were.
 


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