It’s almost that time folks!!! It’s almost here! Spoon time!

If by now you don’t know, fishing a spoon is a favorite tactic of mine, you might live under a rock. I don’t think I’ve written more about any other tactic or technique. Spoon fishing became an obsession with me a few years ago, which caused a lot of frustration before meeting my buddy, Jimmy. Since then, my success rate has soared and my enjoyment of the spoon technique is even greater now than ever before.

New changes for the 2023-2024 season

The biggest change I am making is in my own personal spoon rod. I have gone to a BassX rod by St. Croix that is 6-feet-6-inches and a medium-heavy action. It does have some flex but it’s admittedly stiff. I love the butt section of this rod because it’s kind of short and doesn’t get in the way with my BBQ gut. I truly prefer casting rods here. I do have spinning rods set up now for spooning in case a customer wants to use one or is too timid for a bait caster. But in all honesty the feel, the reaction time, and the fishability of the bait caster is a big advantage.

I’m still using 20-pound fluorocarbon line (I prefer SunLine FC Sniper) and I make sure every spoon I use has good swivels on it. Line twist is insane with this technique. To me, the stiffness of this line helps to keep the spoons from getting tangled in the line. Plus, if I hook a big striper or hybrid, I’ve got the rod, reel, and line to boat it and I can still enjoy small white bass and hybrids on this set up.

Spoons

I’m trying two new spoons this year. The first one is by LiveTarget and is called Erratic Shiner. It’s a radically bent spoon, and therefore has a ton of action with it. The next spoon that is new to my box is the Strike King Ledge Spoon. This is a heavy chunk of lead folks. You need a medium-heavy to heavy rod to handle it. For me, this is a deeper presentation spoon. It’s an ounce in weight so it’s going to get to the bottom quick! Toward the end of last winter, I was catching some deeper than average for Oconee fish so I am hoping to experiment with these heavier spoons to see how it might impact my success.

On a recent trip to Florida, I was talking with a friend of my father’s about spoon fishing. He’s a fanatic about it, too. We have really different approaches but, in the end, it came down to this technique really works! He is much more aggressive year around with his spoon actions than I am. The colder it gets the less I will hop a spoon. He never changes really. I never really cast spoons. He will in a heartbeat. To me once it goes to casting, I would rather toss a tail spinner or blade bait. He uses spinning gear, me just bait casters for this!

Just remember this. The only truly wrong way is to never fish a spoon! So, get out there and try them!

—Outdoors columnist James Pressley can be reached at jameskpressley@gmail.com .