question for choo choo

[john]

When you jig do you use a metal spoon if so what color. Have you used flukes what do you think works best?

[choochoo]

I don’t use spoons. I have never landed a striper on a spoon, but I had one hooked once. I have been using flukes only. The hot color varies from day to day, and even over the course of changing daily conditions as I observed markedly a couple weeks ago. It’s best if you can start with two folks in the boat using different colors then adjust accordingly. My color suggestion is to focus on the ones that have the very fine glitter flake. Also, don’t down play the appeal of the jig head in the game. I believe when when the stripers rush a bait, they expect to see a realistic, terrified eyeball looking at them. My favorites are the white ones that are hanging on the high rack at Captains Quarters. I recommend stocking up on them when you catch him open, which sometimes happens for a day or two in the winter.

[Yam]

John, even though my name is not choochoo, I would like to advocate for metal spoons. Before I became a live bait addict, I was a bird-chasing, spaghetti kind of guy. All I ever used was metal spoons and thundersticks. I loved spoons because you could chuck them across the lake. You can jig them vertically and horizontally along with dragging them and screaming them through schools. If you find feeding stripers the faster you reeled them, the more effective they became. I also used to catch every creature that eats in the Bay with spoons. My favorite color was/is glow (white).

Now I'm not saying that spoons are the absolute best lure for SML. However, I am saying that spoons are a great lure and ultra versatile. They also crack me up because I get a kick out of tricking smart creatures into eating a piece of hard metal.

[ghostcomanche©®]

I agree with Yam.

If your not jigging spoons at SML, your missing a lot of catching.

There are many good spoons for stripers, but my preferred one is the 3/4 oz. Hopkins "Shorty".

I have used them for 50 years, and will take one over a fluke anytime.

[johnr]

My alignment is somewhere in the middle of the replies. When I was a frequent winter jig fisherman, I would have a couple spoons and a couple flukes at the ready.

Some days, a spoon will spook them all the way to Leesville it seems. Other days, they’ll meet it halfway down and it’s the best thing going. Some days, they’ll eat either bait about the same. Never figured out why...

If I could only pick one, it would be the fluke that I’d expect to provide the best day to day results. Jig it, swim it in figure 8s, walk it around the boat, dead stick it, lay it on the bottom, cast it, or slow troll it. It’s versatile.

I’ve heard that JDs jig-rig is the best of both worlds..

[bigun3]

Jan 23, 2020 12:31:09 GMT -5 johnr said:

 

I’ve heard that JDs jig-rig is the best of both worlds..

  It is!!!!  sometimes I'll substitute a swim bait (no jig head) (especially that funky green color Dewayne has) for the fluke....... 

[johnr]

There’s probably only a couple folks around these days that even know what it is!

Those green swim shads were responsible for my first several stripers in this lake. Another of life’s mysteries....

[bigun3]

   True