Spoon hit by Brown

[KenH]

When casting for trout from shore I often run into guys who tell me they caught a Brown. When I ask if it was hit near the surface or near the bottom, invariably I get "it hit the spoon on the way down" as the answer.
OK, when I cast a spoon I usualy let it fall to my desired depth, sometimes all the way to the bottom, sometimes partially as measured by drop counts.
During that time my bail is open, so if a fish hit the spoon while it was fluttering down, I would not be able to set the hook. In fact unless the fish grabbed the spoon and ran with it, without spitting out the piece of metal as they normally do, there's no way I'd know I got hit while the spoon was on it's way down. I've caught plenty of browns casting spoons and they've all hit while I was retreiving. So this "it hit on the way down" statement has remained a mystery in my mind to this day. If anyone has ever caught a brown "on the way down" perhaps they can explain this to me? Thanks.
 

[Nick]

uh i dont know if this applies but when fly fishing, i had a rainbow eat my fly on the way down. i was doing the countdown method and i saw it just eat my bugger. I dont think it would count with nymphs because they move around alot but my fly looked just like lure falling down in the water. maybe the fish thought it looked like a dying baitfish floating to the bottom? I dont know it sounds strange.

[KenH]

I don't doubt for a moment that fish will hit a bait, lure, fly whatever on
it's way down. How to tell when your line is feeding out anyway is the
mystery. Being able to see the fish take it of course is great.
 

[Pointer]

Ken, perhaps they are casting out an then closing the bail after the cast an letting the spoon fall with a tight line. I do this quite often when fishing a jig although Ive never fished a spoon that way. Letting the jig fall on a tight line I can usually detect a strike while it is falling. Just a thought.

Chris

[Montrose]

Ken, I generally do the exact thing you do.  Leave the bail open and let the spoon drop (I always go to the bottom since the retrieve is on a plane and I want to fish as many depths as possible).  Therefore, almost all the hits I get are on the retrieve.

That said, occasionally, and more specifically at Kensico due to the high laker population, I will often cast as far as possible and then close the bail and raise my rod tip from 4 o'clock (tip at surface) to about 1 o'clock and then drop the rod tip again doing this until the spoon settles on the bottom.  Depending on depth I might get 3-6 pulls in before I begin the retrieve. 

I do this to immitate a dying baitfish in its death throes and to (hopefully) grab the attention of any nearby fish.  I have had fish  grab the spoon on the upswing (and possibly the drop...though as you note I have no idea due to slack line).   I have also spotted fish following the bait and dropped the rod tip at the last second and then start the retrieve again with good success on making a following fish commit to the strike.

If others are doing something similar or like Pointer mentioned they are closing the bail and "fingering" the line on the drop, they might feel a hesitation or out and out strike.  I have also heard the theory when casting Krocs that due to bulkiness and wieght of the lure the fish often end up hooked up by slashing a bait on the drop and hooking themselves.

[KenH]

Ken, perhaps they are casting out an then closing the bail after the cast an letting the spoon fall with a tight line. I do this quite often when fishing a jig although Ive never fished a spoon that way. Letting the jig fall on a tight line I can usually detect a strike while it is falling. Just a thought.

Chris

Yes, that could be a possibility and you certainly would detect a strike.

[Ant73]

Ken, Casting spoons is my preferred method of fishing for trout in the cooler months.  "on the way down" has happened  to me a number of times .  While the spoon is sinking focus on the line and how it is flowing off your rod tip, the line will jump quickly for a very short moment that is usually the hit.  It helps to use braided line and let the line run on your index finger as it sinks. 

[KenH]

Ken, Casting spoons is my preferred method of fishing for trout in the cooler months.  "on the way down" has happened  to me a number of times .  While the spoon is sinking focus on the line and how it is flowing off your rod tip, the line will jump quickly for a very short moment that is usually the hit.  It helps to use braided line and let the line run on your index finger as it sinks.

Thanks. Yes fingering the line seems to be the way to do it.
 

[lionpshark]

I am no expert in this subject, I just wanted to say that 3 of the Browns that I caught this year were on Kroc's and it was on the retrieval after a (approximate) 60ft cast from shore into 60FOW. I let the Kroc hit the bottom and started reeling in. I could not tell you what depth the lure was at when the Brown hit the lure but it felt like a hammer!

[Pointer]

Do most of you guys prefer a steady retrieve or a stop an go retrieve when casting spoons for trout? I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

Thanks

Chris

[KenH]

Most of the time I prefer a steady retreive after a countdown. Once in a while I will do the raise-drop-retrieve routine to let the spoon flutter it's way back to me and cover a wider depth range. I think this is similar to what Montrose mentioned as a way to cover more range. Othertimes I'll just put breaks in the steady retreive to let it drop a little. If targeting Lakers, letting the spoon hit bottom, then 3 or 4 jigging movements very often results in a hit just as you start retreiving. I don't think any one way is better or worse than another, they all catch fish at some point in time.

[johnjav]

Is now a good time to use spoons or are spoon productive any time of the year?  I have a bunch of krocodiles and i seem to always over look them. 

[lionpshark]

In my opinion they are good all year but colder water is better

[Gordon]

I vary between a steady retrieve, stop and go, moving the rod around, etc., until I find something that's working, just like the color and style of spoon. 

[ChrisM]

Is now a good time to use spoons or are spoon productive any time of the year?  I have a bunch of krocodiles and i seem to always over look them.

For some reason all of the trout I have caught lately have gone for spoons over crank baits, even the tasty looking expensive ones. I wonder if it's an instinctual attack response to the flashy silver, instead of a feeding response to a bait fish kind of presentation.