How to catch trout with spoons

Spoons are among the oldest spinning lures still readily available, but they live in the shadows of flashy inline-spinners and lifelike jerkbaits such as the Rapala’s.

Spoons, in my opinion, are underrated, and many of us should fish them more. Spoons have some significant advantages over other lure designs. So, let’s not waste too much time on introductions and jump into why spoons are some of the best trout catching lures around.

Popular Spoons For Trout Fishing

Here is a quick summary of many popular spoons, scroll down to the bottom half of this article for more details on how to get the most out of many of these spoons.

Spoon	Best for	Description
Thomas Buoyant	Best for Rivers	Excellent fluttering retrieve, slow sink rate, great for shallow ripples, excellent for streams
Acme Little Cleo	Best for Fishing Holes	Great for casting, heavier spoon for far casts and deeper waters, not suitable for smaller rivers. Fish enticing wobble, fast sink rate.
Acme Kastmaster	Best Casting Spoon	Best for distance, easy to cast, versatile design, durable, troll, cast or jig
Eppinger Daredevle	Best Trolling	Excellent for fishing deep, excellent trolling for lake trout
Mepps Little Wolf Spoon	Best Skinny Water Spoon	Small spoon, works well in skinny water and small streams.
Thomas Colorado Spoon	Excellent Small Streams Spoon	Great general-purpose spoon but excels in streams and shallow water. Comparable to Mepps little wolf.
Acme Phoebe	Excellent Shallow Water Spoon	Lightweight, great for fishing shallow water and ripples, curved design allows fishing at all speeds and depths.
Dreamweaver DW Spoon	Excellent Trolling Spoon.	Proven best trolling spoon, great action when trolled, not suitable for casting or strong currents
Luhr Jensen Krocodile	Excellent casting, Long-Body Spoon	Long, round chunky spoon, easy to cast, sinks quickly, great for searching for trout in big water. Works well when trolled.
Bluefox Moresilda Trout	Honorable Mention	Resembles tiny fish, casts like a bullet, sinks rapidly, good for fishing deep pools, fast currents, and trolling
Abu Garcia Toby	Rare Treasure	Casts well, fluttering retrieve, baitfish profile, hard to find
Super Duper	Honorable Mention	Bent boxy U-sharp design, traps water causing it to dance and wobble, controversial among anglers.

When are spoons the best trout lure?

Spoons have several advantages over inline-spinners or jerkbaits. The two main advantages are ease of casting and the sink rate. But there is a lot more finesse to the details.

Most trout fishermen know this, but casting a tiny spinner or jerkbait can be challenging. For long distance casts, reach for a spoon. Spoons are typically made out of denser material and are more streamlined allowing for better aerodynamics.

So when fishing big rivers, lakes or simply targeting trout holding far away spoons are usually the best option. It is what I use when searching waters quickly I am not familiar with.

The second advantage, and maybe the most important advantage spoons have is sinking rate. They sink quickly. This makes spoons a great option for fishing close to the bottom, ideal for deep fast pools. This sink rate also makes them a popular lure for trolling in deep lakes and even for jigging.

So, when targeting trout holding in deep water. I usually will reach for a spoon. I honestly prefer to use a spinner or jerkbait when fishing in shallow waters, but in expert hands, a fluttering spoon such as the Thomas Bouyant is still an effective trout lure.

Reasons to fish a spoon over a spinner?

More trout are caught on inline spinners than any other style of trout lures, they are just that effective. So why would someone choose to fish a spoon?

Spinners are great, but their strength can also be their weakness. Spinners are loud, obnoxious lures. They vibrate through the water buzzing and sending flashes like it is a disco. They are loud and proud, and the trout know they are there.

Sometimes, all that light show is simply too much for trout, and rather than triggering them to strike. It triggers them to bolt to their nearest hide. Yes, spinners can spook wary trout. In these situations, the much less pronounced action of a spoon can actually prove to be more effective.

For a more detailed answer, and more analysis check my article on comparing spoons and spinners.

Fours rules when retrieving a spoon

Keep it slow.

Trout are not speedy predators, they are rarely prepared to chase prey down. Trout prefer to ambush, and pounce on their prey. Reeling in a spoon too slowly is usually much more effective than going too fast.

Vary your speed.

Baitfish, do not swim at a consistent speed. They dart and zig-zag around, often changing direction or even pausing for a few seconds before moving on again. try to replicate that swim style by varying the speed of your retrieve, put in short boosts of speed, and the occasional pause. I have found trout like to pounce on the pause.

Impact action.

Spoons often lack the fishlike actions of more modern designs, so it is a good idea to impact additional action during your retrieve by twitching your rod. This causes the spoon to swim erratically and might just trickier a following trout to strike.

Cast and wait.

After casting out, it can be a good idea to pause for a few seconds before starting your retrieve. Experience fishermen do this for several reasons. This gives the lure time to sink deeper towards the bottom where trout, especially steelheads and wary browns, often hold.

The next point is a bit of a gamble, and I will explain why. When a lure hits the water, it causes a splash, trout can respond in several ways. They can swim away in fright, they can ignore it, or they can zoom in to investigate. By delaying the retrieve, it gives wary trout a chance to forget the impact, and it gives curious trout a chance to swim over and explore what caused the splash. Now, if you cast right where the trout is feeding, they might strike straight away. In such situations, an immediate retrieve can work better.

How to fish a deep pool with a spoon

If there is one trout fishing scenario where spoons really shine, it is fishing deep, often fast water. Spoons, are made from chunkier denser material than spinners or minnows, which allows them to sinker faster.

This is ideal when fishing the bottom of pools, which is where many trout wait because it is out of the worst of the current, but they can easily swim up to intercept any prey being washed downstream.

When fishing a pool, I like to cast slightly upstream, maybe at a 3 o’clock direction. Then with minimal retrieve, I allow the spoon to drift down to the bottom. Pay attention, because it is possible to feel the spoon bouncing off rocks. Slowly, retrieve line to maintain contact and feel any strikes.

Once the spoon has drifted downstream slowly lift your rod tip and wind it back in before casting again.

Ideally, use the smallest spoon, which is dense enough to reach the bottom in a reasonable time. Some good options to use are Acme Little Cleo or, the Luhr-Jensen Krocodile

How to troll with a spoon Trolling is a massive topic within itself, with many different styles and techniques. Below I will give some key guidelines which will increase the chance of success.

Trolling for trout with Spoons

Troll Spoons Slow When Targeting Trout

Spoons are excellent trolling lures.

I see this mistake every time I troll on my local lake. People drive too quickly when they are trolling for trout. Trolling fast will catch the occasional trout and some other species but most trout will give up the chase if you are going too fast. For advice on how to troll slower check here.

I usually troll from my sit-on-top fishing kayak. When trolling I make a stroke every few seconds. I really just glide alone, barely causing a disturbance to the surface. I doubt I will be going much over 1 mile per hour. When not trolling, I paddle closer to 4-5mph. I have lost count, of the number of times I have been overtaken by boats trolling at much higher speeds.

In the chart below, I listed a rough trolling speed range for a variety of fish. It is a range because trout behavior does differ. When the water is very cold, or a bit too warm trout become sluggish and require even more time to strike. As a general rule, I try to troll no faster than 1mph.

If you want to maximize the number of species caught, it can be worth increasing the speed somewhat.

Species	Trolling Speed Range	Trolling range kph
Lake trout	1.0 to 3.0 mph	1.5-4.5kph
Brown trout	0.5 to 2.0mph	0.7-3kph
Rainbow trout	0.5 to 2.0 mph	0.7-3kph
Brook trout	0.5 to 2.0 mph	0.7-3kph
Pike	2.0 to 4.0 mph	3.0-6.0kph
Bass	2.0 to 4.0mph	3.0-6.0kph
Walleye	0.5 to 3 mph	0.7-4.5kph
Tuna	5.0-8.0mph	9.0-14kph

Use larger spoons to fish deeper.

Early in the season when the water is still cold, fish lighter, more bouyant spoons closer to the surface.

In the heat of summer, fish with denser, heavier spoons retrieved deeper in the water column.

If you get very serious, can also consider using additional weight or a down rigger to get the lures down even deeper.

Target structure

Trout, even in lakes often hold around structure. The kind of structure to look out for is submerged trees, river deltas, shallow flats, and weedbeds. The shoreline itself also provides many fishing opportunities.

Try trailing a light lure behind a heavy spoon.

Use a big heavy spoon such as a Daredevle, and on the bend of the hook tie a foot or so of monofilament. Then tie on a smaller, more finesse style of lure. A trout streamer such as a wooly bugger works extremely well.

The large spoon acts as a weight and does an amazing job at attracting fish in from a long distance. Trout being wary might choose to ignore the large spoon but still being opportunistic will grab at the much less risky small lure trailing behind.

10 of the best spoons for trout fishing

Honorable Mentions

These spoons are worth a mention, but were not quite special enough, or too niche to make it into the top five.

6) Acme Phoebe

These little spoons somewhat resemble tiny fish. Being lightweight makes them a great for fishing shallow water, ripples typically found in streams. The curve design allows it to be fished at all speeds and depths.

7) Super Duper

The Super Duper looks a bit strange with its bent boxy U sharp design. The U-sharp bend, traps the water on the retrieve causing it to dance and wobble through the water. This spoon is quite controversial, same anglers absolutely love them while others are not even prepared to give it a try.

8) Luhr-Jensen Krocodile

the Krocodile is a long, round chunky spoon. It is easy to cast and for its length sinks quickly. I find the Krocodile a great lure for searching for trout in big water. It works well on a slow retrieve, or even with a jig action.

This spoon has quite a bit in common with the Abu Garcia Toby, but it sinks faster. Making it well suited for targeting trout holding near the bottom, especially in deep or fast flowing water.

9) Bluefox Moresilda Trout

These spoons resemble tiny fish. They cast like a bullet thanks to their solid construction. They sink rapidly, making them a good option for fishing deep pools or fast currents. They are also a very effective jigging lure and can be trolled.