What Size spoon???

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RousAbout

RousAbout

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Joined
Mar 12, 2009
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9
Hi to all-
I couldn't find this topic under the general discussion. What size spoon is the best on the Gorge: 1" or 1.5" or 2" ?

(I know for kings we fish the standard size large spoon in the spring and early summer then the magnum if the alewife get bigger by late summer. But what size does the Koke want?)

Then a side issue. Can you ever use a cheater with a 4 foot leader like the small Roemer Liberator to add a lure to your existing line down to the ball. This cheater setup would be easier than stacking with another rod and reel. (We do that on the Great Lakes for the higher up steelhead and coho when fishing kings. Put it down about 10 feet above the ball and use a small flutter spoon.)
Do you think a guy could use a Roemer Liberator or would the hit be too subtle to notice??
 
Kokes are targeting plankton (less than 0.25"), so smaller lures work better. I have caught some incidental kokes on large spoons and crankbaits while fishing lake trout on the Gorge, but that's rare. I used to fish Needlefish for kokes all the time, and noticed that smaller lures (#1- 1.5") worked better early in the season and larger lures (#2- 2") worked better in the latter part. Last year I almost exclusively fished Serpent spoons, which are all the same size (2 3/8"), and had great results. I also did really well last year using 1.5" Radical Glow Tubes.

I'm not familiar with the stacking technique that you described, but I've used stackers successfully on the Gorge. Both Scotty stackers and Shuttle Hawks have worked well for me, and I prefer Shuttle Hawks. Hope it helps, Ryno
 
Super..thanks for the help Ryno!!! Didn't know whether the depth was a factor in regard to the size of lure - i.e. the deeper you fish the bigger the lure.
Hope you nail them again this year.
 
RousAbout said:
Hi to all-
I couldn't find this topic under the general discussion. What size spoon is the best on the Gorge: 1" or 1.5" or 2" ?

(I know for kings we fish the standard size large spoon in the spring and early summer then the magnum if the alewife get bigger by late summer. But what size does the Koke want?)

Then a side issue. Can you ever use a cheater with a 4 foot leader like the small Roemer Liberator to add a lure to your existing line down to the ball. This cheater setup would be easier than stacking with another rod and reel. (We do that on the Great Lakes for the higher up steelhead and coho when fishing kings. Put it down about 10 feet above the ball and use a small flutter spoon.)
Do you think a guy could use a Roemer Liberator or would the hit be too subtle to notice??
Click to expand...
I too am not familiar with this setup you described. Is it possible to post a pic? It sounds interesting.
 
I checked out the Roemer Liberator web site, had never heard of it until your post. What pound test line is that generally used with? Is there a problem with crimping/damaging the line. Also, would a kok be able to release from that set-up (are the releases adjustable?)
 
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On this years trip to the Gorge, I will be testing the envelope to see what the largest lure I can use to catch consistant Kokes with. Last year I saw with Apex, that the larger size caught Kokes and the smaller size got shut out. That got me curious about max size and so I'm going to perform my own little experiment this year.
 
The picture on the web site helps only a little But I could not load it from My Pictures. But the Roemer Liberator has never damaged our lines. We use 12-14 lb or so for coho and steelies and a four to six foot leader with flutter spoon. You thread it through a long groove and then a narrow groove, then twist the two attached pieces. The round end is oriented UP. Stick your line in, twist and then pull the two pieces tight on opposite directions.
If you get a hit on the lower lure and rell in the fish, the Liberator (higher up) hits your tip and releases and slides on down.
Here's the more important question. Will the Liberator damage the rod tip? Never had a damaged tip. It always releases (Normally the fish will hit your lower lure because that's where your target fish is of course. But on the Great Lakes the coho and steelhead will be above the kings.) I'm thinking with bigger fish like 3lb plus kokes it will work on the Gorge. I'd rather use two rods instead of four anyway. But I'll bring extra rods and stacker clips just in case.
 
The picture of the Liberator on their web site is too small and I could not load it from My Pictures.
The Liberator won't damage your line or rod tip. It will slide down the line when you get a hit on the lower lure.
Use 12-14 lb and 4-6 foot leader a flutter spoon w/o a dodger.
 
Rousabout, We have used that technique on Lake Ontario also. We called it a stinger or cheater, but instead of using the roemer we would just use a swivel, clip it to the line about 10' above the ball, and tie a rubber band around the swivel. It would stay while trolling and the rubber band knot would come apart when a fish hits. It works great for larger fish but I dont know if a Kokanee could pull the line from the release 10' away from the ball. I have not triedit around here but I'm all for getting more lures in the water.
 
Ryno said:
....
I also did really well last year using 1.5" Radical Glow Tubes.
Click to expand...

Don't be afraid to try the 2.25" ones as well. I was not all that confident on the bigger ones for Kokanee until last year and a few wonderful surprises. Chartreuse / Green is one I like. Also running the 3/4 inch ones - 1 per hook is a wonderful combo to play with as well.

To keep on topic I just haven't given spoons much water time for Kokanee as I have tackle glut issues. :)

Kevin
 
I consider an Apex a type of spoon. Where I fish we use the 1.5 size, which actually measures 2". Are you guys running any larger size Apex's at the Gorge?
Another way to fish 2 lures is to attach a light weight wobble type spoon to a few feet of leader with a duo-lock on the end. Attach to your line and it will slide down to the arch (mid point). Be ready for some tangles though when you reel it in.
 
Thanks HiTechKoke for that point about bigger lures. It would seem that even with a Koke striking out of aggression a "bigger lure equals bigger fish." It sure is true about kings. But of course the size of lure is only one part of the puzzle.... Which makes trolling so cool.

The Liberator is a little pricey at almost 10 bucks. I'm sure not trying to sell them. But I have used the rubber band stopper on a cheater leader with snap swivel and once in a while the rubber band will break and not fall off completely, but ball up and then fail to slide down the line and then get caught in your rod tip. But they do work. You can also get closer to the thermocline with that set up rather than ditching the rubber band and letting the cheater choose it's own depth in the bow of the line.

I'm thinking the advantage of the stacker over the cheater for kokes is getting to use a longer line with a dodger and sensing the strike sooner.
 
We fish 1.5 and 2.00 inch curlys wobblers all year. There is no reason bigger won't work, kokanee are not hitting the lures to feed they are hitting them out of aggression.
 
I'm planning to use the size #3 (2.5") Needlefish this year. I'm anxious to hear if guys out there have had success with this size spoon.

Thanks,
Brian
 

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