I’m going talk about a basic lure that should be in everyone’s tackle box if fishing inshore. That is the weedless spoon. Several brands make quality spoons such as Johnson, Cajun Thunder, Aquadream and there are several others. Spoons come in a variety of colors, and the fish will hit them all, although I prefer gold or copper. The weedless spoon is good for shallow water or deep water and can be fished a variety of ways. I usually have clients reel them not too fast, but not too slow, just steady. When working one myself I like to pause and let it flutter now and again.
The spoons come in a variety of sizes and each size has its place. A 1/2 ounce is a good all-around size and that is usually what I have clients using. It’s heavy enough that an inexperienced angler can cast it with no issues but not too heavy. If I encounter super shallow spooky fish, I will drop to a 1/8 or a 1/4-ounce size spoon. Less noise on entry, able to work those sizes slower in inches of water. I don’t use very many 3/4-ounce spoons.
The 1 1/8-ounce spoons we use a ton targeting the old drum and “bulls”. They will attack those spoons just as aggressively as their younger brothers and sisters and that large spoon has a hook big enough it gets them in the mouth, usually in the corner. That cuts way down on deep hooked fish.
A spoon is a great search bait as you can cover so much ground while fishing them. Other species also will hit them including Flounder, Black Drum, Blues, Trout and Spanish. We target the big blues in the Neuse and Pamlico with the large 1 1/8-ounce size. I also target black drum with 1/8 and 1/4 when we find a spawning biomass in the summer that won’t eat shrimp. They will eat that small spoon. Hope this helps somewhere out along the way, and if you have hardly or never used one, I’d pick up a couple 1/2-ounce gold spoons and give them a whirl on your next trip out.
