Anyone still use a Johnson's Silver Minnow?

[coreynov902]

I was over at the Mississippi River this past weekend. The water was high and muddy. I was able to find one backwater area that had clear water and that's where I caught all of my fish (5 bass, 2 pike). The weeds were pretty heavy in there and it seemed like no matter what bait I used (with the exception of a hollow-belly frog) I was having to clean my bait off nearly every cast. When I was coming home my friend and I were talking on the phone and he said when he went up to Minnesota a few weeks back, he used a Johnson's Silver Minnow and that it came through the weeds like magic. I always think of a spoon like that as a bait primarily for pike. I don't mind catching pike, but was curious if any of you use one for bass? If so, how do you fish it...lift and drop or straight retrieve? I'm thinking of picking up a few to try if the river is still high the next time we go.

[mortonjl]

They’re still a smallmouth killer

[Casslaw]

A single tail 3” grub on the back of a silver minnow can be deadly in pads, weeds, slime, just about anywhere! I do not fish them nearly as much as the conditions tell me to. I had this discussion with a member just last week.

They’re also really good on schooling fish late summer when the bass are so targeted on the bait they ignore almost everything you throw.

I use the single tail grub to make sure I don’t get line twist and it allows me to work it a little slower without it sinking too fast.

For me a steady retrieve has always worked best, the spoon imparts it’s own action. However, when fishing deeper water I have to watch when I count down the depth before I start the retrieve as it gets hit on the fall often.

[coreynov902]

A single tail 3” grub on the back of a silver minnow can be deadly in pads, weeds, slime, just about anywhere! I do not fish them nearly as much as the conditions tell me to. I had this discussion with a member just last week.

They’re also really good on schooling fish late summer when the bass are so targeted on the bait they ignore almost everything you throw.

I use the single tail grub to make sure I don’t get line twist and it allows me to work it a little slower without it sinking too fast.

For me a steady retrieve has always worked best, the spoon imparts it’s own action. However, when fishing deeper water I have to watch when I count down the depth before I start the retrieve as it gets hit on the fall often.

Do you normally go with a shad color grub like white or something with silver flake or do you contrast the flash of the spoon with some other solid color like chartreuse? Thanks for the suggestions.

[Casslaw]

When I throw a traditional spoon like the silver minnow it’s in pads, grass, something pretty thick so I like to stick with white so I can see it pretty easily. These are usually reaction strikes or pretty significant explosions and I don’t want to set the hook too early.

If I’m throwing to schooling fish or target casting then I will change the trailer to match the baitfish more.

When throwing to open water or schooling fish I usually use a slab style spoon with a feathered treble so no trailer on that one!

[SPOONMINNOW]

Haven't used one in decades but when I did I caught fish of all sizes using any of three colors: all black, perch pattern and silver. My only trailer was an Uncle Josh # 11 or #1 jumbo Pork Frog, but when the company went belly up, I switched to plastic pork frog imitations:

(I also use it on a skirted jig ( pictured ) with a wire rig I invented to keep in on the hook and give it maximum action.)
Black trailer for black spoon, white trailer for silver spoon and chartreuse trailer for perch pattern spoon.

My best bites are on shallow weedy flats and strikes follow a fish's wake when it charges the lure. So cool!
Now you got me thinking, I got to start using them again!

[354ranger]

Make sure you sharpen the hook, they are terrible.

You can use a thin skirt and it seems to give you a wider wobble over a grub.

If you use a skirt and a frog trailer you can fish it as a top water with a high speed reel. You need to stop the bait and get it
moving before it sinks. It is very effective when you are throwing into matted grass with holes. You can run it across the top and
drop it in the holes and at the edges.

Another thing you can do is put an inline spinner in front of the spoon. In heavy wind or current it will give some resistance and
keep you from getting a big bow in your line.

Now I'm like spoonminnow and need to find mine and start throwing them again.

Good luck

[Ladr6]

Used to throw them out over hydrilla mats and crank them over the top on the big O as a kid. Bass would explode through the mat. Been a long time since i used one.

[coreynov902]

Thanks for all the recommendations! My buddy still has a few left from his trip to Minnesota, so I'm going to grab them before I head back over to the river in a couple weeks. I'll give an update if I use them.

[ChadG]

We use them, not nearly enough though. The cycle usually goes like this: "haven't thrown a spoon for a long time", get it out, catch fish, put it away until next year and start the cycle over again. I run 1/2 a black/white ringworm for a trailer.