Reddit mentions: The best fishing spoons

It's a broad and general question, so you are likely to get similarly broad advice.

I am assuming you are talking about spin-fishing rather than fly fishing. I'd say:

Get a spinning (not casting) rod, and a spinning (not 'baitcasting') reel. Match your rod to your fish, your reel to your rod, and your line to your reel. The easiest thing to do is buy a combo LIKE THIS because the components are matched already.

If you want to roll-your-own setup:

ROD The rod will say what "weight" it is: ultra-light, Light, ..., heavy). Trout are usually light or ultra-light depending on the size they grow where you are fishing. Unless you know the trout are > 2 lbs. in weight, go with "Light"

REEL The reel should match the rod, look for a 1000 series for Light, or an ultralite for UL. More important though, the spool of the reel will list the how much of which line it can hold in terms of pounds of test. and length. e.g. My ultra-light reel will hold 100 yards of 4 lb. line (still on Imperial measurements here in US). For a Light rod, look for a reel that shows 6 - 8 lb test. About 150 yards of 6 lb is a good target.

LINE Get what is listed on the reel. Monofilament is fine, don't worry about flourocarbon, coated or braided lines.

TIPPET Do get some flourocarbon "tippet" and the smallest barrel swivels you can find. Trout have excellent eyesight, and the tippet is much harder for them to see because it is smaller and flourocarbon is invisible in water. This makes your terminal tackle less 'spooky.' 5x tippet is a good match for 6 lb test. 6x for ultralight. Do this even if you bought the combo above.

RIGGING Generally you will put your main line on the reel's spool and out to a swivel, then a few feet of the lighter, more expensive tippet to your terminal tackle. e.g. My ultralight setup is 4 lb. mono main line to a size 7 swivel and 7x flouro tippet to the terminal tackle. You probably want 6 lb to 5x, and 8 lb. to 5x is totally fine if you buy a combo with 8 lb.

TERMINAL TACKLE For reservoirs you want to use floating bait, tubes/jigs, and lures (inline spinners and/or spoons) from shore. From a boat, same, but more emphasis on spoons. Lures are a blast, but will cost you a LOT of money to acquire a good variety of them. I recommend bait and tubes/jigs if you are just starting out.

Floating Bait If you are shore-fishing, this is going to be your friend. Get some floating bait (real worms, dough, nuggets, etc.) and set up a Carolina Rig. Real worms are the best bait IMO, but they do not float naturally. You have to put air in them with a hypo. If you are just starting out, the artificial baits are fine. Rig it up, throw it in, take the slack out of the line and wait for the lunkers to come get some.

Tubes & Jigs These take more skill, but can produce a lot of fish. If you are fishing snaggy, moving water like rivers I recommend these as the top way to fish (lures are expensive and easy to lose in rivers.) Get a Trout Magnet or Crappie Magnet kit and you have everything you need.

Lures Inline spinners like Panther Martins (esp. the black/yellow dot & yellow/red dot) and Mepps Algias crush Sierra trout, not sure what their Eton comrades prefer. Keep the weight between 1/16 oz. and 1/8 oz. unless the trout are big (match the lure weights that are often listed on your rod) Good spoons here include the Acme Kastmaster, Thomas Bouyant and Super Duper. The rule here that the heavier the lure, the better it casts and the more potentially off-putting it is to a smallish fish like a trout.

Lure Selection The specifics of lure size, color and action can have a big impact on whether you get bites. What works one day may not work the next. This is how you can end up buying a LOT of lures. In general, you want to use light/bright colored lures in clear water and/or bright days and dark lures in turbid water or dimly lit days. THIS THREAD as well as THIS OTHER THREAD has some more detailed info on lure colors, sizes and brands I recommend.

You may also want to check out Fly and Bubble fishing which lets you use a spin rod to cast flies. It's a hoot and pretty effective: Get some adjustable spin floats, some flies and start fly and bubble fishing. Elk Hair Caddis sizes 12 - 18 are good, as are nymphs, and Mayfly imitations. Talk to local fly fishermen to see which bugs are good for your reservoir.

GETTING THE STUFF THAT WORKS Talk to the fishing outfitters near where you fish. They will tell you how the bite is, what the fish like, and where to do your fishing. Invaluable advice to prevent buying the entire world to cover all the bases.

HOW TO FISH This is super situational, but in general trout want to ingest more energy than they expend, i.e. they don't want to die. They like cold water near sources of food (bugs) and cover (rocks, brush, etc.). If you are fishing moving water, take the time to learn to READ THE WATER. Trout use moving water as a conveyor belt that brings them food. In reservoirs, you want to look for spots that are shallow enough to support plants and bugs, with deep water and/or good structure/cover nearby. Trout here will generally be cruising slowly or hanging in the water. Ideally, you will put your bait or lure near enough to entice without spooking them. If the trout are jumping or rising through the surface, they are eating insects from the surface film (emergers or fallen fliers), this would be a great time for the fly and bubble technique mentioned previously.

Generally THERE ARE TONS OF VIDEOS that cover whatever specific scenario you are going to pursue.

The most important technique is getting good at SETTING THE HOOK. It's hard to catch fish if you are bad at this.

FISH HANDLING

Trout are covered in protective slime:

• Wet your hand before touching them to help preserve it
  
• Use a rubber mesh net if you are netting them
  
• NEVER put them on the ground.
  
  Mash the barbs on your hooks if you are doing catch and release.
  
  Hemostats/forceps are the easiest way to remove hooks from fish
  
  Turning the fish upside-down will make them less frantic in their flopping.
  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  
  I hope that helps, have fun!

I'd recommend picking up some of these if you get a chance as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Jensen-Krocodile-SureSet-Rainbow-4-Ounce/dp/B003CTRSME/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1369281850&sr=1-4&keywords=krocodile+spoon

They cast really far and they have a nice wobbling action in the water. I've had a lot of luck with this lure in the the rainbow trout color.

The other thing I would keep in mind is to make sure you have a few silver lures and a few gold ones. Some days it seems like fish will only hit one or the other, usually gold on overcast days and silver on sunny days from my experience.

I would also save a little bit of your budget in case you discover you need something when you get there. Scouting the banks of the river for packaging left over from other fishermen is also a good way to find out what the locals use. If you're not having any luck head to the nearest town and buy whatever lure that the packaging is from.

Whenever I'm fishing a new spot I'll always use some cheap lures first to figure out where the bottom is and where the underwater obstacles are. Once you have it figured out you can switch to your $10 Rapalas so you wont lose any of them.

I just checked out that lake on Google maps and I would recommend fishing the North end of the lake where Cherry Creek runs into it. The trout will usually hole up at the bottom and eat whatever happens to get carried downstream from the river. If you look on the satellite view there appears to be a waterfall or a white run that empties into a pool a short way up from the lake, that pool will probably be a good spot as well.

Fish almost always face upstream as that's the direction the food is coming from, so whenever possible cast upstream. This accomplishes two things, the fish will be less likely to be spooked as they will be facing away from you and secondly your bait or lure will have a more natural appearance. Casting up and across and swinging it downstream is a good way to cover a lot of water .

Keep in mind that the fish will usually not be in the strong currents either. They like to sit off to the sides or just past where the current calms down. That way they don't have to fight the current and can pick off the food. That stream is a good place for your worm and bobber, cast upstream and just reel in the slack as the worm floats naturally towards you.

I could go on all day but if you have any questions feel free to ask.

thanks for your input. i've added the line you recommended and removed the sebile swimbait as well as the truscend.

one setup will be for bass and one for pike. i've upgraded the pike setup to support up to 1oz lures as it's getting too pricey with everything adding up to go any bigger. does this look ok for that?

Abu Garcia 1430485 Veritas Casting 1Piece Rod, 6'10" Length, 12-20 lb Line Rate 1/4-1 oz Lure Rate, Medium/Heavy Power

Abu Garcia Pmax3-c

Also I was looking at the swimbait you recommended and I see they're going to be heavier than what I'll be able to handle. Any other recommendations 1oz or under? Are these good?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003CTU2Y0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003CTO2L4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_27?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

These are what I have for lures picked out so far. Any input greatly appreciated

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001445MZE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_10?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001J9SU30/ref=ox_sc_act_title_11?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003FKJTP4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_15?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003CURA7Q/ref=ox_sc_act_title_21?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GU6MRF8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HJ4DN4O/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1


This would be for bass I guess? Would like to get some smaller swimbait for bass as well, something that would work for pike and bass could be nice I suppose.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005OSZ0TY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_12?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1


Here is a compiled picture if it helps. https://i.imgur.com/a6PEjID.jpg

One of my favorite lures for rainbows is a red and white Daredevil. I like to troll them behind a canoe or kayak nice and slow.

Croch Vertical Jigs Metal Spoon... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HCBK411?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

And also these are in my bag too

Dr.Fish Metal Jigs Casting Jigs... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QHVKP4H?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

The hooks on both of these products are very strong!

I've done well with Little Cleo's:

https://www.amazon.com/acme-C230NNB-Acme-Little-Spoon/dp/B0000AUUX9?th=1

And rooster tails.

https://www.amazon.com/Yakima-Bait-Wordens-Original-Rooster/dp/B071G94RSK/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=rooster+tail&qid=1568659352&s=sporting-goods&sr=1-5

Works almost as good as these

Spoon Fishing Lures Metal Jig Lure Cranbait Casting Sinker Spoons with Feather Treble Hooks for Trout Bass Walleyes Spinner Baits (Gold 5G pack of 5pcs) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078H8SXNP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_RabRAbW87W0ZY