Flutter spoons

I’ve watched a few videos on these. Don Stange is on Mille Lacs in the late Fall, I believe, catching smallies. He’s basically making long casts and ripping it back. Anyone else try these? Looks interesting. Thanks, Sam

I’ve used similar – zip lures, sonar, rippin’ raps…. it can be effective, hard part is fatigue after about an hour or two of that constant motion. But it can work well as fish move out towards deep water. Be prepared to lose a few to pike too.

I’ve never tried them but it won and almost won a few Bassmaster Elite tournaments this year. Zaldain and a couple other guys made a lot of money off using BIG flutter spoons. There’s some great video out there of it. Made me want to try it out.

https://tinyurl.com/yy5tr9yd

The first 20 secs or so are highlights but after that it’s pretty much unedited video of Chris going on an insane run with a giant flutter spoon. I watched it live and it got my heart pounding. In 10 minutes at the end of the final day he went from 5 fish at 10 pounds to over 18 pounds CULLING FISH! All were on a big flutter spoon. Ended up in second and missed a couple big fish. Crazy video.

I’ve seen that video of Zaldain. I think the reason he was hooking and losing so many fish is because he was snagging them…. ripping a large treble hook off the bottom will definitely get your rod bent.
I know a couple were hooked in the mouth, so im not saying they won’t eat a large spoon like that but just like snapping jig raps for walleyes, a good percentage of the fish caught are snagged.

I don’t think Doug was using Flutter spoons per se….Mainly jigging spoons such as Cotton Cordell spoons, Rattle Snakie jigs, Jigging Raps and a variety of other spoons you may vertically jig with during ice season. Match the weight of the spoon (usually 1/2 to 3/4 oz) with the right rod and fatigue shouldn’t be a factor..My favorite way to catch smallies on Chequamegon bay in the fall. Many bonus walleyes also.

Stange was using a Tony:

https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/spoons-for-smallmouth-bass/156901

That’s the one I was thinking of. Thanks

grubson wrote:

I’ve seen that video of Zaldain. I think the reason he was hooking and losing so many fish is because he was snagging them…. ripping a large treble hook off the bottom will definitely get your rod bent.
I know a couple were hooked in the mouth, so im not saying they won’t eat a large spoon like that but just like snapping jig raps for walleyes, a good percentage of the fish caught are snagged.

He wasn’t snagging those fish….you think there was that many bass down there that he snagged them every cast he made for ten minutes? Maybe one or two. But those fish were eating that spoon. It’s not like he was pulling up 1-2 lbers on it. They were 4-6 lbers hitting that spoon.

He wasn’t snagging those fish….you think there was that many <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>bass down there that he snagged them every cast he made for ten minutes? Maybe one or two. But those fish were eating that spoon. It’s not like he was pulling up 1-2 lbers on it. They were 4-6 lbers hitting that spoon.
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You may be right, I may be wrong, but that’s my opinion after watching the video again. Bass can be in incredibly tight schools when deep. I’ve seen ten big fish come from an area the size of a pool table, 1 after the other, on small lakes here in MN. Guntersville has huge numbers of bass, so yes I believe there could have that many down there.
They see the spoon, swim over to investigate, as the spoon hits bottom below the fish he rips the rod up and sometimes they react by eating, sometimes they just don’t get out of the way fast enough. The competition factor gets the whole school converging on the potential food source only concentrating them more making easier for a hook to find a fish.
I don’t use reaction type baits for bass, so again I may be wrong, but for walleyes they eat on the fall or while the bait sits on bottom. Rarely do they bite mid-rip like he had going on.
If I wanted to snag a fish I’d use that same technique. If you did it all day I bet you’d see fish hooked all over the place.

grubson wrote:

He wasn’t snagging those fish….you think there was that many <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>bass down there that he snagged them every cast he made for ten minutes? Maybe one or two. But those fish were eating that spoon. It’s not like he was pulling up 1-2 lbers on it. They were 4-6 lbers hitting that spoon.

You may be right, I may be wrong, but that’s my opinion after watching the video again. <em class=”ido-tag-em”>Bass can be in incredibly tight schools when deep. I’ve seen ten big fish come from an area the size of a pool table, 1 after the other, on small lakes here in MN. Guntersville has huge numbers of bass, so yes I believe there could have that many down there.
They see the spoon, swim over to investigate, as the spoon hits bottom below the fish he rips the rod up and sometimes they react by eating, sometimes they just don’t get out of the way fast enough. The competition factor gets the whole school converging on the potential food source only concentrating them more making easier for a hook to find a fish.
I don’t use reaction type baits for bass, so again I may be wrong, but for <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleyes they eat on the fall or while the bait sits on bottom. Rarely do they bite mid-rip like he had going on.
If I wanted to snag a fish I’d use that same technique. If you did it all day I bet you’d see fish hooked all over the place.
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I get what you’re saying. I don’t believe these bass were biting mid rip though. The spoon is falling on slack line so when a fish hits it on the fall (or on bottom) there is some slack in the line, causing the delay in his rod loading up. That’s my opinion on it. Could some have been snagged. Of course. I just don’t think it’s happening on the majority or even 1/3 of those bites. Time to tell BassLive to mount underwater cams on the bottom of the boats next season!

I get what you’re saying. I don’t believe these bass were biting mid rip though. The spoon is falling on slack line so when a fish hits it on the fall (or on bottom) there is some slack in the line, causing the delay in his rod loading up. That’s my opinion on it. Could some have been snagged. Of course. I just don’t think it’s happening on the majority or even 1/3 of those bites. Time to tell BassLive to mount underwater cams on the bottom of the boats next season!
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Definitely a different presentation that’s for sure. Cameras would be cool. I would have to imagine B.A.S.S. officials were ok with it so I guess I’ll be ok with it too! I can’t help but feel that he’d have won that tourney that day with a drop shot or neko rig. Much better hooking percentage in my opinion. There was some bigguns on that spot.