Spoons for panfish

I plan to try and fish spoons a little more this ice season for panfish. I have tried it a few times in the past without a lot of success. I’m curious what all of your favorites are. A few that I see in stock at some local stores are: VMC Tingler, VMC flash Champ, Custom jig and spin slender spoon, Kastmaster, and the good old swedish pimple. Alout the only one I used in the past was the Slender spoon. I had decent luck on crappies and sunfish near iceout last year on them. The only thing I didn’t like about them was the hooks are real thin and break easy while removing them from fish.

I’m a big fan of the VMC flash champs for panfish. Tip the treble with a spike or two and it’s game on.

I’ve fell in love with Snyders Lures “lil rascal” and “moon frys”. MN company and nothing comes from over seas. Try to support local!

Lindy Perch talker can be deadly for crappie.

I am a big fan of the VMC Flash Chaps for panfish especially in a little deeper water. If I’m fishing shallower water I really like the Tingler. I will often just tip them with plastic or at times depending on how the fish are reacting I will put on maggots or a strip of beavertail bait.

Fowldreams55398 wrote:

I’ve fell in love with Snyders Lures “lil rascal” and “moon frys”. MN company and nothing comes from over seas. Try to support local!

They have some nice looking baits. I may have to get a order into them

My favorite spoons for panfish are the Custom Jigs and Spins Demon jigging spoons. I have caught my largest crappies using these.

The 1/16th oz Clam Pinhead Mino in the purple chartreuse color has out fished jigs, spoons, jigging raps and others for panfish over the last two years for me. If I see them in stores I buy them every time. They’ve been that good.

Before them my go to’s were the VMC Tumbler Spoons and the smallest jigging raps.

my go to spoon for panfish is the Custom Jigs & Spins slender spoon, 1/16oz, but I swap out the treble hook for a Shrimpo jig and plastic

I’ve had good luck swapping trebles out for a dropper chain

A lot of good spoons out there. I’ve found that the aggressive pannies will smoke them. I always start with a small spoon and downsize if I’m getting looks but no takers.

Early and late ice they seem to work best which sounds like you’ve experienced. Get to mid winter and I’m more likely to downsize jigs and not spend as much time with the spoon.

Frostbite Dinner Bells and Kastmasters for me

I had several really good days last season where the Northland Buck-Shot Flutter Spoon was THE ticket to catching panfish. I put a couple spikes on the treble hook and bounce it on the bottom for a few seconds and a stack of fish would show up in seconds. Jig it above the highest mark while slowly raising it, and it was fish on. The technique of making noise while kicking up a little cloud on the bottom brought them back after they spooked away from a hole that had a few fish already pulled up.
The previously-mentioned Pinhead Mino, and the Time-Bomb from Clam were excellent for bringing fish in.

I was a long time giving spoons a chance for panfish. But when I finally did. Quality of fish went way up. Best luck with CJS Slender Spoons.

Pinhead Minos and bomb spoons

Fowldreams55398 wrote:

I’ve fell in love with Snyders Lures “lil rascal” and “moon frys”. MN company and nothing comes from over seas. Try to support local!

I love Snyders spoons. I have many of them and they are my go to. It all started with one I found on the floor of Rodgers a couple years ago that was the best spoon of the trip.

1/32 oz. Flash Champ with some spikes is flat money for me on big gills. I got this one yesterday, along with a bunch of other good ones, all on Glow Gold Fish.

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The chipped paint on the Champ says it all, nice fish James.

I will add the Forage Minnow to the list, has been money for me. I need to pick up some flash champs to try. I never thought to try a perch talker, have a few guess I will give it a shot this year.