Whats been the latest trend in Perch fishing the last five years, using spoons. Not the Dardevle of your dad’s or grandpa’s generation, where you would cast out for pike and walleye, but a whole line of spoons tailored for jigging up perch. Just going to get into the advantages of using spoons over the tradional spreader and rig designs, and some good names out there to use.
Where did the trend start? Answer is ice fishing, where anglers have been using spoons for crappie all the way up to pike and lakers. The reason was the single lure was easier to control, and designed not to flutter going through the water, but to flash in an up and down jig action. You can use the hook that came with it, or rig a dropper to hang below the spoon.
Northland, has more spoon options available designed for jigging for fish than any other company I can think of. There is the Fire-Eye Minnow, Doodle Bug Spoon, Forage Minnow Spoon, the Buckshot Rattle Spoon and the dropper rig. Lindy has a good selection of spoons available, and has a new twist on the Flyer coming this fall. An old favorite are Swedish Pimples. New on the block, and I mean in the last six years, are the Hali Spoons. The spoon itself is basically straight lead, but its dropper is made of gold chain, with a small hook attached.
You can do an abbreviated lift and fall with your spoons, but I much prefer a subtle shake or wiggle. Sizes vary from 1/16th to 1/4 oz, but dont be shocked if you catch some on 3/8ths of an ounce. Any spoon can be converted from a traditional jigging spoon to a dropper rig, simply by removing the treble or straight hook from the split ring at the bottom. Then use a 6 lb short piece of FC line, utilizing that invisibility factor, snell a hook at one end, and the other attach a quick clip lure fastener or fast snap.
Why a spoon or dropper over a crappie/perch rig and a spreader? You have more direct control of the spoon. Without there being an extremely heavy weight at the end, you can feel the bottom and the bites quicker and easier. Even though it is fun to catch two fish on the same rod, because of the quicker detection of using the spoon, you can get more fishing in the cooler by using the single lure at the end of your line.
good luck