Fishing Michigan

The spoon harness,  you might ask what is this and you wouldn’t be the only one in the room doing so.  I first learned of the rig for catching walleye two years ago while spending some time on Saginaw Bay.  Depending on which version you see, the components will vary, either way you can call it a hybrid between a trolling spoon and a crawler harness.

Some are rigged with a colorado blade up front, then where your beads would go is a 2 inch or so walleye trolling spoon.  The simplified version is just the spoon with the hooks behind.  If you decide to make the first version put your clevis and blade in front of swivel, then attach the spoon to the swivel with a split ring.  The easiest way to attach your hooks to the back of the spoon is with a lure snap like those made by Mustad.  If you aren’t sure what I mean, take a close look at the stingers made by Northland for the Fire-Ball Jig.

The same rig can be made without the spinning blade in the front.  On both versions it is important to never tie your rigged hooks directly to a split ring.  Its an invitation to trouble, and a sure fire way to lose fish, big and small.  If you do tie direct to the ring, there is small space that will act as a catch for the knot that you tie.  It becomes a wear spot, and sooner than later, your line will wear out, weaken and eventually break.

One of the guys who reads some of the forums I visit for fishing, wrote me on this rod from Bass Pro Shops.  “JoeFish’n”  wrote me that he purchased this rod several yrs ago in the 6′6″ UL model, and has been very happy with it. 

The BPS Micro Lite series comes with a Tennessee handle on some of the models, and a few where the metal ring can be screwed in over the reel’s t-bar.  After reading some of the reviews I can see why “Joe” likes the rod that comes in a cent short of 40 bucks. 

This is another nice feature about Bass Pro’s website,  they not only list the reviews, but they list all the comments, both positive and negative.  The comments made about this rod are overwhelmingly positive, with 49 total reviews to read over.