Most BassFans know that a jigging spoon can be an extremely effective bait during the coldest months of the year. What they might not know is that if they have a high-quality electronics unit and it's set up properly, they can watch a fish inhale their spoon right on the monitor.
FLW Tour pro Todd Ary of Alabama experiences this phenomenon frequently during the late fall and winter. "What most people don't understand is they can do a lot more than just drop (the spoon) and let it bounce," he said. "You can actually see it go down to the bottom and you can watch a fish eat it."
No Color Required
The first requirement is good electronics. He uses a Lowrance LCX-17M because he said a monochrome display is easier to see under sunny conditions than a color version. He runs the transducer down the shaft of his trolling motor, puts the monitor near the foot pedal, sets the sensitivity to 90 percent and turns the screen skyward.
"If you drop your spoon within three feet of the trolling motor, you can literally watch it fall," he said. "You'll see a solid black line going down to the bottom and when it intersects with those arches (the fish), you can watch the fish turn and go after your bait.
"A lot of people don't believe those arches are fish, but that sonar doesn't lie," he added. "If there's something down there breaking that echo, it's a fish."
He sets up this "show" anytime he's spooning for fish in 20 to 55 feet of water. If the fish are in the 20- to 30-foot range, he uses a half-ounce spoon. If they're at 30 to 40 feet, he goes with a 3/4-ouncer. If they're really deep, like they were on a recent day at Lake Lanier, he'll employ a hefty 1 1/4-ounce spoon.
Silver the Primary Color
He uses a silver spoon about 90 percent of the time. If a lake has experienced heavy rain or he's fishing a creek run-in, he'll go with solid white.
"If the water looks like chocolate milk, then it's good to be right in the middle of the backs of those run-ins," he said. "Crawdads and minnows and all kinds off things are being washed down and the fish will just stack up there."
His favorite all-time spoon is a 3/4-ounce silver Hopkins Shorty. "I've probably caught a thousand fish on those," he said. His preferred line is 12-pound test Mossy Oak Classic.
Not Too Long
Rod length is extremely important. In this case, shorter is better.
"I use a 6'9" medium-heavy Kistler," he said. "It's got enough bite in the backbone to handle those 3- to 5-pound spotted bass. If your rod's too long, the spoon will fall out of the cone angle before it gets to the bottom and you won't be able to see it. A little bit shorter rod hangs it out there perfectly."
