Change Sticks to Spoons for Trophy Browns!

Change Sticks to Spoons for Trophy Browns!
By Capt. Bill Saiff III

There are plenty of Buster Browns that have been taken over the years by trolling a myriad of floating stick baits. In fact, it's safe to say that shallow running, floating, body baits are synonymous with early spring Brown Trout fishing. One of my favorite ways to take large numbers of Browns is to planer board these stick baits at high speed when the water begins to warm. Presenting an angler's baits to lots of fish can't help but trigger strikes. While the action is fun, there's nothing like feeling the strain of a slab sided trophy Brown on your line. The simple truth is that more of these type fish are taken on spoons!
During the spring of 2005' the Saiff fleet experimented with a variety of spoons and stick bait combinations. We kept our selection of spoons to those that would perform well at higher rates of speed. It's uncommon for any of our vessels to troll Browns at less than 2.5 knots and typical speeds would be between 2.7 and 3.5 knots! As mentioned above, we like to present our baits to as many fish as possible. This is the primary reason for the increase in speed. We were taking Browns on the classic lures like NK-28's, Michigan Stingers and some newer bait's like the Hot Item spoon. Each of these baits were used successfully in different trolling situations but when fishing skinny water, the Michigan Stingers seemed to get the nod! I should note before I go any further that these spoons didn't always take the most fish but the "Big Ones" did seem to seek them out.
Let's examine; why in shallow water conditions, the Stingers gave us an edge in our spring fishing. First, the shape and size of a Michigan Stinger seems to make it extremely attractive to early Browns. The spoon's length is close to that of a mature alewife or smelt, both of which are found on Lake Ontario's shoreline in early spring. The Stinger is fairly narrow compared to other great lakes trolling spoons but this shape feature is certainly indicative of Smelt, Emerald Shiners or younger class Alewife. The Stinger can be trolled at higher speeds with excellent action and performance. This makes it an excellent choice for anglers who like to troll fast. The Stinger is also quite light for its size, allowing anglers who like a slower presentation to fish it with good success. Finally, the color combinations that are offered make it possible for anglers to match nearly any set of conditions. This can be vitally important when trying to fool early Browns in shallow water. When the weather is calm, clear and the sun is high - natural color patterns seem to produce the best. Colors like the Grim Reaper, Emerald Shiner and Alewife were big producers on these days. The Emerald Shiner produced regardless of weather conditions but on clear days it showed a definite edge. When weather conditions were dirty, baits like the Green Dolphin, Dirty White Boy and CGD were top producers. While visiting shoreline tackle shops last spring, I found that each port had its own favorite spoon color. Two colors that seemed to be hot producers across the board were the Red and Orange "Shanster" Stingers named after Capt. Shan Bissell "Osprey 1" a long time user of Stinger spoons on Lake Ontario. The "Shanster's" have a copper back and have a reputation for taking enormous Brown Trout.
In a recent phone conversation I had with him, he told me of a 20 lb. plus Brown he had taken in late June, still pulling these highly effective spoons. While I had great luck with Stinger's loaded on planer board rods, my favorite way to fish them was on a weighted flat line next to the boat. I simply let out 60 feet of line, clipped a small ¼ ounce split shot to the line and then let the remainder of the line out until it trolled 120 feet behind the boat. These rods were flat lined from holders on the boat at 90 degrees to the gunwale. Spring Browns have a reputation for being quite spooky but the prop wash must prove somewhat attractive to them because these shorter flat lines are consistent producers. Some Browns hit so hard it was almost impossible to free the rod from the holder. While Brown Trout were our target species, there were some great Northern Pike that also found these natural colored Stingers to their liking. We experimented with these spoon techniques for Walleye later in the spring but you'll have to wait for our next article to find out about that!
There can be circumstances in a spring fishery, when a stretch of shoreline reaches a perfect temperature and the shallow water is invaded by smaller year class Browns. Great lakes captains refer to these smaller fish as "Cookie Cutters" because each fish that you take seems to be stamped out of the same mold. When smaller fish are in 10 feet of water, there may be an entirely different subset of bigger fish just outside them. Moving the fishing vessel out to 30 feet of water could make a difference. Big fish of any species are opportunists! When clear conditions prevail, big Browns could be outside the pack and deeper in the water column. When fish go down, I like to increase the size of spoon being used. This is where an NK-28 fits the fishing pattern perfectly. The NK-28 is slightly larger than a Stinger and can be a great producer of big fish under these conditions. Planer board rods can be weighted with anything from ¼ to 1 ½ ounces of weight. These Northern King spoons can tolerate lots of speed and are a perfect choice to reach deeper Browns evading bright sunlight.
One of the best ways to catch a tip on what's happening currently on Lake Ontario is to visit many of the current report pages found on the web. These sites can be a great source of information as you head to Lake Ontario for your next fishing trip. Spring Brown Trout fishing is here! Why not make the most of your opportunity to catch larger than average fish. The next time someone snaps a photo of you holding a HAWG Brown. It just might have a spoon hanging from its jaw!
Capt. Bill Saiff III owns and operates the Saiff Charter Fishing Fleet from Henderson Harbor, NY. He can be reached at 315-782-4665 or online at www.BillSaiffOutdoors.com