Go Aggro.  Stocked trout will rise and feed aggressively when waters cool in the fall. Offer them a fast-moving spoon with a few quick changes in the retrieve to trigger a sudden strike. Simonson Photo.

By Nick Simonson

Few lures are as effective at covering water and triggering big fall trout as a spoon cast out over lakes where these fish are once again rising as the water cools with the season.  Properly working a spoon, however, goes a bit more beyond the cast-and-crank which will catch fish, but does much better with a few added tweaks to set trout off and connect with better action for rainbows, browns and other species stocked in our regional waters.

Pumped Up

Spoons help cover water where trout are acclimating to the cooling temperatures.  In those lakes and reservoirs of 40 feet deep or deeper, it’s likely that anything stocked this spring has made it through the heat of summer and is now actively hunting for anything edible, from larger insects and small crustaceans to silvery baitfish and young-of-the-year fish species inhabiting the shallows.  A spoon helps imitate the latter, and provides the impression of something with more substance, generating a strong reaction strike from those trout returning to the feeding zone at the top of the water column or along the shoreline.

A straight retrieve will work, however adding a few changes to that cadence can help really set trout off when throwing a spoon at them.  Speeding up the retrieve or slowing it can help key in on the fishes’ mood, and adding a few pumps, jigs and twitches of the rod tip will create an erratic action that will get trout to slash at the metallic offering.

Additionally, if you feel a bump of your lure, but don’t connect, give the lure a quick rip or twitch, and it’s likely that trout that missed the hooks on the first pass will come back again with a harder and more direct hit, and a better chance of a positive connection.

Clearly Better

The waters of fall, especially after turnover and later into the season, can be exceptionally clear on small lakes.  In those places that don’t get much for autumn moisture, expect clarity to be a major factor when it comes to fishing trout this time of year.  As a result utilizing monofilament lines, or adding fluorocarbon leaders to those setups employing superlines as a base, will make a presentation look more natural as it moves through the water.  The clearer and lighter the line, the better; so consider downsizing to six-pound-test monofilament on a reel, or using ten-pound-test fluorocarbon on those spooled with superlines.

Be certain too that hooks are sharp.  For small spoons just coming from the package, take a hook hone to their points and drag the tip across your thumbnail to check sharpness.  If the point leaves a small white scratch, then it’s sharp enough to get the job done.  While regulations on North Dakota waters don’t delve much into the allowed hooks for trout, many other jurisdictions restrict lures to a single hook per lure and ban trebles for ease of release.  Some may also require that those hooks be barbless as well to further limit stress during the release for the water’s stocked and natural trout.  When traveling around the upper Midwest for fall trout, check season dates and those special regulations to play by the rules and best help preserve the opportunities for future trout fishing, via spoon or otherwise.

This fall, turn to some favorite spoons to give that big bite impression to trout.  Work them with a few flicks, twitches and pumps to give the bait a jerky action that aggressive browns and rainbows can’t resist this time of year and take water clarity into consideration as well.  Put the pattern together and you’ll likely connect with some of the late season’s best openwater fishing opportunities for some very unique species.