Sticks and spoons for spring browns

[joejv4]

I'm sort of a newbie at spring browns> I've gone and tried trolling for them several times with no idea what I was doing - and had the kind of no-success that one would expect. This year, I've been reading these boards and have a bit of an idea where I want to go, the spread I'm going to put out, the speed I'm going to go., that sticks and spoons are what to use, and lots of things that I was clueless about in the past. I'll be Camping at Fair Haven will be and hitting the big O this weekend, and am wondering about lure size.

I've got a box of F7 floaters and another box of Jr Thundersticks. These are all in the 3" - 3.5" range.

Is this the right size for spring browns, or do I need the bigger stick baits (F9 size)?

I've also large (5") and small (2.5"-3") spoons, what size spoon is typical for successful spring brown outings?

Any help is appreciated!

[dewey123]

I was at chinnook marina in fair haven about 3 weeks ago. We pulled f7s and jr. thundersticks and smithwicks. Blue and silver worked real good... orange bellyed stick baits produced fish. It wouldnt hurt to have some f9's but if you dont have any i wouldnt go out and buy them. screwy louies had a ton of used stick baits for like 5 for 13 dollars or something like that. We fished 6 ft to 20 ft. When we got out of the piers we did best heading west(left) hit 3 cohos right near the pier and lost a screamer. Picked browns up the rest of the way down the shoreline. We went east 1 evening and picked 1 small brown near the pier and not a hit after that. We fished oswego in the same depths did good west of the breakwalls.

[joejv4]

thanks for the quick reply - I've got the blue/silver in both the TSjr's and the F7s, that is a good start

I also have these spoons from blue fox - does anybody ever use them?

[Mortigan]

I've been reading the posts here on spoons lately and haven't seen Blue Fox mentioned. Most are Northern King (NK), DreamWeaver (DW) and Michigan Stinger (or Stingray for the larger size). Read through the "Favorite Spoons" thread on this site.

[adam2000]

sutton no 22 to size 44 hammered , have been top producers for me this yr

[joejv4]

Thanks guys - not going to go out and buy any for this weekend, but will start the collection over the summer.

[f1sh-0n]

You can catch them on the smaller stick baits but your going to have to slow your speed down and than your spoons may not have the right action. I like running the larger stick baits because you can match your speed with the spoons. 2.3-2.8mph depending on the day. This year for me the alewives were around and they were huge soo thats probably why everyone was having success on the larger stick baits. When the brown are concentrating on the gobies than you are usually better off with a smaller stick bait. I did find some gobies in the stomach of some and they were the size of a F7 but most of my browns had alewives.

[dewey123]

We trolled about 1.9 to 2.1 mph

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[Legacy]

Spoons- Dreamweaver super slims and Michigan Stinger are deadly for Browns. They are both very speed tolerable.

Stickbaits- some days they like big stuff and other days smaller stuff. rapalas, thundersticks, renegades, etc all work well

Play with colors till you find common ground, pay alot of attention to speed (start slow 2mph), and adapt.

[joejv4]

Got home and looked through the spoon box my father-in-law gave me.

the Blue Fox spoons are the Rattlin Pixies in several colors, some Krocodiles, some Locos and tree old Rebel Arrowhead TS.

I've got a few different colors of Silver Streaks and a half dozen Northern King Mags.

I think I'm going to do a lot of experimenting and let the fish tell me what they're after!

Thanks for everyone's help!

[joejv4]

I stopped at screwey Louies and picked up a couple stingers (alwife & tuxedo).

Trouble sleeping in a tent in the rain - anxious to hit the water early. Will post a report later on.

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