Favorite lures for brown trout and walleye in the spring

[Yankmycrank]

Favorite lures for brown trout and walleye in the spring

Hey everybody. A buddy and I went out to OZ this week and only got a few browns. Everybody else around us was slamming doubles and triples. We put in 25 hrs in 3 days and ended up with 3 fish. I think a lot of the problem is that we didn't have any spoons. We used all cranks all week. We got em on a black and silver smithwick and a long A bomber chartreuse   And then our usual F18/husky jerk/bomber lineup for walleye struck out as well. It was a really tough trip and I'm hoping some of you guys could shed some light what color spoons I should pick up ? and any other lures you've had success with consistently for browns and walleye  im going back out in a couple of weeks and I wanna do better  any input is greatly appreciated and good luck out there fishing 

[dannycoleman49]

Black silver smithwicks bleeding shad smithwicks . Black silverbubble stingers or stingray's

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[reeleyz]

It could be your speed as well. I normally troll around 2.5 for Browns but I am no expert.

 

Some days they do want spoons more than sticks though.

 

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[dannycoleman49]

Everyday is different but slower is better sometimes 2.2 2.4

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[ryanrobb52]

I do best on green and silver or blue and silver spoons. Also the bay rat sticks seem to be hot the last couple years. Greens and Oranges are my go to for the short shallows.


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[Dr W]

Want to try a few variations ... The lake has changed over the years !

I use a lot of Rapalas and other sticks and I often wonder if it makes much difference what color

you have out.,  Speed is a big issue !  try going faster and slower and zig zag so the lines on one side are moving

fast and the other slow.  I wonder about noise as well . Have you ever be swimming when some one has their Sonar on? It is loud chirp ! and some motors make a clicking sound as well . I noticed when I put a new big outboard on the last boat the hook up dropped off.  Don't get in a rut and switch things up until you start hitting

 

[Yankmycrank]

Thanks. I did just get a used kicker motor. We were wondering if it was a little noisy it was spooking fish  but then we hooked up on a long A bomber only 50' back.   Do you guys think otterboards are a necessity?  We only have planer boards

[reddog20fan]

Bay rat short shallows and warrior flutter spoons.  Try 10# floor leaders and small swivels. Also try running your leads out. 100 or 125. 

[Bearcat]

Quote

 

Big fan of the smithwicks colors mentioned above but last trip out they only picked up smallies.  We did pick up a brown on a rapala but caught a dozen in two hours on the spoons (green and silver was the hottest), not a fish all day on the bayrats, go figure.  Leads for those shallow fish should be at least 100' and light weight flouro leaders are a must.

[ryanrobb52]

I never run boards at all and think I do just fine. I just use really long leads of 100-150. For me I just feel like the boards are to much on busy days when traffic is heavy.


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[Yankmycrank]

So how do you get out more than 2 lines without boards?  You just use lead core and spoons and the occasional bay rat stick?

[rocky1]

You might want to consider adding a split shot or two. You may be fishing to high.  Sticks usually out produce spoons for me on browns.

[rocky1]

Also don't overlook cheaters on rigger rods.  Some of my biggest browns came on a cheater spoon that i could see looking down in the water right behind the boat. Noise doesn't bother them all.

[Broadhorizons]

Out of Oswego on my boat...

 

The only thing BayRats have caught with me was some of my money... Not a hit on any of 5 good looking colors with more than enough water time when the other side of the boat was catching.  

 

Smithwicks on the other hand have been very good, clown, black stripe, and bream. No bass yet either. 

[Yankmycrank]

Great. Thanks for the info. I used bay rats the other day and didn't even get a hit on em. But I'll keep throwing them in the mix cause some guys swear buy em. That and I dropped about 200$ on em before the last trip

[King Slammin]

Bay rat short shallow in coho crusher is killer on the coho.


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[ryanrobb52]

I run 2 riggers at 6-8' then 2 flat lines back 150'. To me less is more and I have had a number of days with 20+ hookups. Certainly not all days but I like a manageable spread. I like the ability to move in and out of the other boats without being 100' wide.


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[Yankmycrank]

Ok buddy.  Appreciate it. I understand that feeling.  It's been real crowded out to the east of OZ

[Kevin J Legg]

I run two riggers and 6 or 7 boards on my 18 foot Lund Alaskan. Often times I run sticks on one side and spoons on the other side until they tell me what they want. Also have been running some lead cores 2 or 3 colors in the mix. Often place spit shot 3-4' ahead of lure to get a little more depth. Generally run Stinger and R+R spoons and Smithwick, Bomber, Storms, BayRats stick baits and jointed rapalas. Change up colors running chartreuse or firetiger early and naturals later in the day. Also change up speeds 1.8-2.4 mph and leads 60-150'. Running many lures allows you to experiment with color, size, and style of lures and vary led lengths to fine tune you presentation which can change by the hour. The downside is it can lead to tangles and boat traffic can make thing interesting. If traffic is very bad I sometimes shorten leads and reduce rods but often just move away from other boats. I use a similar approach on walleyes but decrease speed and run few spoons and more sticks. Personally I have had a little better luck with spoons for Browns.


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