ESPN

Ask any fisherman about spooning, and invariably he'll tell you it's a structure-oriented, largely vertical method of fishing that relies heavily on sonar. This, of course, is the traditional view — and therein lies the problem.

By thinking in these narrow terms, a bass angler can only excel when fish are precisely located and stay put. What if the fish move or suspend? What if windy conditions make it difficult to stay on a spot or fish it effectively? What if your sonar is malfunctioning or you are forced to fish without it?

While the lack of sonar is certainly a handicap, working these lures in a more horizontal manner can overcome a multitude of problems for spoon fishermen. Ideally, an angler should find a reference structure — a point, hump or ridge with a known depth — and make long casts to it. The spoon should be allowed to touch bottom and then popped sharply upward. In many cases, particularly with suspended fish, a curious bass will follow the spoon as it flutters down, reacting to it as soon as it's jerked off the bottom.

If there's no initial reaction, the spoon should be reeled up several cranks and the popping action repeated. This reel-and-pop method is repeated all the way back to the boat. The result is a coverage tactic that not only targets fish on structure, but those bass that may be suspended at various depths near balls of baitfish.

The triggering mechanism at work under these suspended circumstances is a proven one in many other fishing situations. While the method can create strikes without the help of baitfish, it's especially effective when the spoon is popped through a bait ball, disrupting the school and attracting the attention of bass nearby.

With the unique ability to cover water on every axis, this spooning technique opens up the entire water column. Instead of looking for situations where spoons can fit, fishermen can make the situation fit for spoons.

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