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Also, as far as quality of spoon/brand, I've always had good luck with eppinger dardevles, which seem to be a notch above cleos. Interestingly they don't glow as strong as some of the cheaper spoons ive bought (i.e. bass pro shops has ones that glow really strong), but they seem to outproduce for me.
Absolutely agree on the retrieve speed advice, excellent tips there.
Hey guys.
I see a lot of posts on here and talk to a lot of people on the piers whom are having trouble hooking up on spoons / J13's off the piers, meanwhile the guy next to them is slamming them.
The number one thing I see people doing wrong (not wrong persay, but wrong in this case) is the speed in which they reel.
Salmon follow lures for a long time. Just watch some of the downrigging videos from the lake. If you are reeling in too fast, they are going to get tired and ignore your lure.
The key to my success has always been to slow roll the spoon. Reel extremely slow, keeping it just off bottom but in a constant retrieve so it looks natural.
I've only been skunked once or twice this year off the piers, and I've been out AT LEAST every other night since the last week of July.
Also, don't buy cheap spoons. The hooks on those suck, they usually don't have split rings on both the top AND bottom of the spoon, and they glow for 1 cast.
Go to a store like Peter's or Bronte Outdoors and buy an assortment of the custom spoons, and put split rings on both the top and bottom of the spoons, and upgrade the trebles.
Sure, you'll catch fish on Cleo's, but I rarely use cleos anymore. Only when I'm changing up the pattern to try and find what the hot color is, then I will put on a similar custom spoon, because I know it won't crap out.
I'm always happy to help and answer any questions from anyone. I feel that the sharing of information in angling is one of the best things you can contribute to angling.
So ask away if you have any questions.
I've landed triple digits off the pier's this year ranging from Port Dalhousie to Port Hope.
