Fluttering Spoons for Bass Fishing

by Russ Bassdozer

This shows and tells product photos, product descriptions and information for the lure models and colors that are (or have been) available at BassdozerStore.com. Not all models and colors shown are currently available, and exact specifications are subject to change.

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Fluttering Spoons for Freshwater Bass Fishing

Up until a few years ago, most bass anglers would not have considered this style of spoon to be a bass fishing lure. However, it has recently been 'discovered' for bass fishing.

What changed a few years ago is that the top national televised tournament trails undertook a complete rescheduling of where and when the top pro tournaments would take place. They discontinued many of the former tour stops on waters at times that produced small limits. They rewrote the pro tour schedules to take place on the biggest possible bass waters at the peak times for big bass in each location. Some say the motives were mainly to produce better televised tournaments - meaning the biggest bass being caught at the best possible times, all captured on TV for the viewing audience's delight.

So the days of pro tour stops on some of the old, small fish waters at off-peak times are a thing of the past, at least for televised top pro events.

The switch to peak time big fish events has necessarily caused pros to big up the lures they use as well. Longer worms, more buxom crankbaits, bigger jerkbaits, bulkier jig skirts all surfaced as a result. Meaty swimbaits, which formerly were used mainly in California or Mexico, now became practical for the pros stopping on big bass fisheries across the country. And yes, the big spoons that you see here, the two on the left in the following photo have become popular in recent years too. None of these bigger baits would have come into the limelight if it wasn't for the TV tournaments being switched to big fish locations/times, and as everyday anglers watched pros wielding bigger baits on TV, the audience also became interested to try bigger baits like those seen on TV. In many cases however, the big baits the TV pros are using at peak times on trophy fisheries, they are just a little too big for everyday use on ordinary bass waters.

1/2 oz fluttering spoon (right) and 3/4 oz (second right). The beauty of these two sizes of fluttering spoons is their more reasonable size makes them perfect for ordinary bass fishing situations where normal/average size bass are the target.

Now, the two huge spoons on the left are great if you're fishing big fish waters like Lake Fork, Amistad, Falcon, in Florida, Texas, Mexico or anywhere that a trophy fishery exists. For the rest of us, however, who fish mainly for small to average size bass, the two Fluttering Spoons shown on the right are more appropriate sizes. The two Fluttering Spoons on right are just better sizes for average fisheries, which are the majority of waters worldwide.

So if you've tried the bigger spoons (such as the two on left in photo) that the TV pros have been using lately, and if you've found those spoons to be too big for your fish, then try the 3/4 and 1/2 oz Fluttering Spoons. They may prove to be perfect! They have all the action of the bigger spoons without being oversized.

Fluttering Spoons in 1/2 and 3/4 oz sizes and several finishes.

The color accents (if any) are on one side only. The other side is always plain nickel finish only. As the spoon rocks and falls - or simply on a steady retrieve - there is a ton of color flash (on the painted spoons) and all have ample nickel metal flash.

Fluttering Spoons are made of thick (.050 diameter) raw steel (not brass) base material and nickel-plated. Since they are raw steel base, they are best suited for freshwater. The steel base material is not suited to resist saltwater corrosion.

Due to the S-shaped bend in the Fluttering Spoon, it traces the path of an S through the water as it's retrieved. You need to present it properly, so it rocks side-to-side instead of spinning uncontrollably. You need to practice in clear water to understand how best to rig and retrieve the spoon. The size hook is important to make or break the swimming action. So experiment with hook sizes to get it right. You'll recognize when you've perfected the rigging and presentation, it's deadly.

Hooks to Use. Experiment in order to find the hook size you favor with these spoons. For example, with the 1/2 oz spoon, a plain, undressed #2 treble is practically perfect With a plain #2 hook, the spoon has an enticing, wobbling fall and it has a baitfish-like swimming movement when cast and retrieved slowly.

But try other hooks to find what you like best. If you use too light of a hook, the spoon will have uncontrollable, extreme action and it will spin. When you've found the right size hook, you'll recognize that the spoon has an enticing, side-to-side rocking fall - and it will have a baitfish-like swimming movement when cast and retrieved slowly.

Tactics to Try. The spoon can be fished several effective ways:

It's at it's best used as a sinking twitchbait. That's one presentation the fish almost can't resist. Simply let it flutter as it falls on a semi-slack line, and try small flicks or twitching movements. Give the fluttering spoon small twitches as it sinks, and it will flip and flop in semi-circular gyrations that nearby bass cannot ignore. Cast it next to visible cover in shallow water and twitch it down to the bottom.

• Sinking, Twitching Technique. Once it sinks to bottom or moves beyond the location where you feel you want to work it, you can just swim it slowly over to the next bush, the next stick-up, grass clump, rock, tree stump or whatever piece of cover where a fish could be hiding, and then perform the sinking, twitching tactic close to the next fishy-looking hideout. This really is a fun and effective way to use the fluttering spoon! Once you master this sinking twitchbait tactic, you'll find it's a devastating technique. It works best when allowed to fall next to cover while you give it small twitches to make it flop and flash like a fluttering big baitfish that's in trouble.
   
• In deep water. You can vertical jig it off the bottom with a classic lift-and-fall jigging motion
   
• Cast and retrieved slowly. The fluttering spoon may also be retrieving steadily so it swims slowly in shallow water, barely rolling it over and through shallow cover or sparse grass. Wherever you have a few feet of water above grass or other submerged cover, retrieving the spoon slow and steady can be deadly. You don't want to retrieve so fast that it spins. You just want it to rock or almost loop to one side, then pendulum back to the other side, almost but not quite looping over in a full rotation. Practice makes perfect.
   
• Trolling with a drail or 3-way rig. It can be retrieved or trolled at higher speeds, which creates a more frantic movement, but note this tactic will cause line twist unless a 3-way sinker rig or drail sinker is used with a high quality swivel.

However you use it, take the time to learn the nuances of this spoon. You'll be pleased with the results.

1/2 oz Fluttering Spoon ~ Smooth Nickel

1/2 oz Fluttering Spoon ~ Hammered Nickel

1/2 oz Fluttering Spoon ~ Chartreuse Nickel

1/2 oz Fluttering Spoon ~ Blue Nickel

3/4 oz Fluttering Spoon ~ Smooth Nickel

3/4 oz Fluttering Spoon ~ Hammered Nickel

3/4 oz Fluttering Spoon ~ Chartreuse Nickel

3/4 oz Fluttering Spoon ~ Green Nickel

3/4 oz Fluttering Spoon ~ Blue Nickel