My Secret and Seemingly Forgotten Big Bass Lure

[D.W. Verts]

Okay, so I hinted around some in my previous topic, and interestingly enough some folks caught on rather quickly. Again, it's kinda hard for me to write about stuff like this because it seems that many folks have forgotten this bait, or never knew about it at all. It is the MOST versatile thick-cover bait that there is for me. It comes thru the muck better than a frog, and is way more effective than a frog because you can just do so much more with it (but I still LOVE my frogs). It is also maybe the BEST follow-up bait that there is behind a frog. Better than a worm.

The bait is, as was guessed fairly quickly, the Johnson Silver Minnow weedless spoon-



Folks, this thing is the real deal, and I am truly amazed that I don't see more of a mention of it here on the interweb, and even more so I don't see it in Pro fishin' when the bite is in the vegetation. It's just weird to me, but then again, there are SEVERAL baits and techniques that I'm not seeing. Maybe I'm just gettin' too old...

If you want to give this thing a shot next spring (or for the southern boys still this fall thru the winter), here's how it works.

First off, for some reason all I've ever thrown is the 1/4 oz. I don't know why except that it works. And the only colors I've ever used are chrome and the black chrome. There are more colors and sizes available of course.

The Silver Minnow works best with a trailer- the drag of something hanging off the back of the spoon gives it a tantalizing and "woops"y wiggle. The type of trailer you use, and sometimes the WAY you use it, can change the action from a tighter shimmy to a wide wobble. Those tricks are a secret that I'm gonna keep to myself. Ya'll can have fun figuring it out.

I use a few fairly basic trailers, so that ought to help you. First off it's hard to beat the rubber skirt. RUBBER (or even the old vinyl, not synthetic) skirts. They call these old-style skirts "easy skirts" or something nowadays because they slip on without having to be assembled. Look at the old Arbogast Hula Popper and you'll see the style of skirt that I'm talkin' about. And you put it on the skirt LONGWAYS, not backwards or inside-out. Most of the time.

Secondly, I use a soft plastic trailer of some kind, and here the variety is endless. Grubs, swimbaits, old twisters off the back of used worms, etc.- any of these will work. I do however keep them fairly short unless the bass are just eatin' it up.

Most of the time however I use a plastic pork frog type chunk, or something like the Zoom Swimmin' Chunk (I think that's right). Those last five good IBass fish that I caught on the spoon came on these two trailers, and the pork chunk copy was from Doc Irv.

I still, 'cuz I can, use the old Uncle Josh Pork Rinds too, from the frog to the Bass Strip. The old Pork still works well for me. In ANY application.

By changing colors (shades) and styles of your trailers you can easily trade-up your presentations to fine tune. I will say that 80% of the time I throw a white or pearl-colored trailer, the rest of the time it's gonna be black.

This bait was made with heavy tackle in mind. Braid is PERFECT for fishin' it in the thick stuff (I wished we would have had braid way back THEN for sure). I throw it on 20-25# mono if I'm using regular line, but most days I'm chunkin' it on 65# braid.

I also of course use the rod to match, and this fall that has mostly been my Dobyns 734 Fury. I also used my 735, but the 734 casts better with the smaller 1/4 oz. bait. My poor 734... Oops, another story for another time.

These spoons, at least my older ones (I haven't bought any since 1993) come with very dull hooks, even for braid. A few long passes with a file will put you in the game.

I keep my casts short in the heavy stuff, even though this little bugger will FLY if you want to launch it. It'll go so far that you may need to file a flight plan. But I keep my casts to under 30-40' most of the time. This is a big bass bait in a thick cover presentation- I don't give the bass any more than I have to, generally.

However, two weeks ago I got cocky I guess. I had just caught a 6-1/2 (the bass in the picture in the last topic), and less than five minutes later I threw the bait maybe 60' up past a small pod of pads that were still green, but surrounded by dead pads and stems. I started my retrieve, came maybe five feet, and the durn thing was INHALED by one TOAD of a bass. I commenced to crankin', and the bass turned sideways enough to give me a good look (it was in something less then two feet of water) and it got my heart to pumpin'. But being it was still fifty or so feet away, and there were all these dead pads 0-45' feet away, she got me into one. The hook grabbed ahold of a stem, and it was over. I've got video of the event that I haven't looked at. It hurts.

That's TWO bass that were so much over eight pounds that they were most likely over NINE pounds that I lost this year due to one old dead lily pad stem. Drats.

I fish the Silver Minnow with a slow to medium retrieve most of the time. When they're biting good a steady retrieve does the job. However the last two weeks I was spending a lot of time running it into stuff, "killing" it, and varying my retrieve. Most of the bass I caught, and all of the larger ones, responded to a change in the cadence of the lure. The "woops"Y cadence (seriously, a well-tuned Silver Minnow with the right trailer is unbelievable to look at as it comes thru the water) did them in.

Anyway, a trailer of your choice (they'll all work), sharpen the hook, use heavy enough tackle (if you're fishin' heavy cover, again as stated in the first topic, this bait will work just as well in open water) and work on your retrieves.

Do all that, pay attention to an older wore-out basser about his old ways, and you're going to put some MEAT on your stringer with this thing, whether you live in New York, Washington State, Florida, or anywhere in between. I promise.

And that's the best thing I'll probably ever share here. Peace.

Dale

[Wizard]

Actually, my "hint" was just my normal writing style. I was thinking Silver Minnow the whole time. D.W. is right about it being a forgotten lure. I know how good it is and haven't used tt in ages. Roland Martin made the lure famous by winning scads of money and some AOY titles with it. It is fantastic in Florida and Georgia swamps but it needs to come with a warning label. The gators like it as much as the bass. CHOMP!

Wizard

[zippyduck]

Throw it for redfish and you may have your wrist broken. Clear open water is great for it also. Never go to Presque Isle, Erie, Pa. without one. Just watch out for the pike and musky.

[Princeton_Man]

 
I had an Uncle who fished them and I tried it many times as a kid. Just didn't know how to fish it. I think he used the Uncle Josh pork rind on it.

[Smallie_Stalker]

Great info. Dale. Thank you. 

A forgotten lure indeed. I don't know why, but haven't thrown those in a LOOONG while. Got a bunch of other lures in this vain as well. Mepps/Mr. Twister Timber Doodles, the good ole Heddon Moss Boss, Rapala Minnow Spoons and some others.

One more item to add to my "gotta remember" list for next year.

[D.W. Verts]

Bobby Murray won the 1978 BASS Masters Classic at Ross Barnett with it. Used a Hildebrand spinner in front of it.

[Wizard]

Now, there's a real legend anglers don't mention today. Him and his brother were great anglers and solid people. Amazing how we remember every bad boy angler but don't remember the good men of the sport.

Wizard

[Pacific NW Ron]

Thanks for the info Dale.  I haven't thrown them in years.   I'll have to give them a try again next season, but I'm having trouble believing that they are really that weed less.  I think when I was using them years ago I quit using them in cover because I was constantly hung up and lost a lot of them.  Maybe it was the way I was using them.  To me they were not weed less at all.

[Oldfart9999]

I got away from using it years ago too. They work skittered across the top of grass also.
Have you tried them with a spinner blade Dale?
Rodney

[D.W. Verts]

I got away from using it years ago too. They work skittered across the top of grass also.
Have you tried them with a spinner blade Dale?
Rodney

You bet. But they aren't "weedless" that way- they pick up lots of junk.

Thanks for the info Dale.  I haven't thrown them in years.   I'll have to give them a try again next season, but I'm having trouble believing that they are really that weed less.  I think when I was using them years ago I quit using them in cover because I was constantly hung up and lost a lot of them.  Maybe it was the way I was using them.  To me they were not weed less at all.

Ron, I fished them for 20+hours in three days and never hung one ONCE, except when that big bass got me stuck. And I'm throwin' them in the JUNK.

[Bud Kennedy]

I have not used one of these for decades.  I do have a question.  Are you using this bait with or without a swivel set up to combat the significant line twist.

[D.W. Verts]

I have not used one of these for decades.  I do have a question.  Are you using this bait with or without a swivel set up to combat the significant line twist.

No swivel Bud- if you use a trailer that fits the bait straight, on a slow to moderate retrieve it will not twist. At least I've never had issues with it. It should sashay from side-to-side like a drunken Hula Girl. "woops"y. It may spin in the air on a hard cast, but again I rarely throw them very far.

Dale

[SteelHorseCowboy]

I used one today for a few minutes then put it away because my line was twisting.
Now I have a better idea of how to use it, never thought of putting a trailer on it!
Dale, how are you adding the skirt? Threading it on the hook like a trailer, or putting it on the front?

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[SteelHorseCowboy]

Mine's an H2O Express by the way. Will probably upgrade to another brand sometime.

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[D.W. Verts]

I used one today for a few minutes then put it away because my line was twisting.
Now I have a better idea of how to use it, never thought of putting a trailer on it!
Dale, how are you adding the skirt? Threading it on the hook like a trailer, or putting it on the front?

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Everything hangs off the back. That's how you get the balance and the "woops"Y action.

[SteelHorseCowboy]

Thanks!

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[D.W. Verts]

Thanks!

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[FlatsNBay]

Throw it for redfish and you may have your wrist broken. Clear open water is great for it also. Never go to Presque Isle, Erie, Pa. without one. Just watch out for the pike and musky.

Zippy beat me to it! I used to throw a gold silver minnow for redfish. It works great on grass flats and they will eat it up!

Funny thing to add about the silver minnow. I had won a fishing trip for 2 with a couple of bass pros so I invited a buddy. During the trip my buddy took out the secret weapon, a Johnson Silver Minnow. Well the pro couldn't stop laughing at my buddy's secret bait. The laughing stopped when my buddy caught a 6 pounder!!!

[Donald Garner]

Dale, tks for sharing this.  Its been years since I've used a Johnson Silver Minnow Spoon.  When I did use it I put a Uncle Josh # 11 pork chuck on the back or a big Mr. Twister trailer.

[SFL BassHunter]

I've never thrown a spoon before. Seen the pic you posted and it's interesting. It being weedless and all I went ahead and ordered one.
I've never cared much to learn about spoons and thought they wouldn't be good in the places I fish with all the vegetation.
I suppose if I can keep the darn thing clean it should catch some fish. I watched a video of it underwater and it's got an interesting movement to it.
At their price I saw no down side to getting one. Had to replenish some plastics after going through so many yesterday anyways.

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to trying this new to me technique.


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[SteelHorseCowboy]

At their price I saw no down side to getting one.

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That's really the biggest reason I have one. I've always known about them, but never how to use one until now. But for just a couple bucks, I figured if nothing else it'd look purty in my tacklebox.

Looks like I'm going fishing tomorrow after putting in a couple job apps. Have some tricks to try with a spoon, and my wife surprised me with a yellow and black Devil's Horse. Also gonna eventually try this Holey Rogue that Bo's mentioned.

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[Mike Cork]

Dale, you'd make a heck of a southern angler. All these secrets you keep giving away. The silver spoon is a super secret trick for me around here, love letting it flutter in the cypress knees... 

[D.W. Verts]

Dale, you'd make a heck of a southern angler. All these secrets you keep giving away. The silver spoon is a super secret trick for me around here, love letting it flutter in the cypress knees... 

First off Mike- I AM a Southern Angler.... 

And guys, any lure will pick up some junk on the retrieve, and as we all know the bass don't bite a bait that has crap hangin' off of it. Why? Well, there'a whole 'nother topic right there.

Anyway- the last few weeks I'm fishin' this thing thru both live and dead pads, milfoil, pond grass, etc, and once in awhile (okay almost every cast) it collects a little bit of stringy junk moss, or a wayward piece of milfoil. When that happens, a short but SHARP jerk on the rod tip will almost always clear the bait, and also becomes part of the retrieve that then triggers bites.

You may see the hitchhiking crud on the lure bit more often you'll see the change in the lure's action.

SFL's fixin' to have a life-changing experience.

[Mike Cork]

First off Mike- I AM a Southern Angler.... 

Well, this winter when the cold does you in, I'm about a 9-hour drive from you, come on down and we'll do some southern jig fishing for some elbow breaking bass.

[D.W. Verts]

COOL!

Uh, that'd probably we later this week. This is ridiculous weather we're having. A weird year.