Fishing Technique Guide
Directly below the boat (or ice hole), lift the spoon and let it flutter back down on controlled slack. The flutter on the fall is the trigger. Works for bass on offshore structure, walleye, perch, and lake trout.
When to use it
Most effective in late fall and winter when fish school tightly on deep structure and won't chase horizontal presentations. Through the ice, it's the go-to technique for walleye, perch, and lake trout on main-lake structure.
Position directly over structure — a point, hump, or identified school on electronics.
Drop the spoon straight down to the bottom or to the depth where fish are marked.
Lift the rod sharply from 8 to 11 o'clock — about 2–3 feet of movement.
Immediately drop the rod tip back down and reel up the slack — the spoon flutters on the fall.
Pause 2–3 seconds on the bottom to let it settle.
Strikes happen as the spoon flutters down or on the pause. Any tick or extra weight = set the hook.
For ice fishing: same motion but through the ice hole.
Pro Tip
Vary the height of your lift. Short 12-inch lifts sometimes trigger more strikes than big sweeps. Let the fish tell you what they want.
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