What weight of a spoon should I use for surf fishing for Spanish mackerel?

Spanish mackerel are a high speed fish that love to eat little shiny fish that look just like a silver spoon. They are a predatory species that can chase down their prey from behind so the faster that you bring in your spoon the better the results will be most of the time.

The silver spoon moving erratically in the water looks just like a wounded fish to the Spanish mackerel. Predators are very lazy and would much rather take an easy meal than spend precious calories chasing down a healthy prey item.

Have you ever seen the lions on the Serengeti plains of Africa? They will sit around in the shade and wait for some other predator to catch something and then go over and take it because a fight will usually use less calories than a long chase.

Spanish mackerel are usually on the smaller side of 24 inches so the weight of a spoon that you should use to catch them should be smaller too. A 1/2 ounce spoon will do the job 90% of the time. You might have to go heavier if they are further out from the beach. A one ounce or a 1 1/2 ounce spoon is about as big as I will go for Spanish mackerel.

You will probably have to use a metal leader or you will lose a lot of spoons. Spanish mackerel are a very toothy fish and can easily cut through mono filament and fluorocarbon leaders.

What weight of a spoon should I use for surf fishing for bluefish?

Bluefish are a lot like Spanish mackerel. They are used to swimming down their prey and have the speed to do it. They are fish eaters that are attracted to anything that is shiny and moving fast. The good news for you is that you have a lure that is shiny and moving fast in your surf fishing tackle box, right?

It is hard to find a better bluefish lure than a silver spoon. Bluefish get bigger than Spanish mackerel so you can go with larger spoons to catch them. A 1 to 2 ounce spoon will usually get the job done when the bluefish schools are around. You might need a surf rod to get at them during the lower parts of the tide.

During the higher parts of the tide they will often be within 30 feet of the shoreline so your regular 7 foot fishing rod will do the trick. You just have to cast to the bluefish and reel the spoon back quickly to get the hits. You may need to have a barrel swivel above your leader and on your spoon if it doesn’t already have one.

Spoons are one of those lures that are notorious for twisting up your fishing line and creating knots in it. Then you won’t be able to cast very well until you untangle your fishing line.

What weight of a spoon should I use for surf fishing for snook?

Snook like to eat little silver fish too. The first snook that I ever caught was with a 1/2 ounce silver spoon off of my friend’s dock. That was many moons ago but I have caught plenty more with spoons since then. They used to be my go to lures for just about anything that I was fishing for.

Snook are not as inclined to chase a prey item. They like to ambush them instead. The key to catching snook when you are surf fishing is to use a slower retrieve. This is especially effective if there is some sort of structure where you are fishing. It can be a rock, reef, pier piling, inlet seawall…….

A snook likes to be near structure of some kind but they will also cruise the trough right off of the beach during the higher parts of the tide. A parallel cast out maybe 5 or 6 feet from shore will work phenomenally well when you are targeting snook at high tide.

A 1/2 to 1 ounce silver spoon is all that you will need to get on some big snook off of the beach.

What weight of a spoon should I use for surf fishing for Tarpon?

A 6 foot 100 plus pound tarpon will eat a 2 inch long anchovy or minnow. People often make the mistake of thinking that big tarpon want big baits. That is usually the case but when the little minnows and anchovies are running down the beach those big tarpon are keying in on small shiny baits.

A small shiny lure will trick them into biting during the right conditions. I consider myself a tarpon specialists. They are my favorite fish to catch off of the beach or anywhere else for that matter.

In my region of Florida, we get minnow runs down the beach in the Summer months and it draws tarpon, snook, bluefish, Spanish mackerel and just about every other predator to the beaches.

The best time and tide to catch a tarpon is sunrise and sunset during the high tide. When you have this perfect confluence of tide and low light, then you can trick a big tarpon to eat your little spoon. There will be 100 pound tarpon 5 feet from shore feeding on those poor little minnows. That is your best bet to target a nice tarpon with a silver spoon.

Conclusion:

Spoons are an easy to use and effective lure to catch all kinds of different fish the next time you go surf fishing. Get yourself a collection of different weights ranging from 1/2 ounce up to 2 ounces and you will have a blast surf fishing with spoons in your area.

Spoons are one of my favorite lures and I have caught dozens of fish species with that simple lure. You will be surprised how many fish that you will catch when you master the techniques for using spoons.

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