Spoons are commonly used for both open water and ice fishing. To most folks, though, aggressive, hard-thumping bladebaits are open-water lures, designed for vertical jigging in deep water, but they work through the ice, too.
Vertical jigging spoons and blades are aggressive tactics. Spoons and blades work anytime fish are holding on the edge of deep structure, like points, suspended off the tips edge of structure, or somewhere in the water column. Fish staging along steep ledges are prime candidates for blades and spoons. In waters where silver-sided baitfish like ciscoes, shad, smelt, and alewives are present, fish often suspend near large schools of baitfish and can be caught on spoons and blades. Even working them above submerged wood works great for calling walleyes out of snag-infested cover to investigate a potential meal.
Bladebaits like a Heddon Sonar or Reef Runner Cicada provide vibration and action on the rise. Spoons like a Luhr-Jensen Crippled Herring or a Hopkins Smoothie provide flash and flutter on the drop. Spoons like Bass 'N Bait's Rattle Snakie, Northland's Buckshot Rattle Spoon, Lindy's new Rattl'r, or bladebaits like Heddon's Rattling Sonar, have enclosed rattles that further enhance their attracting power.
Present blades and spoons on 8- or 10-pound test with a 28- to 36-inch medium- to medium-heavy-power ice rod. Keep an eye on your electronics to locate walleyes holding on the edge of structure. Drop a spoon to the bottom, then engage the reel and take up slack until the line is tight and the spoon is just off bottom. Beginning with your rod tip pointed down at an angle (about 8 o'clock) toward the water, lift your forearm slightly while modestly snapping your wrist upward to about 11 o'clock. Use aggressive lift-drops of perhaps 12 to 18 inches. As the lure begins to descend, follow it downward with the rod tip. Keep slight tension, concentrate, and be prepared to set the hook the instant you feel any resistance. If you wait, walleyes generally spit the metal bait.
Walleyes, pike, or lake trout often suspend off the edge of structure or near schools of baitfish. Watch for baitfish to move through on sonar and raise your bait near or above the depth where you marked the fish. Predator fish generally cruise near or below schools of baitfish, and although you may only mark baitfish, there's a good chance predators are lurking nearby. Again, lower your lure near the depth where you marked the baitfish or fish. Snap the lure to create vibration and flash, then lower it back down. Pause the bait frequently (10 to 60 seconds) before jigging, which allows fish to move in and take the bait.
