BoJoLe Flutter Spoon
In terms of numbers of fish caught, the next best thing to live bait is an artificial lure that looks, acts, and feels like live shiners. Nothing else comes as close as the BoJoLe Flutter Spoon. Available in a range of sizes from 2/0 to 5/0 and in a variety of colors, this lure is unequalled.
The BoJoLe Flutter Spoon is quite different from heavy jigging spoons. Stamped from aircraft aluminum, it is super-light. This gives it a unique fluttering motion when retrieved at a steady rate or on the drop. Lots of people like to troll with them for smallmouth bass, especially below the dams.
If you watch the Southern Sportsman TV shows, you know I do a lot of my fishing below dams on the Tennessee and other rivers. Not only are there large numbers and many species of fish below dams, but you will catch a lot of big fish there, too. The bait fish stack up in the current breaks and swift water eddies, and the big fish follow.
Once you learn how to fish the tail races, you will enjoy better fishing that you ever imagined. One thing that I learned over many seasons is that not all lures are created equal; some lures far out-perform the rest. I’ll tell you what, the hottest bait I have ever put on my line, as far as fishing below dams is concerned, is the BoJoLe Flutter Spoon. Smallmouth... hybrid... stripers... it is a killer! The best I’ve ever seen.
| Size Chart | ||
| Hook Size | Length | Weight |
| 2/0 | 1-1/2 inches | 0.08 ounce |
| 3/0 | 1-7/8 inches | 0.1 ounce |
| 4/0 | 2-3/8 inches | 0.2 ounce |
| 5/0 | 3-1/4 inches | 0.4 ounce |
How to rig the BoJoLe Flutter Spoon
Although I generally use a Carolina rig, which I will explain in more detail below, there are several ways you can rig the BoJoLe. Here’s the diagram from the back of the box that shows several different techniques to use this spoon.
For Carolina-rigging, I use a 7-foot heavy-power, fast action rod and a baitcasting reel spooled with 12-pound test monofilament. Choose a quality mono that you trust to be abrasion resistant. For fishing below dams, I advise you to use 20-pound test monofilament as a leader material. It is going to get nicked and scraped by rocks and fish, and starting out with 20-pound test leader will keep you from breaking off when you set the hook. 20-pound test line will still have enough residual strength even when abraided to handle big fish in the swift current.
Now here is how I rig:1. Rig your leader. Tie a 15–30-inch shock leader to a black, #4 barrel swivel. I recommend black swivels over chrome or gold, because with the shiny swivels you’ll get false strikes. Fish see a little flash of light that resembles a minnow, and they hit at it, jerking your line and making you set the hook on nothing.
2. Next, thread a 3/4-ounce barrel sinker onto your 12-pound monofilament fishing line, then a plastic bead to cushion the knot, and tie your fishing line onto the swivel and leader. At that point, you are ready to tie on your BoJoLe to the leader.
3. Before you start casting, there is one last step. I put a simple overhand knot or “hitch” in the leader a couple inches above my lure. You know how getting a knot in a monofilament line weakens the line at that point, right? By putting a knot in the leader, if your BoJoLe hangs up the knot will tighten and cut your monofilament line. You will lose your BoJoLe, but the rest of your rig will be saved. 20-pound test leader is still strong enough to hold a good fish, even with a knot in it. Trust me on this; I have landed hundreds of big rock fish and stripers with my 20-pound test leader knotted in this way.
Origins of the BoJoLe
John Hunter and Dr. Bob Rogers came up with a design that I helped field test and refine. Along the way, it produced an all-line class record rock fish. John is co-owner and rep for the BoJoLe Lures Company. He loves catching big ol' stripers below Wheeler and Pickwick dams, all up and down the Tennessee River, and he says, “They’re the best thing out there now. It’s a killer if there ever was one!" Most times, when fishing the BoJoLe fish are hooked in their upper lip.
Dr. Bob Rogers, another owner and rep for the company, commented, “They usually don’t swallow them things... just swat at them. Anything that swims, it will catch. Below the dams you never know what your next cast will bring: largemouth, smallmouth, stripers, hybrids and white bass, walleye and sauger, white bass, and blue cat all jump on this lure.”
[To see this amazing lure in action, including footage of a line class hybrid striper being caught and released, go to myoutdoortv.com and click the link to watch the video entitled “BoJoLe Flutter Spoon Big Fish.”]
