BY MIKE STEVENS
MAMMOTH LAKES – One would be hard pressed to find an Eastern Sierra trout angler who wasn’t aware of the fact that Thomas Bouyants are a spoon that can be fished effectively right out of the box. My group throws them a ton (some guys exclusively), and over the years we have noticed some adjustments that absolutely result in more hookups on “The Buoyant.”
MAKE IT SNAPPY
I was never comfortable tying to a hole (no split-rings on a Thomas Buoyant) so I’ve almost always added a duo-lock snap to tie to. It has no ill effects on the action of the lure, in fact, it might actually be allowing more action since the lure “free swings” on the snap rather than being locked into a knot. I just buy a box of snaps (one size up from the tiniest ones) and attach them to all my buoyants. At one point, the owners of Thomas Lures told me they recommend adding a snap, so I feel pretty good about this one all around.
SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE
One of my favorite traits of Thomas Buoyants is how slow they can be retrieved and still have an awesome action. They’ll work at most speeds, but I’m convinced slow is most effective. Make sure when experimenting with speed, challenge yourself to see how slow you can go and still get bit. I’ve caught a ton of Sierra trout on Buoyants retreived as a straight-up boring pace.
HEAVY BUT SHALLOW
Thomas Bouyants aren’t available in the smaller 1/8-ounce or less sizes a lot of other spoons are, but the truth is, they don’t have to be. The most popular Buoyant is the smallest 1/6 ouncer, and while it casts a mile, it doesn’t sink very fast and also unlike other spoons, an angler can keep it shallow on a slow retrieve. An example of how I take advantage of that is at Twin Lakes (Mammoth), one of the weediest lakes in the region. In the summer, there may only be 2 to 3 feet between the top of the weeds to the surface, and a Buoyant will stay above it without getting hung up. This is the case on any weedy lake, just start the retrieve right away, keep the rod tip high, and don’t think you have to speed up to stay above the salad.
DIVORCE YOUR FAVORITE COLOR
Chances are, your favorite color is the classic red/gold, and for good reason – it’s a killer. But keep in mind, that’s everyone’s favorite because it’s the best-seller by far, so there’s way more of them out there so naturally they’re going to catch the most trout and make the most headlines. It’s a whole “chicken before the egg” thing, but my Sierra group had a great idea one year, and it paid off A TON in the years that followed.
One year, we said no one throws red/gold, and we crushed it with frog, brown trout, watermelon, rainbow trout and more. Some guys never turned back, now with new go-to colors having convinced themselves they’re better than gold/red. My brother even crushes it on the ridiculous “Wonder Bread” color and on another that’s primarily black. So, keep some red/golds around, but you’re possibly missing out on a lot of bendos if that’s all you have.
MOVE ALONG
I’m not a fan of fishing spoons in moving water, but I have found Thomas Buoyants are right at home in rivers and deeper creeks. We fish them a lot in the upper and lower Owens River, Lee Vining Creek and Rush Creek, all relatively slow flow waters or at least creeks with slower sections. Big browns will crush them in creeks, and if you need more proof of that, visit WONews.com and search “Rush Creek brown” and see what comes up.
For more info, visit ThomasLures.com
