“There has to be bass here,” I tell myself, as I sit down on the front casting deck chair of my boat.

Below me is a thick mass of weeds, growing up to just a foot or two below the surface of the water. It’s a late summer day, as a stiff wind blows across the lake in northwestern Wisconsin. The weather has been inconsistent with storms followed by a front and colder weather, which has slowed down the bass bite.

It is time for a new direction.

I pick up my casting rod. Attached to the end of the line is a frog-green-colored Fishtrap spoon with a unique design, which allows it to get through the weeds without hooking up in the mess. I launch the spoon across and into the water. Then, I slowly start to retrieve it.

I see a flash in the water and feel the weight of a fish—for just an instant. I lose the fish, but realize that getting a strike on the first cast is encouraging.

Three or four casts later, I feel a jolt and set the hook; a fish has hooked itself. It then heads right for the weeds, but I turn it and it comes splashing up and over the surface. The rod tip on my casting rod is plunging as the fish fights back. I soon have it alongside the boat. Lifting up my casting rod, I pull the 1-foot-long bass into my boat.

Later, I cast out again and watch the spoon in the clear water. It slides through the weeds without hanging up or catching anything. Bass are in the cover, where it’s usually tough to get them out.

Half a dozen casts later, I see a silver shape bolt out of the weeds to hit the Fishtrap. I hoist another 1-foot bass in the boat.

Most baits hang up on the weeds and come back with green stuff all over them. You won’t catch fish that way. I am pleased with these results, especially since the fishing had been slow due to the colder, nastier weather we’d been having.

Spoons are somewhat overlooked as bait for bass fishing. This species will always be found in and around weeds, but the problem is how to present a bait to these fish in this thick cover without getting hung up or caught.

The Fishtrap is one of the answers to this problem, as you can drag it through the worst weeds without collecting any vegetation. The design makes all the difference, with two small bubbles at the back of the spoon. Down the middle of it is a slot that’s cut into the spoon with a slide that moves the hooks back and forth. You can slide the hooks forward so the two top hooks are inserted in the bubbles. Underneath is a third hook attached to a light spring. Now, all three hooks are protected from the weeds. This is certainly an innovative approach to making a spoon truly “weedless.”

I have been using the Fishtrap since the late ’90s in Canada, Minnesota and Wisconsin and have caught northern pike, bass and even walleyes with them. I’ve thrown this spoon into some nasty masses of weeds and brush and it comes out clean.

When a fish hits this spoon the hooks spring back and out for a solid hook-set.

Fishtrap history and options
The Weedless Bait Company located in Glencoe, Minn. makes the Fishtrap. Al and Jan Conklin have owned the company since 2004. When they first purchased the company the spoons were offered in 17 colors, but now there are 31 including their traditional Red-White, their Black-Yellow, Orange-Black, Black-White and others. The spoons are also available in Silver, Gold, or Copper Hammered options and a plain Silver, Gold or Copper. Weedless Bait has also developed spoons in Chartreuse Orange, and a Red-White-Black Head lure. Their most recent colors are my favorites: Black-Orange-Gold and the aforementioned, “frog-green-colored” Green-White and Green-Black. They introduced these green spoons last winter at the sport shows. The Fishtrap also comes in three sizes available to anglers including “Musky,” “Senior” and “Junior.”

To order the Fishtrap or for more on their spoons, visit weedlesslure.com.