Fishing New Waterbodies with Len Thompson Spoons

By Henri-Vine Hétu

​Are you going fishing on a new lake or river and don’t know which lure to use? If so than you might end up fishing for hours without catching a fish. Len Thompson spoons of multiple sizes can come in very handy while scouting out new territory and that’s because just about every species of fish can be caught with them; Pike, Walleye, Trout and even Bass.
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During the month of July 2015, I decided to go wild camping up in La Tuque, Quebec, with some friends and my dog by a lake that is approximately two kilometers from the nearest road. There weren’t any cottages situated nearby so we had the small lake and beautiful forest to ourselves. It was nearly perfect. The only problem was that we didn’t know which species of fish were in the lake and which lure to use.

On the first day we fished the entire evening and didn’t get a single bite. We had to cook some hotdogs on the fire for supper. We still weren’t getting results on the second day and were starting to believe the lake had no fish.

Finally in the evening I looked inside my tackle box to change things up. There, I saw my Reverse Red Len Thompson lure sitting there just waiting to be used. I attach the lure to my line, look around and spotted a beautiful fallen pine tree in the water. I casted my lure right beside the pine tree. I decided to retrieve it a little more quickly to make sure it didn’t sink too deep and get caught in some branches.  On the first cast, BAM, this monster fish comes out from under the tree and the fight begins. After several minutes of a wonderful battle, we net an eight pound Northern Pike. This was my personal best for at least a year.

8lbs Northern Pike caught with the No. 2P-RR (Reverse Red)

No 2P-RR (Reverse Red)

Compared to many other lures, a Len Thompson spoon’s action does most of the work for you and that’s why it can get very addicting fishing with one. The most common mistake anglers make are reeling too slow or too fast. You want to make sure you see that spoon wiggle back and forth while reeling it in. If you reel to fast it will spin, if you reel too slow, it will loose its action and almost drag in. If you never fished with one before, I suggest you practice some short casts so you can see the spoon and adapt the retrieve to the weight of the lure and the conditions in which you’re fishing.

So if ever you’re out fishing on a new lake or river and don’t know what to use, try a Len Thompson spoon.  You may be very surprised what will bite at the end of your line.

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Henri-Vine Hétu is from Mascouche, Québec, Canada. His favourite thing about fishing is the excitement of a fish battling at the other end of the line and not knowing what it is until it's almost in the net. Follow Henri on Facebook or Instagram @Henri-VineFishing.