One of my all time favorite lures where the retired Rapala weedless spoons.  The non-weedless ones were worthless but, man, when you put a grub tail on them, they are deadly.  Not just for bass, pike, muskie, even lake trout.  Anyone still fish them or know why they were retired?

Anyone still fish them or know why they were retired?

I still have 3 or 4. I also put rubber on the hook. It is a great lure. I bought them for pike fishing but use them often for bass.

Yep i've got a bunch of them that i bought for pike fishing here in Michigan.

I too also rig them with a soft plastic trailer. And the action is fantastic.

I also have some Johnson Silver Minnows, which are also a weedless spoon. They have a much wider body but also provide very good action, but probably are not as weedless due to the wide body.

I have found to have much more success on spinnerbaits, however, both for bass and pike...

Therefore i'd consider the weedless spoons as "situational baits," meaning that i'll only use them if using a spinnerbait is out of the question.

There is no question that they among the most weedless baits out there, especially for powerfishing heavy cover. Unlike topwater baits you can fish them below the surface in the heaviest of cover. You rarely ever get snagged with these things.

It defently doesn't hurt to carry a few of them in your bag.

Anyone still fish them or know why they were retired?

I used to use spoons around lily pads, but haven't gotten one wet in years. For me, it was because so many other weedless lures became available, such as soft plastics.

As to why they were retired, it's a safe assumption that sales were lagging and not providing an adequate return on investment. Perhaps a lot of anglers stopped using them for reasons similar to mine.

I used to use them all the time in weeds. I don't know what happened to the ones I had. For some reason, I quit carrying them around.

Thanks for the reminder. I'll have to go to the garage and see if I can locate a few.

I have about 6 of them and wish they were still sold. I've caught a lot of fish on them. They make a great alternative to the Johnson Silver Minnow when you want more vibration and wobble than the Minnow. You can still throw them into weeds without hangups and their drop action is stronger than the Minnow.