Johnson Silver Minnow Tips: How To | Bass Fishing 

Your right what you say about old lures, Johnson silver minnow. It was about a year and half ago, and fishing was a little slow for me. so I called my cousin Fudd up, who's about 80 years, been fishing all his life. He said I'll send you down one on those Johnson silver minnows, put a trailer on it, and you will be good to go, I won't be using it anymore. Went up on Fireside lake, Rusk county, hadn't trolled about 100 yards with that silver minnow, hooked into a 38 inch musky. Called Fudd up, told him what had happen, he said I told you so. RIP Fudd!

This has been my go to bait since I was 14. I am now 69. I use a grub on mine, but I pinch most of the body off to make it even lighter. I love this bait. It seems to catch nicer fish too. The grub helps to keep it from spinning too. I have thrown this into some very heavy cover with very little problems. Thanks for the video. I have had many people kid me about fishing an antique bait, until you catch more fish than they do.

I have found over the years,this bait works well with a loop knot exclusively. Back in the mid 80's till mid 90's that bait was Okeechobees #1 search bait....very informative, keep them silver minnows alive,thanks for the video.

Great video Glenn. Thanks for reminding me I need to pick my weedless spoon and toss it around again this summer. You are absolutely right. Great baits are easily forgotten by new fads....👍🏿

Thanks for the great video Glenn & Karri! I got my first tackle box back in the early 70's and one of the lures that I still have is a silver Johnson Minnow, now I finally know how to use it.

I live in Niagara falls Ontario and northern pike love that spoon! Still trying to catch a bass on it lol

My first lure. I was 7. I’m 70+. Love it!

1st video I have seen on a spoon. Never thought about buying one. After seeing the way it moves I will be picking a couple up. Great video, I learned a lot.

Good video. You covered it. Here in Maryland we have the "Invasion of the Snakehead". They like shallow weedy water. We use frogs, buzz baits, chatter baits, spinnerbaits, and whopper ploppers. I'm gonna dig thru my tackle and add Johnson Silver Minnows to the mix.

I came back from serving in the military back in the 80's and caught a lot of bass on this lure, then like he said , got involved in throwing other lures over the years, found and old tackle box at an estate sale last year, and it had an old silver minnow spoon in it, I cleaned up this lure and caught 21 bass in one day , throwing the old silver minnow spoon !!!!

This lure paired with an Uncle Josh pork frog was a staple in the fifties and sixties. It wobbles on the drop as well which explains why my grandfather would often pause it and let it drop in deeper water during the summer dog days. No sonar in those days but he used it because he had learned that's where the fish went when it got hot and that fishing it this way worked.

I have 3 of these in my tackle box. I will be taking the swivel off of then now though. Got plenty of grubs to use as a trailer. Appreciate the tips on how to fish it.

I've caught bass, redfish, speckled trout and even flounder on it but like he said I started trying newer things and it got to where it ended up in the garage and I've seen em in stores but don't pick one up but I might have to put it back in the arsenal

I tried it right after I saw your video. I got em. 👍

I knew these have been around for a long time, I might start fishing this and see what happens!

One of the best baits ever invented! A Johnson Silver Minnow with a white pork strip has been a bait in my arsenal since the late 70's and one I have probably caught more fish over the year than any other. Its rare I have a day out on the water and I dont at least use it for a portion of my trip at some point during the day. Its a bait that works very well in a wide range of situations and is exceptionally weedless for an exposed hook bait. If the Bass are hitting Shad, this is a hard bait to beat out on the water. Hybrids and Stripers will readily hit it as well.

Loved watching this video. This was one of the first Bass lures I purchased for my tackle box back in the 80's. I used to put a while or chartreuse Uncle Josh split tail trailer on the back. The big Chain Pickerel loved it haha. Now I have to find this in my boxes of tackle and start using it again. Thanks for reminding me. I have a bunch of old time lures that I am sure the Bass will love. Hope you do more videos like this on nostalgic lures that can still catch good quality bass today. I also used the Mepps Timber Doodle, with Mr twister grub I actually liked this better than the Johnson silver minnow. To grab her another piece of soft plastic would make it weedless instead of that metal Bar.

I use the Johnson silver minnow spoon for Muskie. I use the largest size offered, and add a twister tail grub, to add an attraction. These are excellent baits for weeds, and cover.

This is the video I’ve been waiting on, such a sleeper bait!

Thanks for breaking down how to fish these. I've seen them in the stores and now you've set us up to make them catch fish.

Wow Glenn….blast from the past!! I do still have one in my box but can’t remember the last time I used it!! The others are like you said in my fishing cabinet put aside for the latest and greatest new baits!! Thank you for the reminder!!

💪💪Once again Glenn you brought back one of the dinosaur lures I grew up throwing and LOVED,and I’m going throw it today when I go out ❤️👊

I use it for bouncing off the bottom in snaggy places. Good for walleye on dropoffs.

I only rediscovered fishing a few years ago. I have a spot for bass and pike but the weeds are crazy (probably why the fishing is good). Most weedless lures merely make fishing there tolerable but that’s the best you could say. These were new to me. Only used them there once but what a difference! Thanks for the tip about pre-sharpening the hooks. These things are so well made, they look indestructible!

Great video! Never leave home without one. A staple still up in Canada fishing for bass, pike, musky and even walleye. Everything hits it. Many more expensive imitations out there. Stick with the Johnson and your all set.

Fished it a lot in 60’s&70’s .caught good channel catfish with it and uncle josh pork frog (in the jar). Still have two of them (silver and blueish one).

Thanks ... found two way back in my TACKLE BOX ... started using them again the way you showed ..... fantastic on pike and bass. Maybe because they haven't seen it for a long time. A pro fisherman told me "Fish haven't changed, that's why, what caught them years ago, still catches them!"

I appreciate your knowledge about it.

Instead of the snap, use some sort of loop knot, where the tag end pointstoward the bait. She works smooth that way.

This is a great old lure which I use very often. It's great to see someone extolling its virtues. I have a few comments that might be useful. First is a minor quibble. That angled position of the line connection has nothing at all to do with the lure's style of wobble. I say that because first off, your snap provides a totally free and flexible connection to the eye so the eye's orientation can't possibly matter. Second, if you use no snap tie the line directly to the eye, the line attaches to a fixed location that does not ever change in relation to the rest of the spoon and therefore the tilt of the eye becomes meaningless (and even then, the lure still wobbles properly, though with slightly less motion if the line is heavy). third, I have a number of these lures that were made 30 to 50 years ago, and the ones made in those days had the eye being a completely different shape and orientation compared to the modern versions. On the old versions, the eye was a bit longer and had an initial twist where it comes off the tip of the spoon, "untwisting" out toward the point of line attachment, so that at the point where the line attached, the eye was perfectly horizontal (not angled at all). And those old lures have exactly the same action as the new ones. That angle on the eye of the modern versions of this lure is just the result of a convenient manufacturing technique when using less than half as much wire than was used in the past, and that's all there is to it. One type of trailer more people should try is the fake pork rind strips made by "Fat Cow". Real pork rind strips are nearly impossible to find, but the fake ones from "Fat Cow" are basically just as good, have action that matches or beats that of any grub, and they are incredibly tough. Of course your channel is about bass fishing, but this lure is also great for northern pike, and when pike fishing it's nice to have a trailer that doesn't get cut to shreds or chopped right off by these toothy fish. The fake pork strips are amazingly good at holding up to the teeth of pike. I only use two colors for fake pork strips: White and yellow. I do adjust the length of the strip to match the size of the lure and the degree of aggression with which the fish are striking on any particular day (use shorter fake pork strips for lethargic fish, longer strips for fish that are inhaling the lure). You explained the hook-sharpening issue nicely. There's another hook issue to deal with. The quality control on these lures in recent years has become rather poor. It doesn't affect the action of the lure, but it can affect the hookup ratio. On many of the lures, the the hook point "aims" toward a location on the spoon that is well "inboard" of the eye. In that case, the hookup ratio will be poor, but this can be fixed. Carefully bend the hook so that the point "aims" directly at the eye, or even slightly "outboard" of the eye. The example lure that you used in the video had the hook point aiming right at the eye of the spoon, and therefore there would be no problem with hookups and no need to fix it, but I find that a sizable proportion of these lures come from the factory needing some adjustment of where the point of the hook "aims". I hope some find this info useful.

looking forward to testing this rig on some heavily reeded hike-in lakes with cutthroat trout 😌

Great video. Some people think the old lure won't work anymore for some stupid reason. But they caught fish back then. They will catch fish now. In fact, they will probably do better now because the fish don't see them very often. Back a million years ago, pre-marriage, I use to go to Maine with friends for pickerel fishing. Among others. And the number one lure that caught more fish than any others was the silver minnow. It has been in my tackle box for 30+ years. The other day I pulled one out and put a Zoom Fat Albert on it for a trailer. I didn't catch anything with it. But then nothing else caught anything either. Thanks for the reminder of how good this lure is. I just put some more in my shopping cart with an online dealer. I only have one left. So I need a few more. :-)

I'm relatively new to bass fishing and have never heard of the Johnson Silver minnow. I'll have to check it out, thanks for the video.

Great video we do forget about the lures we once used thanks

Here in Canada they also make it in daredevil and fire tiger. I still remember, in the '99 edition of Advanced Bass Tactics, it was #1 on a list of all-time bass catchers. Had no idea what it was at the time, so it set my on a journey to find it. Unfortunately all I could get was Rapala's weedless minnow spoon (which was clearly inspired by the design and a fantastic bait to boot), but I would eventually find it and own all the colours. Years later, after Rapala came out with the rattling weedless minnow spoon, I absolutely had to have it. Still have 6 or 7 in their original packaging, despite it being discontinued a while back. Stellar bait for both bass and pike. Some tips: adding a black eye near the nose of the bait with a sharpie, or vertical stripes down the gold blade. For trailers, no more than 2.5" long and as thin as possible. Cutting a white or smoke grub in half (including the tail) and then the body in half again usually does the trick. You can dip the end in chartreuse too. Keeping the trailer just behind the barb also gives it better action, as opposed to threading the shank. As for line, heavy copolymer is also ok, but I would avoid mono for long distance casts, especially for a 1/2 ounce bait. The stretch can muck up hook sets. Hope that helps. Let's keep this bait alive and kickin'!

The gold Johnson single hook is a great fishing spoon. Never underestimate it.

I’ve never fished these, but figured I would try them out because of this video. They are hard to find, but was able to find a few gold #’s. Looking forward to seeing what they are about. Thanks for the info.

Appreciate the info I used these back in the 80s and just recently bought a couple didn't know they were still made

Very interesting! I've never used one, but just put it on my order list. Thanks!

I have found a lot of those fishing gave some of them a way I have 1/8/ oz Johnson Silver never used it trout with it once maybe I remember I didn't catch so back in went in my box

Up here in Western Canada, where we don't have bass, the pike love this spoon. We can get them in silver, gold, 5 of diamonds, and firetiger (should I say we could get them. It seems like they have now been discontinued this year :( ) I've always used a leader, with a swivel, and never found that it interfered with the action. I've never tried a trailer or skirt on it, but will be the next time I'm out !!!!

I remember back in the 80's my grandfather told me about catching giant bass using a silver spoon and a pork frog. I even went out and bought both back then but never caught a fish. Have you ever used a pork frog on one of these spoons. I see lately that Uncle Josh pork is back and now the memories of my grandpa are making me want to experiment again.

Large silver and gold color with a pork twist tail in red/white has worked for pike and bass for me for years

I had a spoon like that and I could never catch a fish on it. One day I fished it in clear water and actually saw a fish engulf and spit out the spoon! That was the last time I fished it. But after watching this video, now I wonder if all I needed was to fish it with a skirt tied on. Might be worth a try! Thanks for the detailed video.

Great tips. I’ve only caught pike on mine.

Man I remember these- I was just a kid though, had no idea how to use them. Every time I went to the local TG&Y- which was where we bought fishing gear back then- or the Western Auto- I saw these on the rack. I should get a few and give it a go- why not, sounds fun. If I can tear myself away from the jig- started working on jig fishing a couple days ago and much to my surprise I've been on a great jig bite- almost landed a 8-9 pounder today- she got off at the bank. The problem was they were biting at my feet- I was on the bank pitching less than 2 feet from the shore line I'm standing on- and they would bite and then I wouldn't have enough line out to even set the hook properly- they would steal all my slack before I could react. If I let more out I couldn't tell if I was getting bit- but if I didn't I couldn't set the hook because the rod would load too quickly- before I could build enough momentum to finish a hook set. What should I have done?

Been throwing those a long time. Great video

Great video Glenn! Awesome as always!

Thanks I like the Johnson spoon. I use gold and silver. Cool that you brought this lure up. Btw I’m an old fart stuck on the lures of my youth. But I do have my share of the latest and greatest.

1/4 ounce gold Johnson spoon with a white skirt can't be beat, especially in pads and thick weeds.. Biggest I got was 15 3/4 pounds in a central Florida lake on the spoon and many fish 7 to 11 pounds on the same.. It never gets old

Great Video! I fish these in Ontario and pike love them. My question is how do you prevent pike bite-offs?Do you use a wire leader or a fluoro leader? What size fluoro would you recommend? Also how do you prevent line twist when trolling if you don't use a barrel swivel on the leader? Thanks

Great comprehensive video

Awesome video. Keep up the good work buddy 🙏🏽♥️ Blessings to Everyone.

I used to throw one of these in the hole made by a bass blowing up on and missing my frog. It can work sometimes.

Put a white skirt up top ,. !!! Killer bait gold in FLA espesaely !!!! Great lure . 😎

Glad to see this one

Thanks for the help!

Great vid! Really good info! Will be trying this ?

In Michigan most people use Silver Minnow for pike, Saginaw Bay it is the shizzz

Could you fish the heavier spoon in deeper water? Like fishing a flutter spoon?

That is a great lure. My grandpa left me his box and it had a couple golds in it. Unfortunately i was 15 yrs old i lost all 3 in 5 min..lol. I fish spoons almost Everytime i go fishing fresh and salt they produce its definitely my top confidence bait and nobody uses them anymore

Very good tip 🙀 I would have fixed the nose immediately 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

My favorite trailer for the Johnson Spoon was a white, Uncle Josh pork strip, when I was a kid. Shame they don't make them anymore. Just so much more soft and supple than any soft plastics today. Had great action combined with the Silver Minnow.

Bass and northern love it

Well presented sir!

I use pork rinds or plastic. This lure tends to get a big bite in Fla. where I fish it.

What is your view on no trailer? I’ve never thrown it for bass or with a trailer. Just for pike.

Thank you for what you do

I hate to let this one out 😬😆. 1/2 ounce spoon , trailer hook . Just put the trailer hook on the spoon hook and add a small piece of the tubing in the package with the hooks above the trailer hook between it and spoon barb . The trailer hook will swing freely and not get hung up , but when they hit it they are double buttoned up ! Add a Zoom (split tailed) swimming chunk to the spoon hook like you did the grub. The trailer hook rides between the chunks legs .

I'm confused... You recommend a rod with "a fast, limber tip"... It's my understanding that extra fast are the stiffest tips, fast tips are still fairly stiff, and moderate tips are limber... So what's best, fast or moderate?

Used em way back in the day and still catch fish. Best trailer is a pork frog

GLENN!!! Don't give our old school secrets away!!! LOL... JSM, as I call them, have been in my tackle arsenal since I was a kid in the 70's. New stuff is great don't get me wrong, but when the bass are pressured and have seen every new fangled, dipsy do, monkey fur, atomic spinner, bladed T-Rig, Mega Grub/Worm/Craw... You have to throw something they haven't seen. JSM, I break these out and do pretty well when the bite is tough and even Ned Rigs fail. Yes, Ned Rigs can fail when everyone, including Ned, is using them and the bass see them A LOT. Fish them naked, with a skirt, or a grub or other small plastic that won't mess up the flutter. I'm not saying these work, just stick with your new stuff like mopper boppers and let us old folks keep our secrets, lol. BTW, I'm old enough, but not a fossil or on SS. Be Well, E...

What white skirt is that? Send link of it thanks

Silver minow,snagless Salley and the ole hellbender, great old lures.

Loop knot >Snap or clip

Glenn were do you guys live if you dont mind me asking?? Like the state

Would it be good for big white bass and walleyes ?

What gear ratio do you usually use on a baitcaster

I'm 72 and fished with it all my life. My father before me who'd be 112 fished with it much of his life too. My first one came from him out of his tackle box!...lol

The most frustrating thing about bass fishing is having only two arms... With two arms, I can wield one rod, with one bait... What are the odds that I'm going to have the optimal bait from my box tied on for that exact moment? Not very good....

You're absolutely right, I have one hanging on my wall 4ft from my bed

I just bought a couple and will be putting a zoom fat Albert chartreuse pearl grub behind it.

the black 1/4oz with a blue grub has in a staple in my tacklebox since the 80s... shhhh

They are now making these in at least 9 colours/patterns. I have tried a lot of weedless spoons and the Johnson is in a league of its own. Far and away more weedless than anything else I’ve seen. My knots catch more weeds than the lure, so I skip the snaps and swivels entirely and just tie direct.

Where can you get the skirt trailer that he showed??

nice view

Yup Glenn the silver minnow is on a cone back just like bell bottom jeans🤓thanks for the tips

I’ve got one of those with a prop on it.

Can you use the old style looking pork trailer?

You really know what you're talking about. I've been catching 5 to 8lb bass on ledges with big worms here in south ga but everybody throws worms on this lake and the fish are tired of seeing them. Out fishing this morning I thought of the Johnson spoon. I'm an old guy who as you said has gotten away from using them but I'll have one tied on tomorrow. Jim

Maybe I’m using it wrong but I’ve never had any luck with that one

Tail up or tail down on grub. Ask anybody who fish what's right up or down you'll never get the same answer.

Sharpen that hook, sharpen that hook.....SHARPEN THAT HOOK!

Good stuff! Thanks

Wait, what? You cant change the hooks out? Did this just win some tournament? Lol. Been using this lure since I was a kid. Rigged with an uncle josh spring lizard frog… works great!

They were originally made to be fished with pork Rhine, it's not made anymore! Sorry bout that!!

I like to fish mine under a bobber tipped with a night crawler it kills em

That's were I am now two many lures not enough time or room ha ha ha ha !

A small rubber skirt with a small pork strip is killer on a silver minnow

The lure in concept is great. However, I would argue the Johnson Silver Minnow has the most embarrassing quality hook of any lure I've used. Its literally covered in paint and can barely get through thick plastics.