Daiwa’s Spoon Lure Range Explained

Having initially been one that said I have more than enough lures in my arsenal, I do not need any extra baits added to my collection, I now have my own tackle box dedicated to Chinook/Crusader lures in my kit for lake and canal fishing and a separate compartment in my salmon fishing bag just for Chinooks!

When these were first launched into the New Zealand market, my kids were still quite young and I had them very much in the black and gold toby stage of learning to cast and hook fish, therefore my start with Daiwa spoons was with the Crusader range, and in black and gold of course! The dish on the Crusader is far more pronounced than what you see on a majority of other metal spoons and this is what got my attention, the action is outstanding, far better than the other styles of lures I was using at the time. This is an advantage when fishing in still water, quiet back waters or in the canals when the flows are low. The Crusader is available in 7, 10, 13 and 17gm weights, giving plenty of options and versatility in varying situations. The ‘fishbowl’ at the very bottom end of the Tekapo canal is an extremely popular area to fish, and is renowned for producing plenty of fish, both trout and salmon. The 10gm Crusader has become my ‘go to’ lure here, around the change of light black and gold, but as the sun brightens the day moving to the burpin colour often does the trick. At only 10gm it does pay to give this lure plenty of time to sink, then a steady retriever back from the depths and allow the action of the Crusader to do all the work for you! 

Being an avid salmon fisherman, anything with the name Chinook tends to get my attention! The Chinook does not have the same pronounced dish as the Crusader, but don’t let that fool you, this lure also has a magnificent action, but can be fished in more current that the Crusader. With weights of 10, 14, 17 and 21gm the Chinook covers river, lake and canal fishing, but with 17 and 21gm in the mix these are suited perfectly to sea run salmon fishing in our bigger braided rivers and also chasing kahawai around our river mouths. For sea run salmon I mostly fish the Rakaia River and regularly use 22gm zed spinners in a clearing river, but once the flow drops a little and I require a lighter weight that’s when I move to a 17gm Chinook. I find them great upriver or around the tidal reaches, my two preferred colours are chartreuse yamame and yamame orange belly. Both lures use UV paint, so they are really nice and bold in the water and create a good contrast with the silver back side. The one thing that I do with these lures when targeting salmon or kahawai is to change out the split rings and hooks to beef them up a bit for those tougher fish. Once again, I like the 10gm for lake and canal fishing, but will sometimes go up to 14gm if longer casts are required or trying to get deeper faster, remembering the thinner blade will always work better if you can get away with it in a particular situation. As with the Crusader, in the ‘fishbowl’ let them sink deep and retrieve slowly, if switching out from the Crusader colours I like the green tiger or if night fishing then the lumo option, zebra glow works a treat for both canal and lake action. Another colour that I have lot of faith in is green gold tiger, this works well in waterways with rainbow trout, and whilst it isn’t the biggest trout she has caught, it was the lure my youngest daughter picked out of my tackle box herself and used to catch her first trout unassisted! 

Whether you are fishing the canals, a high-country lake, river mouth or chasing sea run salmon there definitely is a lure within the Crusader or Chinook range for you, and they get the results too!