The Colorado from Thomas Spinning Lures Inc.

By the time warm summer water temperatures in lakes and deeper slow moving streams begin to rescind from as high as the 70’s all the way back to the 50’s in October, many species of trout in these warmer waters have already met their demise. If the early spring anglers did not take them out, the warm water of summer slowed them down enough that they became a favorite food of snapping turtles or other larger predators that routinely feed on them.

One of the more adaptable and most likely to survive through these conditions is the very challenging brown trout. Known as a notorious night feeder in many parts of the country, brown trout are about as hard to catch as the golden trout. This coupled with their immense size from being able to survive year over year in many cases makes them a great wall hanger. To call them finicky or elusive can be an understatement, but as October fades into November and the water temperatures further drop, this wiry trout can become table fare if you can bring yourself to think of November as a time to go trout fishing.

I am a firm believer that the best time to hunt in November is early morning and late afternoon, on this point most will agree, but as opposed to a snooze in the vehicle or deer stand at mid day why not try some spin casting for fall brown trout. An ultra-lite rig with a simple swivel doesn’t take up that much trunk space, but couple that with a few Colorado spoons by the folks at Thomas Sinning Lures and you can be enjoying surf and turf if you manage to bag something while hunting as well.

I conducted this review using a copper/ gold color Colorado and found that these once sly and picky brownies get very aggressive with it in the 40 something degree water of mid day November. The technique for success is about as surprising as the results itself too. My normal experiences with trout on spoons or spinners by and largely consists of a long cast that retrieves at whatever rate of speed the trout dictate that day, but when the hit comes it is usually closer to the shoreline than further out. This is the exact opposite experience when fishing a Colorado for brown trout in the fall. The casts must be longer shots at deeper water and the retrieval is almost always a slower/deeper return, but the strikes seem to take place further from the shoreline which results in a very exciting fight.

The Colorado is available in 1/10, 1/6 and ¼ oz weights with lengths of 1”, 1 ¼” and 1 ½” respectively. You have two colors to choose from, copper/gold and nickel/ gold combinations, as far as I have been able to find. I have filled my limit within fifteen minutes of fishing this fall using this lure. I have had spotted success in the past fishing cold fall water, but just needed that change of course for the day to reinvigorate me about hunting. And much like “hunting”, when I took these midday breaks, I had spent most of my time “fishing” not catching. Silver versions of spoons thrown at these fish have been passed by without a glance as it seems, but when the copper/gold colored Colorado comes by there seems to be a real change of attitude.

I would give this lure all five stars if I had stars to give. I have found them available at my local Walmart for just a couple of bucks as well as online though various lure sites. The Thomas site however is a major letdown with nothing but a pdf catalog for 2008-2009 on an under construction page. It does however list their address and a phone number. I can’t speak to their distribution nationally or even regionally for that matter, so a direct contact with them may be in order.

If you want a truly unique experience on some big fall brown trout, I’d recommend giving the Colorado a try. Check your local supplier or contact them directly, I think you’ll be impressed with this spoon.

author website: visit |