Spinnerbait Tips And Tricks

[Shoalamfishin]

     I was digging through some old tackle yesterday when found some spinnerbaits that were in less than ideal condition (but fishable) and after repairing them decided to share of stuff I've picked up along the way about spinnerbaits. To start with by no means do I claim to be master of the spinnerbait but the things that I am going to talk about are things that work for me and others have found to be effective as well. Some of the minor things that I have picked up are the use appropriate use of trailers, bending of the arms (when necessary), and tying or wiring wrapping the skirt.

     I love trailers on spinnerbaits. Lures that ordinarily have a moderate degree of action take on a whole new action when they are combined with a spinnerbait. I find it is best to contrast the action of trailers with the action/intensity (of vibration) of the blades. By this I mean I opt to throw willow blades with a soft swimbait, or  curly tail grub (of appropriate size) and colorado blades with a fluke or twin tail or various other soft bait with a more "muted" action.

     On the subject of bending the arms of a spinnerbait, I have spinnerbaits with arms bent at an array of various angles so I don't bend the arms of my spinnebaits very often anymore. I have found that it is more effective to bend the arms in an inward direction for fishing areas with limbs or cattails or when using a spinnerbait in a pitching presentation as that is generally to nasty cover, but when fishing grass, or standing timber I feel that bending of the blades is not necessary and does not make a significant difference. 

     In regards to tying and wire wrapping skirts, most stock spinnerbait skirts hold together fairly well and some flare out quite well on their own and in these cases there is generally no need to wrap or tie one's skirts. In the instances where some one makes their own custom color skirts or when factory skirts begin to slip/sag I feel that the benefits of a well tied or wrapped skirt are tremendous. Wrapped skirts hold up exceptionally well through all kinds of abuse and at the same time allow one to have a greater degree on control over the color/number of strands/ shape of the skirt. 

     In an additional note I feel it is always important to continually check and maintain the quality of components such as swivels, split rings, and hook shape/sharpness.

 

What are some of the tricks that members here use to be more productive with spinnerbaits? 

[roadwarrior]

This is a video Glenn did:  http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/spinnerbaits-bass-fishing.html

[Bankbeater]

If I am fishing an area with a limited amount of vegetation I let the spinnerbait sink all the way to the bottom and then slow roll it back up.

[Felix77]

I'm a big fan of spinnerbaits.  One of the methods I used I learned from Ike.  He used a stuttering method to cause the spinnerbait to move in an erratic pattern.

 

Hard to describe but the action is done with the reel.  Quick turn, Quick turn, Slow turn ... vary the quick and slow turns.  Also vary the number of revolutions of the handle for each turn.

 

Example 2 quick turns, 2 quick turns, 4 slow and steady turns, 1 quick turn, 1 quick turn, 2 slow and steady turns.

 

In watching it underwater it causes the blades to flutter like crazy.  Best with double willow bladed spinnerbaits IMO.

[Jig Meister]

One of the things that will work great is to feather the skirt but sort of pumping it. You can do this with a slight pause while you are reeling in.

 

make sure whatever you do that you fish that baby into some cover and hit the grass, logs, rocks and whatever else you can find.

[Jigfishn10]

Besides all the different retrieves that can be made...slow roll, stop-n-go, yoyo, helicopter etc, I like a little luck tied onto my spinnerbait:

It's not a rabbit's foot, but a zonker strip (rabbit fur).

I also like to add a snap to the swivel in place of a split ring so I can change blade sizes, colors and shapes as needed.

This spinnerbait caught my PB a week and a half after ice out.

[Bobby Uhrig]

The best technique I use and most rewarding is whipping that 3/4 oz at the freaking boats and jet skis going past me at 60 MPH and 25 feet away while im fishing-  LUNKER

[A-Jay]

The best technique I use and most rewarding is whipping that 3/4 oz at the freaking boats and jet skis going past me at 60 MPH and 25 feet away while im fishing-  LUNKER

 

Oh Yea, I like that.

 

 ~ and don't forget that trailer hook - preferably a Big Treble.

 

 

A-Jay

[Shoalamfishin]

Jigfishn I haven't tried using a snap swivel before. I replaced some old worn out swivels on some of my spinners with new smoother ones not too long ago but after looking at that I'm might have gone the wrong route. I might have to try out the snap swivels. 

 

Have you found that the zonker strip makes any significant difference?

[Jigfishn10]

Jigfishn I haven't tried using a snap swivel before. I replaced some old worn out swivels on some of my spinners with new smoother ones not too long ago but after looking at that I'm might have gone the wrong route. I might have to try out the snap swivels. 

 

Have you found that the zonker strip makes any significant difference?

No sweat, just add a snap to the split ring that came on the swivel.

 

The zonker strip was put on one winter while I was bored one Sunday after football was done for the season. I really like the look it and knew it was a bit "off the wall", but I had to try it out. Finally the water was soft, so I went to field test it. Much to my surprise, it had a really nice action to it and next thing you know, I felt like I snagged. 1 pump of the rod, still snagged. Second pump of the rod, I feel this weight and wiggle...it was a big girl looking for the rabbits foot...   

 

The zonker strip's action isn't as pronounced as say a grub trailer, but it doesn't have a flat response as say a twin tail trailer. More middle of the road, yet still adds a different profile...I like it.

[Shoalamfishin]

Thats awesome I think I'll give it a try with a split strip of fur (like twin tails) or part of a squirrel tail; off the wall for sure but stuff I have on hand.

[Jigfishn10]

Thats awesome I think I'll give it a try with a split strip of fur (like twin tails) or part of a squirrel tail; off the wall for sure but stuff I have on hand.

Cool, be sure to post a pic of your creation, preferably with an oinker next to it!

[TNBassin']

I'm a big fan of spinnerbaits.  One of the methods I used I learned from Ike.  He used a stuttering method to cause the spinnerbait to move in an erratic pattern.

 

Hard to describe but the action is done with the reel.  Quick turn, Quick turn, Slow turn ... vary the quick and slow turns.  Also vary the number of revolutions of the handle for each turn.

 

Example 2 quick turns, 2 quick turns, 4 slow and steady turns, 1 quick turn, 1 quick turn, 2 slow and steady turns.

 

In watching it underwater it causes the blades to flutter like crazy.  Best with double willow bladed spinnerbaits IMO.

I will have to try that. thanks for posting this.

[Jigfishn10]

Thats awesome I think I'll give it a try with a split strip of fur (like twin tails) or part of a squirrel tail; off the wall for sure but stuff I have on hand.

 

Lets do this, I bought 3 Megastrike StrikeBack spinnerbaits to try down in Disney last month, I ended up giving 2 away to my guides (1 guide for the day and 1 guide I had in '07 that I bumped into who got me into spinnerbaits in the first place), so I have to buy some more. PM your address and I'll tie a Zonker strip to a 3/8 oz StrikeBack to send to you. You can get the best of both worlds by trying a StrikeBack and having a lucky rabbits foot!

 

BTW, when I made that spinnerbait pictured above, my then 10 yo daugter dubbed it the SpinHareBait...LOL