How Do Bass Eat Spinnerbait?

[Loop_Dad]

Have you ever wondered how they attack spinnerbaits? Do they try to eat the whole thing? Or do they only attack the jig head /shirt part? I was looking for a video of bass attacking spinnerbait,but I couldn't find it.

 

Do you widen the arm on some of the spinnerbait? I do sometimes, thinking that might help with hook up rate.

[rippin-lips]

Just watch a video of a bass feeding in a tank. They flare their gills and suck in water along with the bait.

[Loop_Dad]

Just watch a video of a bass feeding in a tank. They flare their gills and suck in water along with the bait.

 

Well, I was looking for one with spinnerbait, but I couldn't. Do you have a link to a such video?

[rippin-lips]

Regardless of the bait they'll attack it the same way though. We don't eat food any differently just because it's a steak or a hotdog.

[Sam]

The bass will flare their gills and inhale the bait, crawfish and baitfish.

 

If you can find any of the Homer Circle videos about the bass you can see this up close and personal.

 

As for spinnerbaits, a bass will hit it to 1) kill it; 2) inhale it; 3) move it out of its territory.

 

Use a red trailer hook the same size or one size smaller than the spinnerbaits hook on all spinnerbaits.

 

Hank Parker is the spinnerbait specialists to get his spinnerbait DVD and make notes.

[PotomacBassin]

I think what he's asking and is curious about is do they just hit the bottom part or do they attack the whole thing... not how does a bass attack (any) food.  The unsupported answer is it almost always hits the jig part of the bait.  Don't know why, but that's how it is.  I've actually seen videos of pros saying this multiple times. On your other question..... I wouldn't spread or tighten the arms anymore than what it takes to get a spinnerbait running incorrectly.  Most times they are tuned pretty good coming out of the box, but they require a little adjusting once in a while.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

With their mouth.

 

[tomustang]

I would guess the blade acts as a agitator and upon closer inspection they see the skirt which looks like a slower target and refocus on that mainly.

I don't use spinnerbaits much but when my wife and I do we compare strike notes and notice they stop the bait as oppose to having to set the hook like on a jig and getting past the weed guard, this would point to them using the skirt as a attack point in our experience. Do they inhale the whole thing, Don't doubt that either but it's probably less common than just the skirt.

[speed craw]

Check out glen lau , big mouth bass on youtube . As further stated by sam with videos of homer circle , some very cool action , spinnerbaits , lizards , worms etc . I still need to order that video set . I keep finding my self watching clips of his work .

[Loop_Dad]

Check out glen lau , big mouth bass on youtube . As further stated by sam with videos of homer circle , some very cool action , spinnerbaits , lizards , worms etc . I still need to order that video set . I keep finding my self watching clips of his work .

 

Thanks, speed craw. His video is awesome! There were several footage of bass eating spinnerbaits.

 

A couple of them they attacked only the jig/skirt part and other couple of times they inhaled the whole thing in their mouths. It didn't appeared to be dependent on the size of the fish. One of them were attacked from the front of the spinnerbait and put the whole thing in his mouth! Also it is amazing how fast fish moves compared to the speed of spinnerbait.

 

After watching these, I would think shorter blade arm or longer jig head arm might be beneficial for increased hook up rate. Something I will experiment with.

[speed craw]

I was thinking similar . I used to think I had to slowly roll a spinner bait for any succes. I had one of my favorite  spinner baits lose a willow blade . So as frustration grew I launched my broken spinner bait into some submerged weeds and just ripped through them quickly and caught one of the biggest fish to this day . I have been eyeing the half sized regular weight  spinner baits that seibert outdoors has , the gears are starting to turn . Dont forget trailer hooks if you can get away with them .

[Insanity]

I've had the big girls suck in the hole thing and crush and bend the heck out of it. And then it pull out of there mouth as the arms are mashed together over the hook. Amazing Prespawn bite.

I usually drag the bottom slow with half oz. produces bigger fish in general. Never use trailer hooks as I rarely miss fish when running them slow and I use a white split tail four inch plastic trailer on all of them. Makes the fish commit to the strike even more. IMHO

And I'm so thrilled I just bought a 30 count of them off eBay. There hard to find. Zoom makes one I noticed. Get some and try it. You'll be surprised how many more fish will hit it and bigger fish.

Bend arm shut to run faster open to slow down. Soft plastic bodies will add buoyancy.

I just never could get into burning them. Bet you I have some 1oz monsters for them big girls this year prespawn. If the sucker can get all it in his mouth I'm not getting him to the bank anyway.

I'm planning on using a big swim bait as the body no skirt. Buoyancy for the four ft of water I want it to run in. This year I'm going back to spinner baiting more il take pics with bait hanging out of there mouth.