Fishhead Spin

[Gilbone]

Any tips about fish head spins? I'm looking for new ways to fish them. Any specific things you guys do to make it better?

[A-Jay]

 

A-Jay

[roadwarrior]

This is how I fish the Sworming Hornet. I rig the lure on light line adding a LFT Live Magic Shad trailer.

Cast and let the lure sink on slack line. When it reaches the bottom reel quickly, about 5-6 rotations.

Keep your rod steady at about 10:00, do NOT pump your rod. Let the Sworming Hornet fall, then repeat

until you feel you are "out of the zone". 100% of the strikes come on the fall. When you feel ANYTHING,

lower your rod while taking up slack and set the hook.

 

A few years ago at Pickwick on a BassResource.com RoadTrip I caught 78 bass, both smallmouth and

largemouth,  one day on this lure using the presentation I just described. However, last spring the pros

were killin' 'em dragging the bottom. So, give it a shot both ways.

 

 

 

 

[smalljaw67]

I keep finding different ways to use this myself. I originally was making my own to fish for suspended fish in the summer using a 3.5" to 4" soft plastic swim bait for the body, but then I started trying them in cold water with a fluke as a trailer and both ways have worked. Now I've been fishing them in cold water just reeling in very slow, just enough to keep the blade spinning and I've been doing better with a swim bait body and I was using the fluke in cold water as the less action I figured would be better, but the swim bait body is getting it done in cold water.

[everythingthatswims]

I just wonder at what point does a fishead spin make a difference from a small swimbait on a jighead. I have a clear water blue back herring lake that I plan on doing some experimenting with this winter to see if there's a difference between a little swimbait with or without the blade.

[WolfyBrandon]

 

I've had success on just a slow steady retrieve.

 

WolfyBrandon

[bigbill]

Some have blades some don't?

Well I ordered both.

Has anyone tried these with a spinnerbait skirt with a mister twister 4" split double tail grub trailer and a trailer hook. It's a inverted spinnerbait?

[WolfyBrandon]

A Zoom Super Fluke / Jr. also works great for a smaller profile and more subtle action. While retrieving it doesn't feel like much at all, but the blade spinning makes the tail of the fluke slightly swim. Many times I've just kept a slow steady retrieve then out of nowhere... WAM!

 

 

 

Tip: Cut the head slightly off so it fits better & put a drop of Locktite Super Glue on the bait keeper / shank of the hook. 

 

WolfyBrandon

[bigbill]

I ordered the 1/4oz weight storming hornets. I reordered 3/8 , 1/2, 3/4 oz heads. Fall think bigger baits.

Looks like the head color doesn't matter to the color of the plastic trailer?

[WolfyBrandon]

Looks like the head color doesn't matter to the color of the plastic trailer?

 

Personally I would just go with a natural color to mimic a baitfish.

 

 

Fall think bigger baits.

 

I caught my personal best Largemouth Bass on a "similar" bait earlier this spring, a Bladed California Swim Jig. Instead of a Fishhead Spin for flash, it uses a Bladed Swim Jig (Chatterbait) for vibration.

 

 

6lb 10oz

 

WolfyBrandon

[Bluebasser86]

Another bait that makes so much sense, but has yet to produce a single fish for me. Keitech on a regular head, great producer and one of my favorite smallmouth baits. Fishhead spin, not a sniff. 

[smalljaw67]

The fish head spin has been producing for me all this fall as the water is too stained for jerkbaits. I find that when the water temp was in the upper 50s, a small swim bait seemed to work better and as the temp has dropped into the 40s the fluke has been the dominate body to draw strikes.

[Raul]

I know nothing nor will discuss anything related with bladed jigheads. 

[AK-Jax86]

This is how I fish the Sworming Hornet. I rig the lure on light line adding a LFT Live Magic Shad trailer.

Cast and let the lure sink on slack line. When it reaches the bottom reel quickly, about 5-6 rotations.

Keep your rod steady at about 10:00, do NOT pump your rod. Let the Sworming Hornet fall, then repeat

until you feel you are "out of the zone". 100% of the strikes come on the fall. When you feel ANYTHING,

lower your rod while taking up slack and set the hook.

A few years ago at Pickwick on a BassResource.com RoadTrip I caught 78 bass, both smallmouth and

largemouth, one day on this lure using the presentation I just described. However, last spring the pros

were killin' 'em dragging the bottom. So, give it a shot both ways.

What ratio reel do you throw it on? I was just throwing this last night with a gambler EZ swimmer as a trailer. I bought a new 13 *** reel but it's a 5.3:1. I just tied it on there to see what the action looks like in the water. Not sure if that's the right ratio or should I tie it on one of my 7s?

Appreciate any input

[bigbill]

I just move blade baits just fast enough so the blades do there thing. Just make the blades spin.

It's handle speed not the gear ratio.

Line speed

Clear water fished faster so they don't get a good look at it.

Stained water fished slower.

Muddy water fished slowest. It's longer time wise in there strike zone.

[Raul]

What ratio reel do you throw it on? I was just throwing this last night with a gambler EZ swimmer as a trailer. I bought a new 13 *** reel but it's a 5.3:1. I just tied it on there to see what the action looks like in the water. Not sure if that's the right ratio or should I tie it on one of my 7s?

Appreciate any input

 

You can always crank that sucka faster.

[roadwarrior]

What ratio reel do you throw it on? I was just throwing this last night with a gambler EZ swimmer as a trailer. I bought a new 13 *** reel but it's a 5.3:1. I just tied it on there to see what the action looks like in the water. Not sure if that's the right ratio or should I tie it on one of my 7s?

Appreciate any input

 

I don't think it's important if you fish the lure as I suggested. You are only moving the bait a few feet at a time.

[MFBAB]

This is how I fish the Sworming Hornet. I rig the lure on light line adding a LFT Live Magic Shad trailer.

Cast and let the lure sink on slack line. When it reaches the bottom reel quickly, about 5-6 rotations.

Keep your rod steady at about 10:00, do NOT pump your rod. Let the Sworming Hornet fall, then repeat

until you feel you are "out of the zone". 100% of the strikes come on the fall. When you feel ANYTHING,

lower your rod while taking up slack and set the hook.

I call this retrieve that RW described the "stegall" retrieve, because it was made famous in tn river circles by Roger Stegall. He won some big tourneys doing this on the ledges w spinnerbaits.

I think it's great for structure fishing this way because you're covering several feet of the water column.

If they're on the bottom feeding, they hit it as it comes down.

If they're suspended, they see it at the top of the reeling sequence and follow it down.

It works in these situations with a lot of baits. Curly grubs on jig heads, hair jigs are hot on bass circuit fished this way currently, big spinnerbaits like stegall used, stroking jigs, tail spinners, etc.

The key is to understand whether the bass are suspended or on bottom.

If they are suspended, you must get the bait up to their level to get the reaction. If they are 6 feet off bottom, make sure you reel it long enough to get it at or above them so they'll see it and react.

I don't think reel speed matters. As RW said, the bites come on the fall. You just need a reel that allows you to bring the bait up high enough during the reeling sequence to set up the semi-slack fall.

It's just a great open water structure rig because it casts a long way and covers water, they just think it's a shad in free fall and grab it.

[WRB]

Blakemore's horse head under spin Road Runner has been around for decades mostly used by crappie anglers. Storming Hornet updated this design around 15 years ago and Aaron Marten used a heavier version of the Road Runner during the 2005 Classic, 1 missed boated bass and he would have won that event.

The trailer we used back then was a small fluke, still works good today.

My favorite lure in this type is Blade Runner's underspin 1/2-1 oz with paddle tail swimmers fished deep and slow and Sworming Hornet in the 1/4-3/8 oz size with a small Fluke to mimick dying Shad.

Tom