Spinnerbait water temps???

[win300mag1]

Hey everyone, just wondering if you guys know of an optimal water temperature for when the spinnerbait really turns on. The lakes here in NC where I'm at are approaching the 60 degree mark right now. I've caught hundreds of bass over the last couple of years but I'm a slow soft plastic/jig/frog kinda guy. Looking to venture into moving baits this year. Thanks for the input!

[Catt]

7 minutes ago, win300mag1 said:

The lakes here in NC where I'm at are approaching the 60 degree mark right now. 

 

Ya should have already started...bout 10° ago!

[Darren.]

9 minutes ago, win300mag1 said:

Hey everyone, just wondering if you guys know of an optimal water temperature for when the spinnerbait really turns on. The lakes here in NC where I'm at are approaching the 60 degree mark right now. I've caught hundreds of bass over the last couple of years but I'm a slow soft plastic/jig/frog kinda guy. Looking to venture into moving baits this year. Thanks for the input!

 

I'm a soft plastics/finesse guy, too. Breaking out 

spinnerbaits this year (and at this point, finesse 

spinnerbaits, LOL). Caught my first sb fish on one

last weekend, a pickerel, in an otherwise dead day.

 

Using Strike King's Pond Magic models. Will use

heavier versions soon enough. Still going to 

concentrate on my staples of wacky and drop shot,

though. I'm out for fun and numbers  

[win300mag1]

7 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Ya should have already started...bout 10° ago!

Lol ok then. I'll give it a try this weekend then.

[Deleted account]

Slow rolling ticking the bottom high 40s to 60s, covering water with long casts and stop and go, mid 50s to mid 70s, burning flats, and grass mid 60s to soup. I can catch them colder, but I usually do better with other baits. I love throwing spinnerbaits and am fanatic about getting them right. Much like crankbaits, there is a time and place for different sizes/blade combinations.

[Bluebasser86]

I caught some last week in 43 degree water on a spinnerbait. A lighter bait with a single Colorado blade is my first choice in cold water because it allows for a slow retrieve while the thump and profile make it look like a bigger meal that is worth the energy expenditure. 

[IndianaFinesse]

You should be fine using spinnerbaits right now, heck I caught them on a pop-r in 50 degree water today.

[bowhunter63]

3/8 ounce War Eagles are working right now.

[Lendiesel22]

3/8 strike back

[the reel ess]

I caught a couple on a black one with a black Colorado blade a month ago. It was actually cold then. I got two bites on two casts. Jimmy Houston says if you see turtles sunning, it's warm enough to use one high in the water column, like a double willow blade. I haven't had much luck with that yet, but i'm still trying. It'll get them in early spring.

[RoLo]

When you ask for 'best time', you'll invariably receive answers regarding 'possible times'  (nature of the beast) 

IMO, the answer to your question isn't directly tied to water temperatures,

which are more coincidental than incidental. That said, I'd guess that the BEST water temperatures

pivot around 70 deg for northern-strain bass, and around 80-deg for Florida-strain bass (in my experience).

 

Roger

[papajoe222]

Once the water temps. start rising steadily, the bass will start moving. The warmer water temps. and the longer days will see them on the move and IMO, this period and the fall are the prime time to start out using moving baits. Spinnerbaits aren't the only moving baits to consider, but you can probe the entire water column with them which is a big plus if you don't plan on investing in a bunch of different baits. Remember that bigger blades will allow you to present them slower at any given depth than smaller ones.

[everythingthatswims]

They'll catch fish from water temps in the low 40s and upwards, in colder water you want a more compact bait with Colorado blades so you can fish it slow and keep it on the bottom, then as the water warms you shift over to willow blades and a normal sized bait, retrieve speed goes up as well. Indiana blades are in between Colorado and willow, I assume they would be good for middle of the road conditions but I don't have much experience using them.

[Deleted account]

17 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I caught some last week in 43 degree water on a spinnerbait. A lighter bait with a single Colorado blade is my first choice in cold water because it allows for a slow retrieve while the thump and profile make it look like a bigger meal that is worth the energy expenditure. 

 

Single colorado fished right seems to hypnotize them, they can't seem to resist. Its what Im doing right now, but with this crazy warm weather, they might start moving around more. This IS February, right?

[Lendiesel22]

It is but I am not complaining lol. March and that 1 storm in April last year in MD were humbling. I was on the Potomac for that April storm. Snowed its butt off for a few hours and gave way to nasty wind. I felt real bad for the boats that ran early in the morning..... it was a pretty morning but hell after that.

[fishwizzard]

19 hours ago, Lendiesel22 said:

 1 storm in April last year in MD were humbling.

 

Lets never talk about that storm anymore. 

 

I am going to give spinnerbaits (and chatterbaits) a lot more time this year.  I have a bunch of the Sebiert compact 3/8 ones and have already caught a few on a Chart Shad one this year.  I was thinking about getting a couple in dark colors and changing the blades out to a single large Colorado blade.  

 

It's funny, I fish spinnerbaits all the time for perch/pickerel but never really used them for bass, other than using tiny ones like the Pond Magics when fishing smaller ponds and creeks.