Spinnerbait Preference: Durability or Vibration?

[Ads7633]

I am about to restock on spinnerbaits for this season. But before I do I wanted to get your opinions. I used to exclusively fish Strike King Spinnerbaits. I had good success with them, and they never broke on me. Last season however, I began to experiment with other brands. I found that some other brands actually caught more fish for me in certain situations. But! I also had 3 spinnerbaits break on me last year, one of which was on a 5+ fish. I assume my catch rate went up due to the thinner wires and extra vibration on the new baits, but I also was very frustrated with the breaks. What do you guys do to balance this? Do you have brands you prefer that won't break, or catch fish at a higher rate?

[Catt]

Stanley ?

[Turtle135]

I will second the Stanley suggestion. War Eagle Spinnerbaits are good fish catchers but you never know when that wire is going to pop. I find Stanley to be good fish catchers and pretty durable.

 

 

[Ads7633]

So you guys just deal with breakage in favor of more bites?

[A-Jay]

Spinnerbait Preference: Durability or Vibration?

Neither.

For me it's all about Catchability !

Clearly I'm not looking to throw $$ in the lake but the fact that a bait is getting bent up MEANS - you have the right bait.  Perhaps increasing your inventory would help.  

Having another one ready to go can be good.

The trick is - to replace it BEFORE you lose the fish of a lifetime on one.

(btw- my PB smallie and first double digit largemouth both came on a spinnerbait) 

A-Jay

 

[Columbia Craw]

Spinnerbaits are actually pretty affordable.  You can get a really good quality bait at six to eight bucks full retail and catch a bunch of fish on them.  I like a bait that runs .040 to .045 wire diameter. That's just me. If I can catch enough fish that my spinnerbaits is tweaked and realigned to the point it breaks, I've had a good day.

[WRB]

Nichols, durable, uses high quality components and catches bass. You should be able to retreive a spinnerbait without it rolling to one side and it should helicopter down on the fall. Wire shouldn't break unless you are bending it back into shape all the time, that isn't a good quality spinnerbait if bass are the only fish you catch.

Tom

[Raul]

I’ve fished with Strike King for several decades, I have never had a spinnerbait breaking on me and even though I love fishing with spinnerbaits I haven’t caught anything over 10 with any and man, I’ve used some big ones with big trailers.

[Bluebasser86]

I use the ones that catch fish for me. Durability and vibration aren't of big concern as long as they're catching fish. I wore a brand new War Eagle out in a single day 2 years ago, but it had close to 100 smallmouth and white bass on it that day, so I felt like I got my monies worth. I still have the first War Eagle I ever bought, and it still catches fish. I'm sure it can't have many left in it, but I'll fish it until it gives out on me. I have Booyah spinnerbaits with dozens of fish to their credit that look like they could catch many more too. 

[smalljaw67]

I make my own and I'm in the middle between durability and vibration. If I was buying a spinnerbait off the shelf it would be a Stanley Vibra-Shaft, that is one of the best I ever used. I like using .035" diameter wire for 3/8oz and 1/2oz spinnerbaits, it gets me some decent vibration along with some durability. I do make a 3/8oz with .031" diameter wire but I use downsized blades to the slightly smaller wire diameter helps with getting more vibration.

[SDoolittle]

 

17 hours ago, Ads7633 said:

So you guys just deal with breakage in favor of more bites?

Spinnerbaits are one of my favorites baits to fish. In over 35 years of bass fishing, I've used countless brands, and I can't remember ever having a wire break. I've had them get pretty mangled and bent so badly that there was no fixing them, but I've never actually broken one.

 

19 hours ago, Ads7633 said:

 I assume my catch rate went up due to the thinner wires and extra vibration on the new baits, but I also was very frustrated with the breaks. What do you guys do to balance this?

You might give Stanley spinnerbaits a try. They use a tapered wire that provides both vibration and durability.

[buzzed bait]

terminator t1 because of vibration, durability and they catch fish.  obvious downside is the cost, but if you find them on sale that's when to stock up....

[Ads7633]

I appreciate the replies. For me having a spinnerbait break is not so much the frustration of having to spend money to buy another, but rather the fear of losing the fish of a lifetime due to tackle failure.

[Sam]

Vibration.

 

If they vibrate as they are supposed to vibrate they will get torn up anyway.

[MIbassyaker]

I agree with the "neither" comments. Spinnerbaits, like buzzbaits, will wear out after awhile if they're catching fish. I call that getting my money's worth. On top of that, up here there's always a chance I'll lose my spinnerbait to a pike on my next cast. Is it the vibration that makes them effective? Sometimes yes, sometimes maybe not. What I don't want are spinnerbaits that don't hook up well, or fall apart out out of the blue (like the wire just breaks or blade falls off).  Like WRB says, that can be avoided with quality components and a good hook.

[MassYak85]

I fish War Eagle, some Nichols, and have added a couple Stanley spinnerbaits this year. I might have a couple break a year but I have been quite pleased with those brands. 

[Crestliner2008]

I've relied on Fleck spinnerbaits for over 3 decades now and will continue to do so for the next 3 (LOL). Reliable, well made and cost effective. They do make some "prettier" spinnerbaits out there. Some have very neat materials and blades. But fishing side by side with some of fine bass fishermen, I do just as well.