What else would work when a Spinnerbait is working?

[tcbass]

Fishing a lake the other day and we did great with white spinnerbaits all day. While my friends used their I tried a wacky rigged Senko and nose Zoom Superfluke. Not 1 bite on those.  After 1 o’clock hit the bass starting crushing the Whopper Plopper in monkey butt and quickly caught 9 good sized bass in under an hour with that. No bites on the WP from 7am-1pm. Fairly weedy and about 2-3 feet deep so crankbaits we’re getting caught up. I was thinking about trying a Chatterbait but didn’t have any on hand. 

 

So, besides the white spinnerbaits, what else do you think would have worked well?

 

 

 

 

[JG233]

Swimbait fished fast. 

[J Francho]

Well, the whopper flopper worked, so I'll say that, or white spinnerbaits.  I mean, they were biting what you were throwing. 

[tcbass]

24 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Well, the whopper flopper worked, so I'll say that, or white spinnerbaits.  I mean, they were biting what you were throwing. 

 

The WP worked after 1pm, maybe when the water warmed up?, so trying to do something before 1pm. 

 

Just trying to see what other lures might have worked. 

[BassNJake]

Chatterbait, swim jig, swimbait, wake bait, popper, walking bait depending on how high the weeds were growing.

 

Seems like you determined that a moving bait was needed to get bit and that a fast moving topwater worked once the water got warmer. Perhaps the popper or walking bait would have worked earlier.

 

The double fluke rig sounds like it might have also worked fished thru the weeds

 

 

[J Francho]

No one would be able to tell you.  It's the past, and you didn't try anything else.  The next time out might be completely different.  I guess I'm missing the part where there was an issue.  You pretty much had a very good day on the water.  It's like finding a spot where they're biting.  Would leave that spot while big fish were biting to see if big fish are biting somewhere else?  I sure don't.  I stick with what's working and what I know, until it doesn't.  If the spinnerbait was on all morning, I would have kept it up if it worked in the afternoon.  Now, did you try the whopper flopper in the morning and determined it wasn't working?  If not, then it may have worked all day.  Or not.

 

But to answer your question, I agree, moving baits high in the water column would be my guess.  There's some good suggestions above for the next time this happens. 

[Bankbeater]

Since the bass were hitting a whopper plopper, I would say try a spook in the same color.

[smalljaw67]

I'm a spinnerbait fanatic, so much so I make my own and feel I may be able to help. When a spinnerbait bite is on it doesn't always mean the fish will hit something else but if they would there are a few different things to try. You eliminated cranks because of weeds so the next thing I'd use would be a chatterbait and after that would be a swim jig. Water clarity would play a part as well as depth but I'd look at a buzzbait and then maybe a walking bait like a spook. The other bit I'd give a serious look would be a wake bait, a crank style wake bait like the Storm Arashi Wake Crank, the Yo-Zuri 3DB Wake bait or the Livetarget Bluegill Wake bait.  Crank style wake baits work really well when the fish are chasing but weed growth is a little too heavy for a crankbait.

[LionHeart]

If I ever caught 9 bass in an hour, my head would probably explode.  Having said that, if they were destroying a spinner bait, they'd likely chase a chatter bait, swim jig, or swim bait fished moderately fast I'd think.

[Bluebasser86]

I've had lots of times when they will only eat a spinnerbait and completely ignore a bladed jig, swimjig, squarebill, buzzbait, swimbait, or anything else similar. Then I try to kick my own butt for being so stupid to stop fishing what was working just to find another bait that is also working. 

[scaleface]

On 5/18/2018 at 2:08 PM, tcbass said:

So, besides the white spinnerbaits, what else do you think would have worked well?

 

A chartreuse spinnerbait . ?

 

When I get on a good spinnerbait bite its hard to put it down . They can go places and do things most other lures cant . Them and buzzbaits can jump logs  and be worked through the smallest gaps .

[Sam]

Pink or white Zoom trick worm, Texas rigged, no or a 1/16 ounce weight, worked weightless on the surface or just below the surface.

 

Maybe a wake bait presentation would have worked.

 

A swimming Senko.

 

A swim jig.

 

A white or pearl fluke.

 

You need something to get through the weeds.

 

 

[greentrout]

[J Francho]

I'd like to follow up.  I started yesterday with a spinnerbait.  Caught a dozen or so 15-18" bass, nothing bigger than maybe 3.5 lbs., and two northern pike, one went over 10 lbs.  With this thread in mind, I switched to a Savage Gear Bat, and then tried a chatterbait, with no results.  I went back to the spinnerbait, and started catching again.  I feel like I might have wasted an hour and a half, when I should have just stuck to that was working, and working real well.  The fish are where you find them, and keep throwing what works, until it doesn't.

[All about da bass]

Chatter bait and swim jig all the way baby!!

[Choporoz]

I was on a spinnerbait bite yesterday, too.  But, it was a strange one for me.  If I dropped the spinnerbait right on the fish, it was automatic.  In six hours, I think I only had three, maybe four hits well into a retrieve.  So, in my case, I ended up learning that big crashes in the living room were golden and I was able to pick up some others with less than stealthy pitching.