spinnerbaits

[Jonas Staggs]

Whats the deal with these things? do you guys like them? Use them much? I have never caught a fish with one. I just got a 1/8 oz one, blue chartreuse and put a chartreuse grub on it, the lure looks amazing, but I have had no luck with it. I suppose I might need to just use it more. Do you guys have much success with spinnerbaits?

[Hammer 4]

Caught many, many bass on spinnerbaits. Color, of the skirt, and blades make a difference. Also, fishing them at the right time. For me, a white head/skirt, maybe with a touch of blue, or chartreuse, with sliver willow blades in 1/2 oz is my go to..Spinnerbaits have worked in almost every body of water I fished. IMHO, spinnerbait fishing is an art in it self.. Put in the time, and you will catch em.

[kayaking_kev]

I think I've only caught fish on white or white/chartreuse skirts, but bass and pike seem to love them. Even the ones on the bottom shelf at Walmart for $1, the white skirted ones with the blue heads have caught me multiple bass and a pike last year. You have to adjust the skirts more, but if you lose one you're only out $1. Besides those, I like the KVD Finesse Spinnerbaits.

[Crestliner2008]

I've caught a ton of bass on spinnerbaits over many decades. Started using them back in the 70's. I've always had some in my box and still rely on them. Like any other bait, you have to find fish first.

[Catt]

3 hours ago, Jonas Staggs said:

I just got a 1/8 oz one, blue chartreuse and put a chartreuse grub on it, the lure looks amazing, but I have had no luck with it

 

That's a nice Crappie lure ?

 

Ya gonna need a couple 1/4 & 3/8 oz. 

 

Ya gonna need white, chartreuse & white, or any color combination there of.

 

Throw em in & around cover,  you'll learn they are pretty weedless.

 

Most importantly throw em!

[MN Fisher]

10 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

That's a nice Crappie lure ?

 

Ya gonna need a couple 1/4 & 3/8 oz. 

 

Ya gonna need white, chartreuse & white, or any color combination there of.

 

Throw em in & around cover,  you'll learn they are pretty weedless.

 

Most importantly throw em!

^ Yep - case in point, the fish in my profile pic.

 

3.94 lbs - caught on a 3/8oz spinnerbait in white/yellow tossed alongside a patch of lily-pads, above hydrilla that almost reached the surface.

 

Up the size, use them to search the cover, slow roll them and/or burn them. They're pretty versatile.

 

Don't forget the trailer....

[Jig Man]

I always have at least 1 tied on when the water is above 50°.  I have 2 setups with them in the boat now.  They are going to get used today.  I don’t mess with itty bitty ones.  99% of the time I use 1/2 oz with a trailer.

[Dens228]

My favorite is a War Eagle Trokar in Mouse color.   I do better with spinnerbaits when there's a good chop or cloud cover. 

 

[Log Catcher]

I don't use them as much as I used to. I need to start using them again. I like the War Eagle full size and the Screaming Eagle spinnerbaits. Spot remover, blue herring, and mouse have been my best colors. Also catch a few on white and chartreuse. I have mostly 1/2 ounce and a few in 3/8 ounce.

[the reel ess]

Get yourself an assortment of 3/8-1/2 oz spinnerbaits in combos of willow and Colorado blades and white, white/chartreuse and solid chartreuse colors. Then go get yourself a gold double willow blade War Eagle in gold shiner color as the wild card.

 

On second thought, get the War Eagle first because I keep it tied on and haven't found the place it won't work. I don't use any trailer, but do use a trailer hook unless I'm in heavy wood cover. I've landed many that just got the trailer hook by the time they made it to the boat. You should be fishing this bait near cover and bumping every snag along the way. It triggers strikes. I even catch crappie and bream on it. They ain't cheap and big fish will damage them. Buy 2. A couple PB's ago was the fish in my pic that I caught on this bait and it wrecked the bait. Dig the gut on that fish. I'm pretty sure I've caught it twice.

 

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/war-eagle-custom-3-8-oz-spinnerbait?campid=71700000050238199&adgroupid=58700004916746674&device=c&keyword=92700042923896399&Channel=pla&gclid=CjwKCAiA44LzBRB-EiwA-jJipEoNJqKUT7LSqx9XwGXsYYgu1kVPne77qDFomCNsqr2mKzL4SqTxhRoC5poQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds#repChildCatid=21597

 

[Mobasser]

Spinnerbaits are one of the all time great bass lures.Versatile, and can work at all times of year.

[scaleface]

8 hours ago, Jonas Staggs said:

Whats the deal with these things?

Great lures . You must not be putting it where bass are .1/8 ounce is kind of small . Get a 1/4 ounce and dont be afraid to throw it around wood . Thats where they shine . They go through wood really well .

[Fishes in trees]

There is a learning curve to using spinnerbaits.  Are you fishing out of a boat or are you bank bound?  Makes a difference.  Early 80's - when I was first learning spinner baits I found that they worked better for me thrown from a boat than from the bank.   If you've gothic waders and can get a few steps off the bank it is much easier to parallel the bank.

There are lots of different situations where spinner baits work - takes practice & observation.   For instance, on Truman Lake - post spawn through the summer, cloudy day with a little wind - bass often school up in the tops of the trees.  (Truman is more or less a flooded forest).   In those conditions, you will catch all kinds of fish, but you got to throw the bait.   It is a leap of faith to throw a bait & keep it 2 feet down in 25 to 30 feet of water.   That is just one situation, there are many more specific situations where a spinner bait is the best, maybe the only bait to throw.  Do your research.   Also throw the bait on the correct gear for the situation.  I could see in a pond setting you might get by with a 1/8 oz spinner bait and gear light enough to throw it.   Try that at Truman or similar lakes with lots of woody, stumpy cover and you're just going to lose your bait pretty quick.  If you're addicted to the small 1/8 oz size, Strike King makes the Rocket Shad, which is about the size of the 1/8 oz spinnerbait but weighs closer to half an ounce.

 

 

[Tizi]

I always have one tied on.  One of the most versatile baits around.  Slow roll on the bottom, burn on top, and anywhere in between.  I like white and single blades the best.

[wisconsin heat]

They serve a role for me and I do really like to throw them, but I don't always fish under the conditions that I like to use them - stained to muddy water. I find they are much less effective when the water is very clear, I don't like to let the fish get too good of a look at it. It's a confidence thing.

[Choporoz]

If there's a ripple on the surface, I've usually got one tied on. 

 

 

[FishinBuck07]

I always have a spinnerbait tied on, I like little compact baits.  They are still 3/8 oz but the bait as a whole is more compact!  Seem to work better here in Ohio for me anyways.  

[D_Stephenson]

Do most of you use a trailer with them or just use as is?  I know about using a trailer hook if it seems the fish are short striking the lure.

[Choporoz]

Never found a trailer made any difference ....not for me, anyway (LMB, mostly dirty water)

[J Francho]

The only trailer I always use is a trailer hook.

[Boomstick]

I catch tons of fish on spinnerbaits either in dirty water or clear water with some chop on the water, but I have used them to fish around weeds in clear and calm water and sometimes have had pretty good success as well!

 

I generally use a 3/8oz or 1/2oz spinnerbait for bass, depending how deep I want it to go, and also the time of the season -- I gravitate more towards a 3/8oz in the spring and a 1/2oz later in the season when the baitfish are larger. 3/4oz and 1oz spinnerbaits are often considered pike lures, but they can be great if you need to fish deeper, faster and deeper or simply to target larger fish.

 

I only add a trailer or trailer hook if I am getting short strikes. I will usually go with a trailer over a trailer hook as the trailer hook makes the spinnerbait a bit less weedless. The times I will use a trailer hook are largely on spinnerbaits where the back blade starts after the hook so the bass tend to hone in on the blade instead of the hook and with a trailer hook, these spinnerbaits are still a little more weedless than others but if I am fishing around weeds I may still opt for a trailer. The vast majority of my spinnerbaits that I have at the moment (maybe all of them) are the shorter style.

 

I like the War Eagles with the trokar hooks a lot. I think they discontinued them but the standard War Eagles are fine. I also own a handful of the Terminator T1 spinnerbaits which are discontinued sadly. And my favorite dirty water spinnerbaits are the River2Sea blings -- even the willow leafs work nicely in dirty water. The Strike King KVDs jave also caught me many fish.

[Mobasser]

If you can, try to time your trip on an overcast day, with a slight chop on the water. Use a 3/8 or 1/2 oz spinnerbait, and try different depths and speeds. You'll learn quickly what spinnerbaits are all about. My personal favourite, next to a T rig plastic worm.

[Jonas Staggs]

thanks for the replies everyone. So from the research that I have done, along with whats been mentioned here, the time to throw them is on windy/choppy days, overcast/cloudy day. I was unaware of them being good in the weeds. I been using it in open water swimming it, as you would think the thing would get snagged. Does anyone or can you jig it, let it hit bottom, and jig again, like how you would fish a T, rig? This has got me excited to try the lure again. I fish a manmade lake a lot with like greening turquoise water, low visibility. Plenty of weeds, but not much cover. 

[MN Fisher]

4 minutes ago, Jonas Staggs said:

Does anyone or can you jig it, let it hit bottom, and jig again, like how you would fish a T, rig?

If you want to jig something like that, get some football jigs. A spinnerbait is a 'moving' lure...does it's best when constantly in motion as the blades are what creates a 'thump' to draw the bass in. Jigging it would mostly eliminate the blades effectiveness.

7 minutes ago, Jonas Staggs said:

Plenty of weeds, but not much cover. 

Weeds ARE cover.

[Choporoz]

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/spinnerbaits-bass-fishing.html