Is my spinnerbait broken?

[dtag31]

I can't seem to figure out how this happened, but man does it have me frustrated. I fish a notoriously difficult lake that is highly pressured (Lake Nockamixon in PA) that holds big bass, but getting them to bite is extremely difficult. Many good anglers get skunked regularly and a great day is usually 2-5 fish in 6 hours. With that in mind, there is one guy who fishes the lake 5 times a week and has a nack for putting up much higher numbers (12-20 fish), he is literally the only one who pulls those numbers. Begin my frustrating story from yesterday:

 

Take the day off, head to the north end of the lake, decide to commit to a spinnerbait for the day, and run almost the entirety of the north end banks with a spinnerbait. After 5 hours, leave with 3 bites. The guy I mentioned before, also fishes the north end of the lake (same day, same exact time), throws a spinnerbait, and puts 15 fish in the boat. Same banks.. same day.. same time.. same lure

 

I am completely perplexed, and very disappointed in myself. I appreciate how experience leads to understanding a pattern better, figuring out what they like to eat, how to present it, the list goes on and on which all leads to more bites. But, considering all variables were the same, I cannot figure out how I fished a spinnerbait so "wrong" that I could only manage 3 bites on a day where he landed 15 fish. Also, I've fished with him once and believe him when he says he caught 15 fish. 

 

Thoughts? I put a tremendous amount of effort into studying the sport in pursuit of getting better and improving my presentation/technique since I know how pressured these fish are. But how could I be that bad!

[MN Fisher]

Is he using a different color?

What trailer are each of you using?

Depth it's running at, speed?

 

Various factors can come into using spinnerbaits - it's not just a 'toss and retrieve' lure, there's subtleties that go into it as well.

[Bird]

Spinnerbaits are reaction baits, use a nice steady retrieve around submerged cover, edges of logs.

 

I only have 2 colors, white and chartreuse, always use trailers, prefer willow blade in back, colorado up front.

 

If I do throw a spinnerbait in open water, it's horizontal to bank or shallow water, like coves.

 

If water is murky, I throw chartreuse with a black trailer. 

[Dogface]

10 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Is he using a different color?

What trailer are each of you using?

Depth it's running at, speed?

 

Various factors can come into using spinnerbaits - it's not just a 'toss and retrieve' lure, there's subtleties that go into it as well.

Great points. The only other thing I would suggest would be that maybe he is fishing particular pieces of structure / cover rather than the bank in general. 

 

BTW how was the water color. Could you see structure.

[Bruce424]

could of just put his spinnerbait infront of more fish...having a cast off just a little bit could mean a bass chasing or not.  

[Russ E]

To me a spinnerbait is a conditional bait. I usually want wind or overcast skies.

if it were me on a heavily pressured lake, I would be throwing finesse baits like a shakyhead or ned rig.

I can't count how many times I have followed somebody throwing spinnerbaits and crankbaits, on pressured lakes, with a finesse bait and caught a lot more fish than they did.

[dtag31]

36 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Is he using a different color?

What trailer are each of you using?

Depth it's running at, speed?

 

Various factors can come into using spinnerbaits - it's not just a 'toss and retrieve' lure, there's subtleties that go into it as well.

 

28 minutes ago, Dogface said:

Great points. The only other thing I would suggest would be that maybe he is fishing particular pieces of structure / cover rather than the bank in general. 

 

BTW how was the water color. Could you see structure.

 

Great points MN, couldn't agree more with your comments that a lot of factors go into it. I think I am just shook that I got so many things right (lure, location, time of day) and still had a 3 to 15 fish disparity. 

 

I do know color is similar, he generally does not throw a trailer and I use a white fluke style. The Bank is 1-4 feet, so not too much water column to play with. I made targeted casts at every piece of brush or laydown. Water color is pretty stained, about a foot and a half of visibility. 

1 minute ago, Russ E said:

To me a spinnerbait is a conditional bait. I usually want wind or overcast skies.

if it were me on a heavily pressured lake, I would be throwing finesse baits like a shakyhead or ned rig.

I can't count how many times I have followed somebody throwing spinnerbaits and crankbaits, on pressured lakes, with a finesse bait and caught a lot more fish than they did.

Completely agree! I am generally a drop shot and ned rig fisherman on this lake for that exact reason. But in the spring when we have very long flats, it can be very challenging to find them when forced to fish so slowly. I wouldn't be surprised that I only caught 3 fish with the spinnerbait, if I didn't know how much better someone else did! 

 

If anyone is wondering, I promise this isn't about 'ego'. It is purely disappointment in my own skill set. I feel like I have learned so much over the last few years. Then to find out I got out fished that badly throwing the same bait! I don't know how much more I can read  

[scaleface]

It could be a number of things . Assuming you two were throwing similar  baits , color , blades... He could have been fishing a different depth or  speed. His cast may be more precise and less noisy. He could be working it differently by letting it drop or fade away  . That fade technique is one that I use a lot . Its not  killing the bait , just slow the lure down and drop the rod tip a little right as the lure is leaving cover , letting it fade away . 

 

 I have had a good spring so far on spinnerbaits and other anglers I talked to are having it tough . Some were using tiny dink sized lures and I was using half ounce models . They were casting at the bank with high arcing cast and I was in close making under hand tosses and pitches into flooded brush . They were making a lot more  noise , I'm stealthy as I can be . 

 

 Theres more to it  than chucking and winding .

[MN Fisher]

18 minutes ago, dtag31 said:

I do know color is similar, he generally does not throw a trailer and I use a white fluke style. The Bank is 1-4 feet, so not too much water column to play with. I made targeted casts at every piece of brush or laydown. Water color is pretty stained, about a foot and a half of visibility. 

Shallow/stained water like that - I'd toss my Bluegill or Craw colored 3/8oz or the Bluegill 1/4oz with a matching/close colored trailer - paddletail, beaver type, craw or curly-tail...all are options for trailers.

 

Buzz it near the surface, run it about mid-depth or vary the retrieve...make it 'bounce' through the column.

 

If there's submerged weeds, run it right across the tops of those too.

 

Quite a few choices.

[WRB]

Could be smaller profile, lighter weight and retreiving at a varing pace in lieu of continuous pace. It's my belief the difference between anglers who consistantly catches bass is strike detection and attention to details.

1'-4' of water requires precise lure presentation and seeing the bass before the strike occurs.

Tom

[Bird]

One more helpful tip to up your catch rate.

 

On the cast, the bait must be moving forward as soon as it hits the water so it's aligned, blades spinning. 

 

You'll loose a bunch of fish with a plop and retrieve technique.

[A-Jay]

5 minutes ago, scaleface said:

It could be a number of things . Assuming you two were throwing similar  baits , color , blades... 1 He could have been fishing a different depth or  speed.  2 His cast may be more precise and less noisy.  3 He could be working it differently by letting it drop or fade away  . That fade technique is one that I use a lot . Its not  killing the bait , just slow the lure down and drop the rod tip a little right as the lure is leaving cover , letting it fade away . 

 

 I have had a good spring so far on spinnerbaits and other anglers I talked to are having it tough . Some were using tiny dink sized lures and I was using half ounce models . They were casting at the bank and I was in close making under hand tosses and pitches into flooded brush . They were making a lot more  noise , I'm stealthy as I can be . 

 

 Theres more to it  than chucking and winding .

This ^^^^  @scaleface nailed it. 

1. Depth & Speed - can make ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

2.  An inaccurate or poor presentation can kill a potential bite 

3.  Whatever Mr. Spinnerbait was doing, decent chance he's done it before.

     There's no replacement for experience and the confidence success can bring. 

 

A-Jay

[Scott F]

1 hour ago, dtag31 said:

Take the day off, head to the north end of the lake, decide to commit to a spinnerbait for the day, and run almost the entirety of the north end banks with a spinnerbait. After 5 hours, leave with 3 bites. The guy I mentioned before, also fishes the north end of the lake (same day, same exact time), throws a spinnerbait, and puts 15 fish in the boat. Same banks.. same day.. same time.. same lure

There are two things I noticed here. Did the “guy” fish the same part of the lake before or after you? Fishing behind a guy who knows what he’s doing is going to hurt your numbers especially if you are using the same bait.

Second. Were there witnesses to his numbers. Believe it or not, some fishermen have been known to exaggerate a bit about their day back at the dock.

[islandbass]

1 hour ago, dtag31 said:

I can't seem to figure out how this happened, but man does it have me frustrated. I fish a notoriously difficult lake that is highly pressured (Lake Nockamixon in PA) that holds big bass, but getting them to bite is extremely difficult. Many good anglers get skunked regularly and a great day is usually 2-5 fish in 6 hours. With that in mind, there is one guy who fishes the lake 5 times a week and has a nack for putting up much higher numbers (12-20 fish), he is literally the only one who pulls those numbers. Begin my frustrating story from yesterday:

 

Take the day off, head to the north end of the lake, decide to commit to a spinnerbait for the day, and run almost the entirety of the north end banks with a spinnerbait. After 5 hours, leave with 3 bites. The guy I mentioned before, also fishes the north end of the lake (same day, same exact time), throws a spinnerbait, and puts 15 fish in the boat. Same banks.. same day.. same time.. same lure

 

I am completely perplexed, and very disappointed in myself. I appreciate how experience leads to understanding a pattern better, figuring out what they like to eat, how to present it, the list goes on and on which all leads to more bites. But, considering all variables were the same, I cannot figure out how I fished a spinnerbait so "wrong" that I could only manage 3 bites on a day where he landed 15 fish. Also, I've fished with him once and believe him when he says he caught 15 fish. 

 

Thoughts? I put a tremendous amount of effort into studying the sport in pursuit of getting better and improving my presentation/technique since I know how pressured these fish are. But how could I be that bad!

Size of jig head, blades, types of blades, the line he’s using, even his method of retrieve are all factors that you need to consider and duplicate.

 

I feel your pain.  Spinnerbaits were a super tough nut for me to crack. I started fishing in 2004. So I grabbed spinnerbaits as a few on the first baits I’d try to learn. By about 2010, not one dam bass on a spinnerbait. Inline spinner? Absolutely! Spinnerbait? Sorry, Charlie. It ticked me off so much that I signed off and gave up using them or bothering to try. I did everything I could figure to try. 
Fast forward to 2018. I finally decide to revisit and problem solve this because it was always nibbling at my craw and I couldn’t stand those bass laughing their butts off and teasing me in my head. 

It finally clicked. Through trial and error, I found what gave me my best chances to catch them. My bass preferred 

1) a tandem combination followed by the Double willow most of the time. the single Colorado I think 2 bass at night. 

2) lighter colors like whites and chartreuse and sometimes a firetiger type combination most of the time for most of the day. 

reds and blacks seemed good as it got darker

3) Line choice. And I tried from lighter to heavier. I don’t know why but stren 14# blue mono. ONLY. My stren was about 12 years old and was the only line I had save going to the store. It was kept in a safe place so I put it on my reel. I got five bass in about 18 minutes. Now this is a guy who tried catching one on a spinnerbait since 2004. When my line got too low to use, I found out my local stores didn’t have any in stock so I bought a “normal” 14# mono. It was stren. Result? Strikes dropped big time. When I finally got the blue stren, catching was back on. Still don’t know why this blue stren is such a huge factor for my bass. It’s perplexing but I also won’t complain. 
 

I am also a bank angler so I know the unique challenges and frustrations bank anglers face. Just keep experimenting with all the variables. 

 

[geo g]

It’s not always what you throw but how you throw it.  Start out fast waking the bait.  Then let it go to the bottom and very slow roll the bait.  Then slow roll with fast jerks every 30 seconds.  Then change colors.  Light colors like white and chartreuse in clear water and darker colors in dirty water.  Always try to bump objects like wood and boulders.  Slow roll through points sticking out from bank.  If that doesn’t work take it off and square Bill the area, lastly plastics doing the same progression of techniques.  Half of the fishing fun is trying to figure it out, not always catching.  If it were always easy it would get boring.  Nothing more satisfying then catching when others can’t!.  You have to have confidence In what your doing even if they are not cooperating.  Time on the water will give you that confidence!

[scaleface]

Maybe you already know this but its worth mentioning . Spinnerbaits are one of the most snagless lures made , one of the top lures to use in woody cover . Get it right in there .

[GreenPig]

2 hours ago, Scott F said:

There are two things I noticed here. Did the “guy” fish the same part of the lake before or after you? Fishing behind a guy who knows what he’s doing is going to hurt your numbers especially if you are using the same bait.

Second. Were there witnesses to his numbers. Believe it or not, some fishermen have been known to exaggerate a bit about their day back at the dock.

Back at the ramp when ask what & how many I caught, I'll flip my phone out and show fellow fishermen the days catch. When ask what I caught them on, it's always the same answer. A 3/8 ounce Black Rattling Beetle Spin with a small copper willow leaf black. I also will never commit to throwing any one particular bait. What they'll hit and what I want to catch them are seldom the same lure.

[scaleface]

6 hours ago, Bird said:

Spinnerbaits are reaction baits, use a nice steady retrieve around submerged cover, edges of logs.

 

I only have 2 colors, white and chartreuse, always use trailers, prefer willow blade in back, colorado up front.

 

If I do throw a spinnerbait in open water, it's horizontal to bank or shallow water, like coves.

 

If water is murky, I throw chartreuse with a black trailer. 

What is that ?  Two blades on one swivel ?

[Bird]

56 minutes ago, scaleface said:

What is that ?  Two blades on one swivel ?

Very good question and one I can't answer, don't know the manufacturer. 

Bought it years ago from a local bait and tackle shop going out of business. 

 

I did however catch my 2 biggest LM of 2020 on it.

 

Another pic.

 

 

[papajoe222]

This is a good example of anglers believing that there is a magic bait that will put them on fish.  There are a number of things that could be different. Depth, speed, color, blade configuration, etc.  Are you getting fish to follow your spinner?  If so, you're doing something right and a small change of some type may be all that's needed. If not, your way off base even though you may be using the right bait.

Oh yea, one more thing. A straight, steady retrieve may get you some fish, but an irregular one with pauses, or twitches of the rod tip will get you a lot more under the majority of situations.

[813basstard]

He knows how the fish are positioned. 
He’s putting the bait in front of them. 
 

I can promise you he’s doing something your not and something simpler than you think.

[slonezp]

10 hours ago, scaleface said:

It could be a number of things . Assuming you two were throwing similar  baits , color , blades... He could have been fishing a different depth or  speed. His cast may be more precise and less noisy. He could be working it differently by letting it drop or fade away  . That fade technique is one that I use a lot . Its not  killing the bait , just slow the lure down and drop the rod tip a little right as the lure is leaving cover , letting it fade away . 

 

 I have had a good spring so far on spinnerbaits and other anglers I talked to are having it tough . Some were using tiny dink sized lures and I was using half ounce models . They were casting at the bank with high arcing cast and I was in close making under hand tosses and pitches into flooded brush . They were making a lot more  noise , I'm stealthy as I can be . 

 

 Theres more to it  than chucking and winding .

 

10 hours ago, A-Jay said:

This ^^^^  @scaleface nailed it. 

1. Depth & Speed - can make ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

2.  An inaccurate or poor presentation can kill a potential bite 

3.  Whatever Mr. Spinnerbait was doing, decent chance he's done it before.

     There's no replacement for experience and the confidence success can bring. 

 

A-Jay

Spot on the spot, retrieve on the retrieve. 

I was fishing an underwater island in Sturgeon Bay. I was on the south end and another boat was on the north end. We were casting towards each other. I was catching pike. They were catching smallies. Literally fishing the same underwater island only presentation was from different directions. CANNOT tell you how frustrating that was.

[Captain Phil]

Most anglers fish spinnerbaits too fast.  If you slow down and pick your structure apart from different angles, you will catch fish others are missing.  A good example is a small group of pads.  One angler may make one cast and move on.  The better angler makes many casts to the same pads from different directions and catches that fish.  Also, spinnerbaits work best when the cadence is right.  The cadence is affected by many different factors, some having to do with the bait and some with the retrieve.  When your cadence is in the zone, you catch more fish.

[detroit1]

No wonder that bait shop out of business..look at that bait...?

[JediAmoeba]

With spinnerbaits you really have to perfect your cast.  You need to learn how to get that spinnerbait to hit the water untangled and silently.  I see a lot of people rainbow bowing their spinnerbait out there and that is not ideal in shallow water.  

 

There is a lot of good advice here and one I don't necessarily see beyond the silent casts is making LONGER casts.  This can be key in highly pressured areas where bass see and hear boats all the time.  If you reach out further you can illicit a few more bites...