Spinnerbait life expectancy

[waymont]

This early spring I got on first really great spinnerbait bite. It lasted weeks, and I caught a ton of big fish for my area. 5's, 6's, and my PB 7.25lber.

We've had some crazy high water, and the spinnerbaits were the ticket.

I would say over two weeks I caught about 20 solid fish, and a bunch of 1-2lbers. I went through about 4 spinnerbaits. Some would last longer than others depending on how strong the fish was, and how it was hooked. After a while some baits just got to the point where I couldn't tune them anymore, or blades went missing.

I use BooYah, War Eagle (probably the most resilient), and Reed Runner. My question is how many fish do you expect a spinnerbait to be usable for?

[FishinBuck07]

If I had your problems I would be just fine buying new ones!  Haha?

[islandbass]

Sometimes only one fish and it was only like a 3 pounder too on a strike king sb 

[Bird]

Usually a spinnerbait is pretty hardy and you can retune them. 

 

Unless you keep flirting with PB bass.

[waymont]

5 minutes ago, Bird said:

Unless you keep flirting with PB bass

We had unusually high water this season. I just went by the bass playbook. High dirty water spinnerbaits and chatterbaits.

[A-Jay]

Spinnerbait life expectancy ~

 

 

May depend on where you fish . . . .

A-Jay

[waymont]

1 hour ago, islandbass said:

Sometimes only one fish and it was only like a 3 pounder too on a strike king sb 

Seems like an expensive game, of one fish per spinnerbait?

[Bankbeater]

I had a BPS spinnerbait that I used off and on for about 20 years. I just sharpened the hook and changed out the skirt when it needed it. Over the years I probably caught 30 or 40 bass on it before the arm broke off. 

[Logan S]

Sorta depends, every fish is different...Some fish thrash/headshake more than others.  Boat flipping will put some extra stress on them too (but I still do it often).

 

If you tie off the r-bend with some braid it will greatly reduce the amount of bending and your spinnerbait wire will last longer.  IMO you get a better hookset too since it doesn't open up nearly as much when pressure is applied.  With it tied off like this, a lot of times I don't even need a re-tune after catching and boat flipping a fish.

[Jig Man]

8 minutes ago, Logan S said:

Sorta depends, every fish is different...Some fish thrash/headshake more than others.  Boat flipping will put some extra stress on them too (but I still do it often).

 

If you tie off the r-bend with some braid it will greatly reduce the amount of bending and your spinnerbait wire will last longer.  IMO you get a better hookset too since it doesn't open up nearly as much when pressure is applied.  With it tied off like this, a lot of times I don't even need a re-tune after catching and boat flipping a fish.

X2.  That is what I do to my R wire spinner baits.  I more than quadruples their lives.

[DitchPanda]

A lot depends on brand. And there is more to it in my opinion than wire diameter...I also think size of bait matters...I feel like more compact baits seem to be more durable. I use booyah, war eagle and nichols. Without a doubt Nichols is the most durable out of those three. I have a Nichols right now I've caught a few dozen on including some in the 4 to 5lb range and it doesn't even show it.

Another thing I think makes a big difference is rod action. I used a medhvy extra fast for years and my spinner bait life was decent. I switched a few years ago to a medhvy moderate fast and the baits hold up much on her now.

 

[jimmyjoe]

   I've noticed 2 things:

   1) twisted eye seems to last longer than "r" bend.

   2) spinnerbaits that advertise a thinner wire (that promotes vibration more) don't last as long.

 

   I have a couple J-Macs that are 2 years old, and I've repainted them with touch-up paint and put new skirts on them, and they still catch just fine.      jj

[813basstard]

Once I get 3-4 fish on a spinnerbait, it really starts to catch them better then out the pack ones..

Hell it depends, sometimes 5 fish sometimes 25 fish...??‍♂️

 

I hate when they leave you with the wire arm still tied up but the rest of it is gone

[Team9nine]

I'll never forget this little snippet of wisdom on the subject:

 

"The consumer generally wants the spinnerbait to last longer than he does. And he's willing to sacrifice some strikes with a spinnerbait that lasts. That's a little foolish.

"To me, if a spinnerbait catches 10 or 15 fish, that's more than most lures ever catch for you. So why not go ahead and use a new one. Don't take a chance on it breaking when a fish hits it. If the bait does its job - catches fish - don't complain about how it looks."

 

Rick Clunn; April 1987

[Teal]

I use them until I lose them. Period

[Mbirdsley]

I’ve noticed especially with small mouth  if a booyah spinner bait lasts 6-8 fish your doing good.  They seem to be worse on them than the large mouths. Depending on fish size usually after about 8 fish they start not running right. 

[Hammer 4]

I have spinnerbaits that are about 12 yrs old. I find that the quality baits do 2 things. 1 if not hand tied skirts the skirts come off, or designate, and 2 the hooks get dull, which is no big deal. I do have 2 of them that are still intact, and work just fine. Nowadays I only buy spinnerbaits that are wire tied, or at least with braid.  

[gim]

The terminator series is by far the most durable because of the titanium frame. A-Jay already posted the primary reason our spinnerbaits here in the north don’t last as long. No ordinary spinnerbait can tolerate being smashed over and over again by pike.

[Chris at Tech]

I've had some blade baits in my arsenal for years.  And also, I've taken a blade out of the package on the start of the day on Lake Baccarac, and the bait didn't survive til sunset.

[DitchPanda]

I've never tried the braid trick on the r bend but I'm gonna give it a shot. One other thing I've done is when the wire breaks free of the lead is just super glue it back together so the wire doesn't get worked against the head.

[islandbass]

6 hours ago, waymont said:

Seems like an expensive game, of one fish per spinnerbait?

Not really. I don’t spend more than $5 on them and I usually get 4-5 fish but sometimes one good strike and bam. Sometimes you can tune them and sometimes you can’t. 

[Raul]

I've caught several hundred fish with the same spinnerbait for the past 30 years.

[Hook2Jaw]

All my spinnerbaits will last until the end of time, because I can't catch fish with them.

[detroit1]

We're not talking about Shannon twin-spins Raul...?

[Bluebasser86]

I usually get 10-20 fish on one before it's done. Smallies trash them the worst and I don't help by flipping them.