Spinnerbaits

[MDbassin]

I'm determined to throw a spinner bait more this year as I've always opted for other techniques... since I've never really paid attention to them before I dont know what makes a good spinnerbait and who makes a good spinnerbait.... I've used terminator in the past.... what are you guys go to spinnerbaits?

[mrpao]

I still use Terminators. Both the titanium and stainless versions. I still like the titanium because of the durability.

To be honest i think most spinnerbaits are pretty comparable. It all in what a person likes. Blade size and shape, as well as color of skirt makes more of a difference than brand.

[Hammer 4]

Used a ton of booyha and War Eagle. Still have a few of those. This year I'm giving the Dobyns D blade a whirl. I like the design and how the last willow blade doesn't extend way past the hook.

Normally I throw 1/2 oz, but also have some 3/8 and 1/4 oz too. Look for wire/hand tied skirts, the ones with bands tend to degrade over time.

[Kyle S]

Love spinner baits. Booyah has me covered.

[Jig Man]

I only use 2 (War Eagle and my home made).

[Hertboi]

I was throwing Booyahs for a while and a couple of weeks ago I picked up a 1/2oz V&M Predator that I really like. I caught some good fish on it the days that I’ve fished it. The jury is still out on it though. I’ll have to see how it lasts. 

[Derek1]

I’ve been using zman Spinnerbaits for two seasons now. I really like them. The blades spin no matter what. The blue gill one has produced the best so far. 

[Teal]

War eagle in 1/2 oz is what I throw most if the time.  I'll go down to 1/4 some.  

[DitchPanda]

I use booyah and war eagle like everybody else says...siebert outdoors makes some good ones...my favorite are the Nichols metal flake blade spinnerbaits. They run true, are extremely durable and come in a lot of really unique colors.

[king fisher]

They are all similar.  I would make sure what ever brand you buy, has a quality ball bearing swivel.  I make my own and have every combination you could imagine.  All a person really needs, is a couple different sizes, a dark color, a light color, and a few different blade types and sizes. 

[Fishes in trees]

If you've never gotten into spinner baits , the point about a quality ball bearing swivel is very valid.  As for brands, I primarily throw War Eagles and Terminators, with several locally made models working their way into the mix as well.

Be mindful that there is a learning curve to all aspects of  throwing spinnerbaits.  Spinning or bait casting?  Line - lighter or heavier. -  easier casting line or more abrasion resistance.  Skirts - wired tight or rubber banded.  Spinner bait frame - heavier or lighter wire.  Spinner bait weight - what size to you like for what.

 

Since I started getting into bait casting in general and throwing spinner baits in particular - mid 80's ( more or less )

I'm several thousand dollars into the quest for the perfect spinner bait rod and I've never spend for than $150 or so on any one particular rod.  I ain't going to go into all the whys Y wherefores of what kind of rod I started with and where I am now and the various stops & starts between then and now.

 

Basically the more you go to a medium type action, you gain some distance (maybe) and lose some hook setting ability. (no doubt).  As your rod tends to MH & H, you gain hook setting ability, but you will most probably lose some casting distance.

 

Not sure if there is one in your neighborhood, but if there is an Academy Sports near you, they are the exclusive distributor of All Star Rods.   The All Star spinnerbait rod is a good place to start.  I like the purple one but the black All Star classes series is ok also. Right now for reels, I'm going with a Curado 150 DC.  I   generally start the day out with a half ounce bait and this reel throws a half ounce spinner bait better than any other reel I've tried.  (Specifically I get more distance with the same amount of effort as I do with a 10 ball bearing Calcutta or the old 10 ball bearing Calais.)

 

Good Luck.   One more thing, when you decide which spinnerbaits to buy, don't buy just one of any particular model.  Should you make an excellent choice and get that bait which catches fish every time you throw it, what are you going to do when you lost that bait.  And you will lose that bait, spinnerbaits are in that category of baits where the best you can do is just have temporary custody of them.  I deal with this reality by buying at least 3 of any model that I decide I want. 

[MIbassyaker]

Tons of good spinnerbaits. Just thinking of the ones I use -- Booyah, Strike King, War Eagle, Stanley, Pepper, Picasso, Nichols; BR sponsor Siebert Outdoors also makes good spinnerbaits with your choice of skirts for a good price.

 

  Absolutely agree you should look for baits with a ball-bearing swivel...blades will turn more easily at slower speeds. And if the skirt is attached by only a rubber collar, reinforce it by tying some wire or braided line in front of the collar, to help keep the skirt from getting pulled off...which will happen after a few fish.

[Captain Phil]

There is a lot more to spinnerbait fishing than the brand. I fish Hildebrandt and Terminator spinnerbaits exclusively. At one time or another, they all work. Two things are important about spinnerbait fishing, cadence and getting close enough to trigger a strike. When offshore trolling for billfish, some boats raise more fish than others.  This is believed to be due to the vibrations coming from the props.  Spinnerbaits give off the same type of vibrations.   Cadence is a function of reel ratio and how fast you turn the handle.  Every spinnerbait has a "sweet spot" cadence that attracts more strikes.    Most bass fisherman retrieve spinnerbaits too fast.  They chunk it out,  reel it up, hit the trolling motor and move on.  They would catch more fish if they slowed down and made multiple slow passes to the cover.  

[Columbia Craw]

There are many many quality spinnerbaits out there.  I first look for a good wire with an R bend.  I want a stream line head and the skirt hand tied if possible.  I also want a good trailer keeper.  Next is blade separation that complements the blades as they rotate.  A must have is a Sampo barrel swivel and blades that have some thickness to them. Having the loop at the end of the wire arm welded closed is a plus.

 

Some of the manufactures that accomplish this and employ these features are:

 

Booyah

War Eagle

Nichols

Revenge

Stanley

Dobyns (Beast meets all features)

Lunker Lure Hawg Caller

Strike King

Damiki

Etc.

 

The list consists of quality baits and anyone is a good bet.

[DitchPanda]

I will completely agree with the above mentioned necessity for a good easy turning swivel. I never really noticed it over the years and did well with spinnerbaits but the past few years my game has been upped a lot by using better quality baits. I've had a lot of bites the past few years by stalling the bait and letting it flutter..something I never really did and it wouldn't have worked anyway cuz the baits I used then wouldn't have had blade action. Case in point I went to pitch over a log with a spinner last week and I made a bad cast ending up on this side of the log and thought oh great. Had a bass crush the bait while it was falling. So my bad cast instantly turned into a great cast. Checked the bait next to shore and sure enough it had great blade flutter on the drop.

[MDbassin]

I notice theres some spinnerbaits where the blades are pretty much right on top of one another and others the one blade is half way down the wire. Any advantages to one or the other?

[Boomstick]

I have a Plano box full of spinnerbaits from many different brands. The War Eagle's are tough to beat, priced right. I really like the Terminator T1s if you can find them - the blue and silver one is great! The River2Sea Blings are really good, and I just picked up a couple of Nichols this year which have a nice small profile which I haven't fished much but should be quite effective.

[Alex from GA]

I usually fish a double willow blade white or white and chartruse 1/2 oz bait.  Any good quality bait is fine with me.  If I'm using mono I retie often, it wears through the line.  Mudfish will destroy a spinnerbait.

[scaleface]

I'm not brand picky . As long as it has a quality swivel it will catch fish . I throw a 1/2 ounce most of the time , simply because i can cast and pitch that size real well .I'm a better angler with that weight than lighter ones .

[michaelb]

I agree with the general idea that they all work, and have often bought the cheap $3 versions that are on the counter at the tackleshop, and those work and do catch fish. But there are some differences. I prefer spinnerbaits that have a closed loop to attach to the line. This is primarily because I have a leader with a snap on the rod I use for spinner baits. But those spinnerbaits are also usually the better and higher quality options (like the Booyah Pikee) and are much harder to find. I am not sure why spinnerbaits generally just have a bend in the wire and what advantage or reason for that style exits.

 

But last year I switched to the megastrike "strikeback" spinner bait. This is significantly different, in that the hook swings freely. I think the owner of Megastrike may participate on this forum, or used to. I haven't used them long enough to really know for sure, but I think hookups are much more reliable with the swinging hook, but even more so: you are much less likely to lose the fish after you hook up. the swinging hook reduces the fish's leverage on the hook and prevents them from shaking off. Pike love spinnerbaits and I often target pike, and so this factor of "staying on the hook" is more important for pike that love to thrash widely at the side of the kayak than for bass. Before trying these, I used trailer hooks, and trailer hooks on normal spinnerbaits definitely help with hookups.

 

https://www.megastrike.com/bigbassspinnerbait

[Tizi]

War Eagle's are my go-to spinnerbaits.  Excellent quality, huge selection, can get some good prices on sale.

[Dens228]

I really liked War Eagle, specifically the ones with the twisted wire for the line tie.  I've grown to still like their spinnerbaits but hate the twisted wire as sooner or later I find myself trying to get my line out of the twist.  I just purchased some Revenge spinnerbaits without the twist and like them so far.  

[FishinBuck07]

Santone High Five

[gim]

On 6/3/2020 at 10:53 PM, MDbassin said:

I've used terminator in the past

This subject has come up regularly it seems.  Terminator is the only brand that uses a titanium frame.  Every other brand is steel.  I only use the terminators because of this reason.  If I use anything else, they get ruined very quickly by pike here.  Steel ones bend and trying to re-bend them back to the original position doesn't work.  They cost more than most spinnerbaits but the durability is worth it.

 

If I lived in a part of the country that didn't have such an abundance of pike willing to wreck my lures there would be no need to exclusively use terminator.

[browne762]

I had good luck with the River2Sea double willow blade model last year.

 

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

Terminator is the only brand that uses a titanium frame. 

I thought they discontinued the titanium ones. Are you still finding them somewhere? I looked last summer and nobody had them in stock, just stainless ones.