First time Spinnerbait

[Buffdaddy54]

Hey there, 

I need some advice on spinnerbaits, having never fished them before I have no idea what to look for. What color do I get, what size, what kind of blades should I be looking at? How do I even fish them? Any advice I can get would be greatly appreciated. I am also shore bound if that makes any difference.

Thanks

[Choporoz]

This article will get you started.   Also, Glenn has a couple really good spinnerbait videos somewhere around here. https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/beginner-guide-spinnerbaits.html

 

[roadwarrior]

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/spinners.html

[jimmyjoe]

   I'm a shorecaster, too. Spinnerbaits are one of my most-used lures.

   Reference retrieve on a spinnerbait is  to cast it out, let it drop and pull it in steadily. How far do you let it drop? Jimmy Huston use to say that you bring it back so that you can just .... and I mean just .... see the blades working. That's the reference retrieve.

   You can go up, making it a wake bait. Some companies make spinnerbaits designed specifically for that; they have larger or more resistive blades.

   Or you can go down, right to the bottom if you want to. On the bottom, you can slow-roll the spinnerbait back to you, or you can stop-drop-and-roll the spinnerbait. If I do that, I stop for about 10 seconds, then continue the slow roll.

   As you retrieve, you can modify the "steady" part of the description. "Pulse" the bait. In other words, put a little bit of a jerk into your retrieve every few seconds. To see what this does, try it in clearer water, close to you and shallow. The skirt should expand and collapse as you "pulse" the lure.

   One of the reasons I use spinnerbaits is that they hang up less than other hard lures. I pull them right over riprap all the time. Yes, it destroys them, but it also gets fish. You can also pull them over branches and sunken trunks, then let them drop. Be especially observant on that one, though, and be prepared to set the hook INSTANTLY.

   Other people will, I am sure, be here presently to tell you about the different colors of skirts and blades, and the different blade shapes. I consider those things very local and definitely not universal.

   The videos that Glenn has are great. I don't do everything the way he does, though, because I'm a shorecaster. He's working areas and angles that we can't duplicate.

   Still .... his advice is a great place to start.

 

   Good luck!     jj

[Buffdaddy54]

Thank you for the replies so far. I was trying not to waste everyone's time but when I typed "Spinnerbait" into the search and chose "article" nothing comes up. 

[roadwarrior]

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/beginner-guide-spinnerbaits.html

[jbsoonerfan]

I love fishing a spinnerbait and it is a technique that while on the surface looks very simple, it can be a rabbit hole to climb in to. So many different sizes like 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, etc. Colors like white, shad, white/chart, etc. Techniques like slow roll, burn, yo-yo, sweep, reel and pause, etc. Areas like over grass, rock, stump fields, etc. Conditions like clear vs stained water, windy vs calm, sunny vs cloudy, etc. I would heed the advice above and begin to read all you can to get some basic knowledge of fishing a spinnerbait and then take the time to try certain different combinations to see what works best for you. 

[jimmyjoe]

1 hour ago, TripleG said:

I was trying not to waste everyone's time

 

  

    That's not the issue on this forum. There are forums (fora?) where people withhold info to appear smarter, or mysterious, or to protect their knowledge base. We don't do that here. We're glad to help anyone with a legitimate question, especially newcomers.

   The fact that dozens of us all gang up on you with conflicting advice and confuse the heck out of you is just a side benefit. It's free. Costs you nothing.  ???      jj

[Boomstick]

Some good resources up above which I definitely recommend reading. I'll try to make it as simple as I can.

 

Use a dual willow blade for clearer water and a single Colorado blade for dirty or stained water. White is generally best in clear water, chartreuse in stained or dirty water and black in dirty water. Blue colors often labeled as blue sexy shad work pretty well in most clearish water. Nickel blades generally have the most reflection and work well in clear water, and gold blades and even painted blades work better in stained water.

 

I would match the colors, blades and blade colors above to the water you fish and start there and continue to learn what other variations may work well in your water later. Try to deflect off stumps and rocks - bites will often follow. Spinnerbaits can be deadly around wood.

 

In cold water I like either a single Colorado blade or an Indiana and small Colorado blade and fish it slow. Once the water hits 55 or 60, I will fish dual willow blades most of the time and later in the summer (typically late July August), you can burn a heavier dual willow bladed spinnerbait pretty fast.

[Beats Fishing]

Best advice to a beginner is to keep it as simple as possible in the beginning. That said I would start with a 1/4oz in 2 colors , solid white or a white/chartreuse and solid chartreuse skirts and a 2 bladed willow blade will cover 90% of your needs and not cost you a lot of money when you start until you get confidence in throwing them.  Just have the confidence that they work, because they do!

You will also get a million different ways and speeds to fish it, the only way at that point is time on the water and trial. They all will work at one time or another, you have to figure out how fast and erratic on that day they want it.

 

Good Fishing,

 

Beats

 

 

[scaleface]

Get spinnerbaits that you can cast the most accurately  . The quieter and more precise you can get them in and around cover the more bass you will catch . For me its usually  a half ouncer   . Whatever your rod is rated for get the weight in the middle .

[Munkin]

4 hours ago, TripleG said:

Hey there, 

I need some advice on spinnerbaits, having never fished them before I have no idea what to look for. What color do I get, what size, what kind of blades should I be looking at? How do I even fish them? Any advice I can get would be greatly appreciated. I am also shore bound if that makes any difference.

Thanks

 

Here in merryland the best overall spinnerbait is whitish with double silver willows.

 

Allen

[Koz]

I love spinnerbaits in part because of the versatile retrieve methods.

 

Sometimes - especially in the spring - I’ll add a paddle tail trailer. Keitech Swing Impacts are my favorite, but they get expensive and get torn up easily.

 

Lately I’ve been using the tougher Z Man paddle tail. Depending upon the size of the spinnerbait I may cut down the paddle tail.

[Bluebasser86]

Keep your color selection simple, white and chartreuse and white makes up over 75% of my spinnerbait selection. Get a little mix of willowleaf, Colorado, and Indiana blades in silver and gold. You can cover the whole spectrum pretty well with less than 10 baits.

 

Cast them out and try varying retrieve speeds but fishing them around cover is the main thing. They'll work in open water, but they're best around obstacles.

[bowhunter63]

3/8 ounce War Eagle sexy mouse or mouse color . I wade rivers a lot and bump structure with it. Run it up high if you see baitfish busting on top . I still use Berkley Big Game on a medium action fast action rod. 

[soflabasser]

Booyah makes very good spinnerbaits. Those a color and size you feel will work best in the area you are fishing in.

[roadwarrior]

16 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Keep your color selection simple, white and chartreuse and white makes up over 75% of my spinnerbait selection. Get a little mix of willowleaf, Colorado, and Indiana blades in silver and gold. You can cover the whole spectrum pretty well with less than 10 baits.

 

Cast them out and try varying retrieve speeds but fishing them around cover is the main thing. They'll work in open water, but they're best around obstacles.

 

Pick any color you like...as long as it's white!

 

 

 

[Luke Barnes]

My colors are simple. Dirty water is black and blue or chartreuse and blue. Clear is sexy shad, pond is bluegill like green pumpkin and purple and black.

 

Ive had the best luck using the slow roll on the bottom or wake it over weeds and grass. Had one day bank fishing a lake that I was catching them just winding it back past rocks and timber. 

[Teal]

You definitely arent wasting our time this is what we as a forum do!

 

I remember when I got into bass fishing 20 some years ago.. spinnerbaits were a mystery to me...could quite catch fish on them. Then one day back in 2011, I was fishing a point (fish were moved back on long points) I was throwing everything in the tackle box that day.

I casted out a war eagle screaming eagle which is half ounce but compact like a quarter ounce bait.  I remember feeling it hit hydrilla on bottom, I ripped it up and kept it above the grass and slow and steady... next, I hit something and pulled on it...then my rod bent and I knew it was a fish... that day changed it for me with spinner baits.  In the past 10 years, I have caught more fish on spinner baits than any other lure period.  And that says alot because I am a jig man through and through.  I love to skip docks, punch and fish close quarters, but over the years I've been able to dial in the spinner bait to be my most productive lure in most or any conditions.  

 

Colors- easy - white, a shad or sexy shad color, or a darker blue gill color.  I dont carry many colors.  

 

Weight, depend on depth.  I dont throw 1/4 any more.  I like a 3/8 at bare minimum.  I like compact spinner baits.  You can always bulk them up with a trailer.  1/2 oz Screaming eagle is still my go to.  I like what they call Hitch.  

 

Best time to throw it- anytime but, chop on the water is best for me.  I think it shines a little more in stained water.  The darker water or muddier, the bigger and flashier I go with my blades.  Mostly a double willow.

 

 

I will throw a Colorado in colder water with a heavier head and I'll slow down.

 

Good luck, buy a few and just fish them in the same places you would anywhere else dont be afraid to lose one.  My 10 yrs old son used to throw the up on the bank and then gently pull them down into the water, and run the by a dock....man he had out caught me a few times doing that.

 

 

 

[Log Catcher]

I agree with @Teal about the Screaming Eagle spinnerbait especially in clear water. My best colors are Spot Remover and Mouse.

[Jigfishn10]

Admittedly I breezed through a lot of the posts above. All of them gave you really good advice. The 2 things that resonated to me was blue86’s post about keeping the colors simple and scaleface’s presentation and lure weight. Well said.
Spinnerbait are one of my personal fav’s but they also can be a slippery slope. Read the posts again and avoid paralysis by analysis. ?

[Buffdaddy54]

Thank you everybody!!