Spinnerbait Deep Dive

[Choporoz]

Lots of great discussion on spinnerbaits lately.  I'd like input on the narrow focus of deep, slow spinnerbait use.  I have caught good bass below 15 feet on spinnerbaits, but generally it feels like luck.  This past weekend I found a school of fish near the bottom in 14-17 FOW.  I couldn't interest them in plastics,  swimbaits, chatterbaits underspins....but I got some good hits on spinnerbait.   Unfortunately,  I had a very hard time hooking up.  I was using 1/2 oz Stanley with Indiana/Colorado blades; HF rod; 15 lb Invisx. 

  Any gear or technique tips for slow rolling (or hopping) spinnerbaits in deeper water?

[J Francho]

For the most part, I'm looking for a chunky, rounded head, 3/4 oz., no trailer to slow the fall, and will down size the blades to reduce lift.  There's always a lot of contact with the bottom, and you'll lose some in the rocks, but that is one of my bread and butter presentations, especially in clear lakes.

[Catt]

Definitely step up to 3/4 oz, I like Stanley's Extreme Vibra Wedge. 

[Bankc]

I like heavier spinnerbaits with smaller, willow blades, even in dirty water.  You get less thump, but they tend to stay down better.  Also, I tend to use a stiffer rod and 30-40# braided line to reduce stretch.  It makes hookups easier, since you'll have a lot more line out.  Though, I fish from a kayak, so swinging for the fences on a hookset can be dangerous.  You could get by with a normal rod and mono or fluoro if you wanted to, provided you can put the power behind it when needed.

[LrgmouthShad]

Ya'll are reminding me that I need to get out of my current comfort zone. Been retrieving my spinnerbaits up in sight most of the time but I know that slow rolling deep is one of those best ways to catch big momma. It's how I got mine

 

Good post and can't wait to see more comments about this. Keep the spinnerbait discussion going! It's fall time! WOO!

[islandbass]

50 minutes ago, J Francho said:

For the most part, I'm looking for a chunky, rounded head, 3/4 oz., no trailer to slow the fall, and will down size the blades to reduce lift.  There's always a lot of contact with the bottom, and you'll lose some in the rocks, but that is one of my bread and butter presentations, especially in clear lakes.

Sounds like a plan. What kind of rod are you using for this? I have a feeling I don’t have the right rod for such a task. Thanks. 

[J Francho]

I'm not too fancy - any 6-8 to 6-10 M/XF rod will do that will throw close to 3/4 oz.  Just don't over do it on the back cast.  You're not usually casting very far anyway.

[Finessegenics]

39 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I'm not too fancy - any 6-8 to 6-10 M/XF rod will do that will throw close to 3/4 oz.  Just don't over do it on the back cast.  You're not usually casting very far anyway.

 

Why not step up to a MH when throwing that kind of weight? I feel like 3/4 oz "overloads" my M rods. 

[J Francho]

Because my M/XF rods handle it just fine.

[Finessegenics]

1 minute ago, J Francho said:

Because my M/XF rods handle it just fine.

 

St Croix? 

[J Francho]

Always.  Though I have an Okuma and a couple Pinnacles that do fine as well.

[scaleface]

I use compact spinnerbaits for deep fishing ,  longer wired baits for shallow  . The Strike King Rocket Shad is a good deep water bait , I just dont like the double  hooks . So I pour my own  .

[GReb]

Our water is stained and “deep” is 6-10 foot. But I have most success with a 3/4 oz single gold Colorado blade. No plastic trailer. Although a 1/0 - 2/0 trailer hook is a good idea. 
 

However I don’t necessarily slow roll it. Just let it sink a few feet on entry and reel at a steady pace. Sometimes I’ll kill it for a second but it’s really just a “feel” retrieve for me. If I hit a rock or log I’ll pop it and flutter the blade. 

 

 

[Captain Phil]

There is much to talk about.  When I first started fishing spinnerbaits, I threw them out and cranked them back fast and shallow. I caught some fish that way.   Later we started experimenting with retrieves, blade size, weight, line diameter and trailers.  One thing I am convinced of.  It doesn't matter how you fish a spinnerbait as long as it's hitting something on the way in. That something could be shallow hydrilla, reeds, pads or even a tree stump in 12 feet of water.   Back when I was fishing Everglades canals, I would use a single Colorado spinnerbait and let it helicopter down close to the bank. When It stopped, I would slowly crank it back to the boat.  Bass always seemed to hit it on the fall or shortly there after.  A spinnerbait is one of the deadliest pad baits there is.  I cast it back into cover and work it back along any narrow pathway I can find.  I get hung a lot, so I use heavy line. I normally use two colors, chartreuse with gold blades and white with silver blades.  Some days the fish prefer one over the other.  On rare occasions when it's dark, rainy or cloudy, I have been known to throw a black spinnerbait with chartreuse painted blades.   If you add a fire tiger grub to this bait it's a killer combination.  If fish are pressured, you may have to downsize your bait or the blades.  One of the best spinnerbaits of all time was the SOB OKIEBUG spinnerbait.   There is a big difference in a quality spinnerbait and a cheap knockoff.  Both will catch fish if the fish are jumping in the boat.  The quality bait will when they aren't.  I prefer tandem spinnerbaits with a small Colorado in the front and a medium size willow on the rear.  I often downsize the top blade to a number 4.  Hard to find a better bass lure.

[Functional]

Same approach as J Francho. 3/4 oz double willow but I do use a zoom fluke as a trailer. I'll use a MH or M (if st. croix) and ill send her out and let her hit the bottom if im trying to keep it low. With that big of a spinner its easy to feel the thumping and I just keep it steady and at the level to just brush the top of the bottom or structure.

 

EDIT: if I get short strikes on spinners in general I'll also try spreading out the hook portion from the blade portion and making the V wider. I've found that helps get solid hits. I'm assuming the V is too narrow and instead of engulfing the hook portion the mouth is hitting both and preventing it from getting in the mouth.

[BassNJake]

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

I'm not too fancy - any 6-8 to 6-10 M/XF rod will do that will throw close to 3/4 oz.  Just don't over do it on the back cast.  You're not usually casting very far anyway.

How deep are you fishing?

Fishing a deep ledge needs a long cast to maximize the bait in the strike zone.

 

Often on the ledges/bluff walls they will key in on a specific presentation

So deep divers, swimbaits, scrounger type baits, and spinnerbaits all get a turn

 

[J Francho]

9 minutes ago, BassNJake said:

How deep are you fishing?

Usually pretty steep drops to about 20'.  Most often, I'd cast parallel to the depth contour I want to fish.  A 3/4 oz. bait flies a mile with an average side arm sling.

[FryDog62]

I can get fairly deep with a 1/2 ounce “Over-Spin.” Less resistance than the big bladed spinnerbait. 

[TnRiver46]

School of fish that wouldn’t hit a plastic worm but bit a spinner bait? That sounds like a big foot crossed with a unicorn to me

[J Francho]

16 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

School of fish that wouldn’t hit a plastic worm but bit a spinner bait? That sounds like a big foot crossed with a unicorn to me

You need to fish the Finger Lakes.  Just sayin'... ?

[Captain Phil]

Years ago a great fisherman taught me a lesson.   Bass will sometimes hit your worm when you are reeling it back to the boat.   When this happens, you should switch to a spinnerbait. 

[TnRiver46]

22 minutes ago, J Francho said:

You need to fish the Finger Lakes.  Just sayin'... ?

Sounds fun to me! Spinnerbaits work pretty well here too, just not when I use them 

 

there’s a fella that used to dominate all night tournaments with a heavy one down deep on old barn foundations. I think Jason Christie used one almost the entire elite series event in Knoxville and got a top 10 

[WRB]

Before I discovered safety pin design spinner baits in 1963 at Lake Roosevelt AZ while while going to AZ State, spinnerbaits where Shannon twin spins. 

Out west in the 60’s and 70’s we used a football head jig with spreader wires to make heavy twin spins from 1/2 to 1 oz using size 1 or 2 Colorado blades. The jig head was attached via a S clevis free to swing, vinyl skirts and pork trails.

Our lakes being deep steep rocky banks and structure we fished twin spins by casting and let fall helicoptering down along the structure from the surface to over 40’ in the winter.

Then slowly retrieved along the just off the bottom. 

I have caught lots of big bass doing this over the past 60 years. 

Tom

[LrgmouthShad]

8 minutes ago, WRB said:

Out west in the 60’s and 70’s we used a football head jig with spreader wires to make heavy twin spins from 1/2 to 1 oz using size 1 or 2 Colorado blades.

I've seen other posts you've made about the twin spins. I love it. But there aren't any more of those... ?. There are some close things on Tackle Warehouse but they don't have the rotating wire arm you talked about. Where the blades would fold up on the drop.

 

Edit: Or maybe that's the clevis you're talking about. Is there a way to make this with the modern twin spins on the market?

[Catt]