Short Arm, Single Blade Spinnerbaits

[papajoe222]

I just finished the article by John Neporadny Jr  on the importance of the thermocline and I realized I missed another opportunity for making money off a bait modification.  I've been throwing  short arm, single bladded spinnerbaits for years as they are the perfect bait, IMO, for fishing bluffs, drop-offs and deep weed edges. When fished as a drop bait, that single blade will helicopter on the fall and trigger some bone jarring strikes.  The short arm positions the blade above and in front of the body/hook, which gets the fish to focus there.  No need for a trailer hook as short strikers are all but non-existent.

I modify a standard spinnerbait by removing the rear blade, cutting the arm, removing the clevis and blade that rides on the arm and bending a loop on the end. I'll either use the blade and swivel the bait came with originally, or upsize the blade for a slower fall.

This isn't a bait with one purpose as it is an excellent, common use spinnerbait, too.  Without the blade on the arm, it comes through vegetation extremely easy and, as I mentioned, there is no need for a trailer hook.

If you love throwing spinnerbaits, or are looking for something different for targeting those sharp drops, you owe it to yourself, to try one for yourself.

You'll likely be cutting up a few of your baits soon.

[LrgmouthShad]

Absolutely. Love the encouragement for people to start modifying spinnerbaits and make their own short arms, especially short arm single Colorado’s. I’ve been cutting short spinnerbaits like this and otherwise modifying them for a good while now. 
 

I don’t get many bites helicoptering a spinnerbait. For me, the modification to short arm is mainly about changing the pitch of the blade turning to be more subtle and present a more compact spinnerbait. Often, this is what I like. But, I have a theory that boisterous single Colorado’s can be better in the prespawn sometimes. This can be achieved via a long arm, or by utilizing a spinnerbait with a wide head, as two examples. The wider head will cause the spinnerbait to run less stable, and sort of jitter back and forth. If you’ve thrown a Zorro short arm aggravator, you may know what I’m talking about

[GRiver]

@papajoe222 got any pictures?
I love tinkering with the spinner and buzz baits.

[Captain Phil]

Back in the day, this was a common modification.  A short arm spinnerbait with a single Colorado puts out a completely different vibration than a tandem.  So much so that you can feel the vibrations in your rod.  Feels similar to the vibration created by a blade bait today.  They work great when fishing steep banks and drops.  Back when I did a lot of canal fishing, we would cast them right to edge and let them helicopter down.  When they stopped we would slow crawl them off the edge. Caught a lot of big fish that way.  I don't know why they fell out of favor.  Today's anglers are lazy, they want to cast crank and repeat.

[Jig Man]

I made a bunch of them for night fishing.  They work great.

[king fisher]

     When I was a kid in the 70's I had a spinnerbait called a Scorpion made by a company called Bass Buster.  It had a short arm with a single Colorado blade.  Not only was that bait great for slowly crawling along the bottom, but was the best spinnerbait I have ever owned for bulging a wake on the surface.  It stayed on top at a slow speed, and wouldn't roll on its side when on the surface like other long arm spinner baits I had.  I may be wrong, but  think the same company also made the original Beatle spin.

[volzfan59]

@papajoe222, Please do post a picture of two. Like @GRiver, I enjoy tinkering with baits.

[Mobasser]

37 minutes ago, king fisher said:

     When I was a kid in the 70's I had a spinnerbait called a Scorpion made by a company called Bass Buster.  It had a short arm with a single Colorado blade.  Not only was that bait great for slowly crawling along the bottom, but was the best spinnerbait I have ever owned for bulging a wake on the surface.  It stayed on top at a slow speed, and wouldn't roll on its side when on the surface like other long arm spinner baits I had.  I may be wrong, but  think the same company also made the original Beatle spin.

Your correct. The Scorpion spinnerbait was made by Bass Buster lures, as was the Beetlespin. Both were popular in Missouri.

[Team9nine]

The Scorpion’s cousin was the Tarantula, which was nearly identical but featured a thinner skirt with less strands (vinyl/rubber) vs. the Scorpion.

 

[casts_by_fly]

In the late 80's and early 90's Hart spinnerbaits had a similar one in the Throb (I think that was the name).  Not quite as short arm as the ones above, but still a shorter arm than others and a single colorado on the end.  This one though had a tapered head that was meant to keep it running fairly shallow (or allow you to bring it up quickly).  Great lure, definitely some of the most thump you could get on a spinnerbait with normal blade sizes at the time.  Perfect pond spinnerbait and shallow cover lure.  I keep 2 or 3 in my box how and have a couple more downstairs still.  

[WRB]

Short arm single blade spinnerbaits were once considered standard lures for night bass fishing offered by several companies. Surprised they are not still available (Strike King Midnight)?

 The most effective helicopters spinnerbait on the fall was the  twin spin, not today’s design with a fixed wire head but the 70’s design with the wobble jig on a S clevis hanger.

If interested PM you email and will send how to make this sketch and photo.

Tom 

[Cgolf]

13 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Absolutely. Love the encouragement for people to start modifying spinnerbaits and make their own short arms, especially short arm single Colorado’s. I’ve been cutting short spinnerbaits like this and otherwise modifying them for a good while now. 
 

I don’t get many bites helicoptering a spinnerbait. For me, the modification to short arm is mainly about changing the pitch of the blade turning to be more subtle and present a more compact spinnerbait. Often, this is what I like. But, I have a theory that boisterous single Colorado’s can be better in the prespawn sometimes. This can be achieved via a long arm, or by utilizing a spinnerbait with a wide head, as two examples. The wider head will cause the spinnerbait to run less stable, and sort of jitter back and forth. If you’ve thrown a Zorro short arm aggravator, you may know what I’m talking about

 

The ones I made run a lot like a chatter bait, the back and forth is very pronounced. I did put a pretty big colorado blade on it, so that probably plays a role too.

[Catt]

I started bass fishing throwing H&H spinnerbaits

[volzfan59]

22 minutes ago, Catt said:

I started bass fishing throwing H&H spinnerbaits

I see those in some local mom & pop shops in north LA and Southern AR.

[scaleface]

I had a couple with monofilament weedguards molded in . They worked great in the spring , equipped with a pork chunk and allowed to helicopter down through brush . Havent used one for many years .

[KP Duty]

Zorro Aggravator FTW....

 

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Zorro_Baits_Short_Arm_Aggravator_Spinnerbait_/descpage-ZSAA.html

 

 

[Reel]

On 8/16/2023 at 10:37 AM, king fisher said:

     When I was a kid in the 70's I had a spinnerbait called a Scorpion made by a company called Bass Buster.  It had a short arm with a single Colorado blade.  Not only was that bait great for slowly crawling along the bottom, but was the best spinnerbait I have ever owned for bulging a wake on the surface.  It stayed on top at a slow speed, and wouldn't roll on its side when on the surface like other long arm spinner baits I had.  I may be wrong, but  think the same company also made the original Beatle spin.

I used that spinnerbait also.  There was one color ( brown and orange, body and blade ) that was really good on smallmouth.  They had a special vibration that is difficult to reproduce.  I don't modify spinnerbaits, I make my own because I get what I want.

[Captain Phil]

Single blade spinnerbaits have a long history.   The first one I remember was the Paul Bunyan 66 in-line spinnerbait.  The Hildebrandt Snagless Sally was also a good one. I believe the first safety pin style single blade bait I ever used was a Lindy.  Walleye fishermen have been putting spinner blades in front of their baits for a hundred years.  The first commercial fishing lures every made were spoons and spinners. I have a J.T. Buel Arrowhead spinner in my collection that is well over 120 years old.

 

The first dual blade bass spinner was probably a Shannon. It mounted a pair of blades on two separate wires held away from the bait. The earliest safety spin style spinner I remember was the Zorro Aggregator and Don Butler's S.O.B Small Okiebug.  We spent years modifying spinnerbaits experimenting with wire size, blade size, placement and skirt material.  Try as we might, we never could make one that didn't catch bass. ?

[Fishingstickman]

I still love the Snagless Sally, works really good in current with high eel grass in our shallow Florida rivers.  Mud fish also love them so I like using them when the water is clear enough to snatch them away from that mess of spinning teeth. Short arm with gold Colorado and a black skirt is also great in cypress trees  and through the knees

[Captain Phil]

9 hours ago, Fishingstickman said:

I still love the Snagless Sally, works really good in current with high eel grass in our shallow Florida rivers. 

 

There are so many great old time bass lures that have been forgotten.  All of them still catch bass today.  I wonder if anyone will collect Whopper Ploppers 50 years from now?  ?