Spinnerbait Confession

[WookieeJedi]

I have been bass fishing for a very long time, but something has been missing from my arsenal of skills. The spinnerbait. I know, there are some who won't leave the landing without one of these tied on, but where I grew up fishng, I always saw the guys thowing spinnerbaits as bank-beaters who complained about the lake not having fish in it, as they passed by me with their trolling motors cranked up to 11; all the while, I'm catching lots of big fish just by facing the other way or tossing something other than a white spinnerbait. I know this is wrong, but I still have this mental block for using spinnerbaits. I see them as a give-up lure. There are two exceptions I have to this: one is using in-line spinners on small rivers, and the other is the mighty bettle-spin and it's cousin the Matrix Shad or Redfish Magic lure. I am going to change this. Starting next trip, I'm blowing the dust off of my spinnerbait and I'm going to cast it until I learn how to catch fish with it. I'm going to watch how-to videos on you-tube. There I said it. I will teach a 44 year-old dog a new trick.

[loodkop]

I have the opposite problem. I struggle to put the spinnerbait down long enough to give my cranks a fair go. I have thought about locking my spinners up for the next couple of trips. I have caught both numbers and size on the blades. Give it a go and good luck.

[ww2farmer]

Time and place......I have found bass to be pickier about spinnerbaits than just about any other lure. IDK why either, because pike crush them year round. Infact I don't use them as much as I used because of the pike.My spinner bait success also tailed off over the years as our water got clearer, to the point I gave up for a while. I have adapted, and use them again, but rarely without my own modifications.

[grimlin]

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/spinnerbaits-bass-fishing.html

this is a must watch...it'll help you a little.

[Nitrofreak]

  On 3/9/2012 at 5:59 PM, grimlin said:

http://www.bassresou...ss-fishing.html

this is a must watch...it'll help you a little.

I agree, Glenn does a great job in that video !!

Think about one more thing while you are learning about the spinner, the spinner is nothing but a fancy jig, all they did was add some blades to it, don't be afraid to fish it like a jig.

[WookieeJedi]

Watching that video is what got me to give spinnerbaits a go! I know they are versatile, and since I fish out of a yak, that's a lot of potential production in a small tackle space that I'm letting go by not using them. When I use the beetle spin or the matrix shad, I'm usually fishing them like a jig, fast-dragging the bottom, or dropping them off inclines in deeper water. But I have to be pretty desparate, or the fish have to really be giving me major clues before I'll get them out.

[smalljaw67]

I've been fishing spinnerbaits for 30 years, it is my favorite bait and I like it so much that I've been making my own for over 15 years. Over that time I've found little things sometimes make a huge difference, everyone knows the easy changes like blade type, or blade size but there are other things that can make a difference of getting bit or getting skunked with the spinnerbait. Things like blade spacing, and wire angle, these are things that not many people think about but it is a big reason that one day your buddy is killing them on a Strike King spinnerbait while you only manage a few fish on a terminator and the next day just the opposite happens. If you use the right spinnerbait for the right purpose it is a lure that is really effective in just about every situation.

[Hooligan]

GAH! I had a response to this all typed out and something happened. I'll make note of it and try to revisit when I can dedicate the time to it.

[tomustang]

I see more people wasting their time with them than catching anything, who knows maybe all the fish here are burned out on them.

They don't spend much time on my line because they haven't produced for me yet. All it takes is for me to switch to a crank or a jig and I'm back to producing.