Year Round Spinnerbait Tactics

Spinnerbaits are not just a tool for the spring and fall.large bass are waiting in ambush for prey to come
Spinnerbaits can be deadly, if the right ones arealong, and are primes areas to slow-roll spinnerbaits.
fished in a variety of situations weather it be theThe spinnerbaits should be slow rolled over the rocks
East Coast or the West. The trick is to be able toand such, and extra action imparted to the bait is not
distinguish which is the right one for the rightreally necessary. It should crawl over the bottom,
situation? Spinnerbaits can fished in so many differentand sometimes I give it a little twitch. All you have to
ways, all of which, produce BIG BASS from north todo is raise the rod a slightly, lightly shake it, and then
south, east to west. They can be fished through thecontinue slowrolling it back to the boat."DEEP
water column top to bottom. They are really aMETHODS"When the bass are really deep I employ a
versatile bait if you know the little tricks it takes totechnique I call deep pulling; its like a yo-yo method
fish them effectively. They can be fished many waysbut a little different. I let the bait flutter all the way
by varying the retrieve, weight of the bait, bladedown, and then let it sit, then I pull it hard and way
size, the trailer and colors. You have a bait here thatup near the surface and do it again. I use real heavy
can work a water column and catch fish from one tobaits with Colorado blades for this, usually in a
twenty-five feet, and because it is so versatile, youchartreuse, or a chartreuse and white skirt when I
can fish it fast, slow, and in all seasons of thefish in places that have dying shad in the winter, but
year.The first time I discovered this, I was amazedanywhere else, I use black, or black/purple
at how many fish I had must have missed in mycombinations. I always add a little Megastrike to the
youth, by not knowing how to fish a spinnerbait herebaits."TACKLE"I like to use a 6 to 6 1/2 foot rod for
in the Northeast.When it was October here inthis but sometimes I like to use a 7 foot rod, on
Delaware, I went hunting until the end of Quaildifferent occasions. Many times situations come up
season. Soon after 1976, I read my first issue ofwhen a 7 foot rod suits the situation better that a 6
Basssmaster magazine, and saw that people wereor 6 1/2 foot rod for distance and control. Most of
using this bait year round and catching bass. Soonmy rods I use for this technique are in a medium
after, in late December in Delaware, I caught my firstheavy action. I really like a Fiberglass rod for these
bass on a "Stan Sloan" single nickel coloradobaits, but there are many new rods that are very
blade,(with a purple skirt, with rattles on the arm,) bygood for spinnerbaits and crankbaits, made by
letting it flutter into a sunken tree, in ten foot deep,G.Loomis, St.Croix, Kistler,and Shimano. Sometimes on
thirty-six degree water. I soon felt that sluggish pullthe smaller baits I use a spinning rod with Stren
on the line, "like a pile of leaves or grass", not untilSuper Braid,or Power Pro, but the rest of the time I
then, did I realize that I could catch bass year rounduse a baitcasting rod with a Shimano Chronarch, with
on the right lures, with the right presentation, soundfourteen to twenty pound P-Line.WHAT COLORS
and color. It was well over six pounds, and was aFOR WHAT BAITWhen I choose a color for a
different fight when she got close to the boat andspinnerbait, a lot of factors come in to play. The first
saw the trolling motor. Since that time I have fishedthing I do is pick a shad pattern, or whatever is the
all over the United States, from New York todominate species in the lake. I usually double up the
California, and found the right spinnerbait and theskirts, to give them more bulk. I use blue and white,
right technique produces big bass from all sorts ofblack and white, and chartreuse and white.
waters all year long. They key is to keep it in theSometimes I use red, depending on the location. All
strike zone, and most lures are made so that youof these colors give a good range of visibility under
can work them as slowly as you want to, while stillwater.In muddy water, I have always used the same
keeping them in the zone."DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES"Icolors, black and blue and red. The same goes for
like to use the spinnerbait as a search tool, and kindthe nighttime. I like to use the forage in the lake if I
of a depth finder, and bottom contour device also.can,such as rainbow trout or shad, and to make it
What I do is check out the structure of the lake byappear injured to trigger that genetic response.I like
bumping objects, and increasing my chance for ato use big spinnerbaits in the spring, when I'm in big
reaction strike right then. The spinnerbait will make afish waters, some right here in Delaware or Maryland,
different sound bumping off different objects suchor others such as Florida, Arizona, Texas, and Mexico.
as stumps, rocks, sand, and pea gravel.I also varyWhen fishing strictly for big bass with spinnerbaits I
the speed often, and even shake the rod ifadd on a double or triple skirt for bulk and lift, and
necessary, trying to give the bass a different look,use really big blades. Terminator makes some big
which is important in highly pressured waters. I workblades that I really like on our spinnerbaits. This year
buzzbaits in a different manner also, which I believe ishere in Delaware, we landed three bass in one day
what accounts for some real lunkers that I mighton big spinnerbaits, that went seven and eight
have otherwise missed. There are times when apounds. Sometimes we even break off the tails of
spinnerbait is the most effective tool to use. Whenworms for trailers, and many times in the spring, I
fishing the bait in heavy cover such as pads, Ihave caught some huge bass from ten inches of
employ a technique that I now know is calledmuddy water with a big spinnerbait with a trailer.We
fluttering by some anglers.Basically what you do is tohave had a great response from bass in the
cast the spinnerbait out into the pads, and by movingDelaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and
your rod tip, and other parts of your bodyPennsylvania areas, using a double golden shiner skirt.
positioning, you maneuver the bait through the pads,The bluegill and shad patterns top the list overall
and when it comes to an opening, stop it, and let itthough. Sometimes reversing the skirts on the baits
flutter down. Many strikes comes as a lure sinks.Youpresents a different profile, and will also trigger hard
should make a lot of casts to the areas where youto get strikes. The spinnerbait isn't just a bait for
really believe the bass are, or have seen them, asbeginners, although it is a great bait to break in a
they can be irritated into striking if the bait isnovice or child to the sport of bass fishing. But in the
presented in enough variations and positions. Slowhands of an expert, it is a versatile year round bait,
rolling can be extremely effective in deep water as itthat can catch "HUGE" bass.Steve vonBrandt
designed to imitate a crawfish on the bottom, orSponsored by: GYCB (Yamamoto),Okuma, Delaware
another type of bass forage. The trick to it is rollingTackle, TTI-Blakemore, and Ambush Lures. is the
it down the side of a sloping bank, a rock bar, aowner of Reeltime Anglers Guide Service in
hump, or any underwater structure, and then slowlyWilmington, Delaware, Anglers Radio in Delaware and
pumping it back to the boat. We employ the almostNew Jersey, Reeltimeanglers, Bass Lure Review, and
identical technique with a lipless crankbait with greatDelaware Tackle in Delaware. He also is a tournament
success. There are also better types of spinnerbaitsangler and freelance outdoor writer. He has over 40
for different types of cover. C shaped baits tend toyears of fishing experience in the Northeast, 5 years
work better through heavy pads and grass, while aexp. in California. He has fished freshwater and
V shaped bait gets hung up more easily.Riprap issaltwater since 1962, and has devoted to freshwater
another good area to slow roll spinnnerbaits. There isonly since 1989.
often debris mixed in with the rocks, and many times