-Nick from ROYAL OAK, MICHIGAN
ANY POINTERS ON HOW TO FISH SPINNERBAITS?? NEVER HAD MUCH LUCK ON THEM.
Thank you Nick for your question and for your business!!
For starters, usually the MOST important tips when it comes to fishing lure presentation is your rod/reel/line setup. However as far as spinnerbaits are concerned, you can pretty much use WHATEVER setup you want! If you are in crystal clear water like the Great Lakes, your best bet is 17 lb FLOUROCARBON like Seaguar Red. The flourocarbon will get your lure down a little deeper in the water column and is more abrasion-resistant than mono or braid. If you are fishing around a lot of pike, around a lot of weeds, in stained water, or just fishing fast, then braided line like Sunline Sx2 would be a fantastic choice. The braid is super tough around the pike, it is great around trees, brush, snags, because you wont lose your expensive lures as easily, you can really feel the bites with the superior sensitivity of braided line, and it casts farther than any other line. But old-school mono like Stren or Berkley Trilene will do just fine for spinnerbaits. I would use AT LEAST 14lb test because of the pike around here. Mono is the MOST BOUYANT of all fishing lines, so it will cause your TWIN SPINS to ride very high in the water column, and the 2 blades will also cause more lift than a standard spinner. With the Twin Spins that you bought, I HIGHLY suggest using braided line so you dont lose them for how high-priced they are. If the water is kind of clear, Berkley Fireline Crystal with about 30 lb test would work well.
As far as presentation, when it comes to spinners, you are imitating a fast moving school of baitfish. The Twin Spin has a look that should give fish something different. Reel this in with a semi-slow retrieve so the blades are spinning nicely but not clanking together. If you are getting a few bites here and there but they are not hanging on, try fishing a little faster and make the blades clank together. The titanium wire frame is very flexible, and with the larger blades we put on, they try to flex and hit each other during fast retrieve. Most of the time you will not want them to do this but in a tough bite, sometimes it takes some crazy reaction bites like this to get them to commit. A lot of times fish do not hit lures to feed, they are like a cat with a laser pointer or a yarn string, they hit it out of instinct because they have to kill it. They go crazy.
As far as where to use a spinner, my personal favorites are around stumps, trees, weed edges. You do not want to position your boat right in front of a weed edge, fan-casting the edges. You want to cast once at an edge, and if you dont get bit, pull your boat to the edge of the weeds. Then throw PARALLEL CASTS down the entire WEED EDGE or SHORELINE, because you are keeping our lure in the area where the fish are present. They arent out deep half way to your boat, they are loaded up all over the weed edge or treelines and your lure needs to run right down the edge waiting for the predator bass to pop out and strike it.
In the stumpfields I have a lot of fun. Mr. Kevin VanDam has explained in his videos all about "bumping the stumps." You cast however you can to get way behind a stump, and then try to align your rod when you reel in to actually smash right into the back of the stump with your spinnerbait. Your bait will pop out around the side of the stump. I have caught SEVERAL nice smallmouth bass with this retrieve. It is absolutely an example of a reaction bite. If a bass sees a bait fish (or lure) running into things like it is crippled, it may cause it to react and try to kill it.
When you are in current, such as a slow moving river or a reservoir/flowage, try to find where the current runs near the shoreline. Somewhere near the shoreline you should see some slack water from eddies, minor shoreline points, trees blocking the current, etc. Usually smallmouth bass position in the calm water right next to the flowing current waiting for food to float by. Typically fish in these locations are feeding and are willing to CRUSH your lure. Fan cast these areas but try and reel your lure back towards you WITH the current. It doesnt look natural for baitfish to move upstream against a good current. There are rare exceptions like always, these are wild animals and not always predictable.
Now when your lure hits the water in somewhat deep water, let it flutter down a little bit and then snap it when you start reeling. Every once in a while change the direction of the lure with your rod and snap it hard. And on occasion while reeling it in, just stop for a second or two and let it fall. These presentations look like baitfish changing directions and panicking from a nearby predator and sometimes creates reaction strikes.
And the final tip I can give is that spinnerbaits are typically the BEST lure you can throw in cold water, in windy weather, on cloudy days, and when the water clarity is stained. They can do VERY well in crystal clear water though too, mostly around weeds or ledges. Spinnerbaits almost never catch the most fish, but almost always bring you legal sized or large sized fish. They will get you one here and there that are sometimes hogs. They are great on a new lake for finding the fish, once you find them, slow down and throw top waters or soft plastics or inline spinners.
I hope some of these tips help, Nick. These are the ways that I present spinner baits. I am in no way a tournament expert or Bassmaster Elite, but through my experiences and from all the books and videos, I feel pretty confident in these tactics. I have probably been bass fishing with spinnerbaits longer than any other baits. If you know anything about jig fishing, let me know, because I am HORRIBLE at that!!!! Good luck with the Twin Spins you purchased from Alex and we cant wait to post your pictures of fish you are going to catch and email to us!!!!
Jesse
ANY POINTERS ON HOW TO FISH SPINNERBAITS?? NEVER HAD MUCH LUCK ON THEM.
Thank you Nick for your question and for your business!!
For starters, usually the MOST important tips when it comes to fishing lure presentation is your rod/reel/line setup. However as far as spinnerbaits are concerned, you can pretty much use WHATEVER setup you want! If you are in crystal clear water like the Great Lakes, your best bet is 17 lb FLOUROCARBON like Seaguar Red. The flourocarbon will get your lure down a little deeper in the water column and is more abrasion-resistant than mono or braid. If you are fishing around a lot of pike, around a lot of weeds, in stained water, or just fishing fast, then braided line like Sunline Sx2 would be a fantastic choice. The braid is super tough around the pike, it is great around trees, brush, snags, because you wont lose your expensive lures as easily, you can really feel the bites with the superior sensitivity of braided line, and it casts farther than any other line. But old-school mono like Stren or Berkley Trilene will do just fine for spinnerbaits. I would use AT LEAST 14lb test because of the pike around here. Mono is the MOST BOUYANT of all fishing lines, so it will cause your TWIN SPINS to ride very high in the water column, and the 2 blades will also cause more lift than a standard spinner. With the Twin Spins that you bought, I HIGHLY suggest using braided line so you dont lose them for how high-priced they are. If the water is kind of clear, Berkley Fireline Crystal with about 30 lb test would work well.
As far as presentation, when it comes to spinners, you are imitating a fast moving school of baitfish. The Twin Spin has a look that should give fish something different. Reel this in with a semi-slow retrieve so the blades are spinning nicely but not clanking together. If you are getting a few bites here and there but they are not hanging on, try fishing a little faster and make the blades clank together. The titanium wire frame is very flexible, and with the larger blades we put on, they try to flex and hit each other during fast retrieve. Most of the time you will not want them to do this but in a tough bite, sometimes it takes some crazy reaction bites like this to get them to commit. A lot of times fish do not hit lures to feed, they are like a cat with a laser pointer or a yarn string, they hit it out of instinct because they have to kill it. They go crazy.
As far as where to use a spinner, my personal favorites are around stumps, trees, weed edges. You do not want to position your boat right in front of a weed edge, fan-casting the edges. You want to cast once at an edge, and if you dont get bit, pull your boat to the edge of the weeds. Then throw PARALLEL CASTS down the entire WEED EDGE or SHORELINE, because you are keeping our lure in the area where the fish are present. They arent out deep half way to your boat, they are loaded up all over the weed edge or treelines and your lure needs to run right down the edge waiting for the predator bass to pop out and strike it.
In the stumpfields I have a lot of fun. Mr. Kevin VanDam has explained in his videos all about "bumping the stumps." You cast however you can to get way behind a stump, and then try to align your rod when you reel in to actually smash right into the back of the stump with your spinnerbait. Your bait will pop out around the side of the stump. I have caught SEVERAL nice smallmouth bass with this retrieve. It is absolutely an example of a reaction bite. If a bass sees a bait fish (or lure) running into things like it is crippled, it may cause it to react and try to kill it.
When you are in current, such as a slow moving river or a reservoir/flowage, try to find where the current runs near the shoreline. Somewhere near the shoreline you should see some slack water from eddies, minor shoreline points, trees blocking the current, etc. Usually smallmouth bass position in the calm water right next to the flowing current waiting for food to float by. Typically fish in these locations are feeding and are willing to CRUSH your lure. Fan cast these areas but try and reel your lure back towards you WITH the current. It doesnt look natural for baitfish to move upstream against a good current. There are rare exceptions like always, these are wild animals and not always predictable.
Now when your lure hits the water in somewhat deep water, let it flutter down a little bit and then snap it when you start reeling. Every once in a while change the direction of the lure with your rod and snap it hard. And on occasion while reeling it in, just stop for a second or two and let it fall. These presentations look like baitfish changing directions and panicking from a nearby predator and sometimes creates reaction strikes.
And the final tip I can give is that spinnerbaits are typically the BEST lure you can throw in cold water, in windy weather, on cloudy days, and when the water clarity is stained. They can do VERY well in crystal clear water though too, mostly around weeds or ledges. Spinnerbaits almost never catch the most fish, but almost always bring you legal sized or large sized fish. They will get you one here and there that are sometimes hogs. They are great on a new lake for finding the fish, once you find them, slow down and throw top waters or soft plastics or inline spinners.
I hope some of these tips help, Nick. These are the ways that I present spinner baits. I am in no way a tournament expert or Bassmaster Elite, but through my experiences and from all the books and videos, I feel pretty confident in these tactics. I have probably been bass fishing with spinnerbaits longer than any other baits. If you know anything about jig fishing, let me know, because I am HORRIBLE at that!!!! Good luck with the Twin Spins you purchased from Alex and we cant wait to post your pictures of fish you are going to catch and email to us!!!!
Jesse
Lake Michigan Northern Pike caught on a spinnerbait by Alex Piontek 2014
