Tricks with Spinner Baits
by Ken Sturdivant
Southern Fishing Schools Inc.
The spinner bait is one of the best
baits ever used to catch bass. No matter what the conditions, spinner
baits can work and many anglers use them year round. There is nothing
is nature
that resembles this lure. Spinner baits come in all sizes, shapes and
colors. Blades come in colors as endless as the rainbow. Skirts and
blades can
be adjusted to any anglers preference and some anglers even go to extremes.
Professional as well as amateur anglers use several tricks with a spinner
bait. Several years ago, Lonnie Stanley hand made a solid orange
bait during a tournament at West Point Lake. The time was the dead of
winter
and the
water was rolling red from heavy rains. Nothing was working and when
this completely unique bait was used, several four pound bass destroyed
the
bait. For cold water applications, use a small 1/4 ounce bait. Silver
blades in small willow leaf styles imitate the small shad bass feed
on. Trim the
skirts on the bait and barely expose the hook when trimming the bait.
In warm water, use a full one ounce bait and the largest blades possible.
But use a large single Colorado blade up to a number 8 size.
Four
time BassMasters Classic champion Rick Clunn uses a tactic that can
help all anglers catch shallow bass. During the Golden Blend Worlds Championship
Clunn was taking super shallow early spring bass. Using a basic
tandem
spinner bait Clunn cast the lure on the bank on each cast. The
bass were
very shallow and casting the bait in the water spooked the bass.
Never
overlook this bait for super shallow and super deep bass all year.
Bugle the baits, slow roll the baits or cast them out and reel them
back. Spinner
baits are deadly when used even in the heavy cover where big bass
live.
When the bait was then pulled into the water, there was nothing
to
alert the shallow bass. Strikes came within the first 5 feet of
the retrieve and all these bass were over 5 pounds.Inc.
