Spinnerbaits

I found a good article on Bassmaster.com about fine-tuning and making adjustments to spinnerbaits. It’s a quick read, but a good one nonetheless.

Bassmaster.com—Fine-tuning a Spinnerbait

I own a lot of spinnerbaits. Mostly titanium models only because I see a lot of toothy critters and they can ruin a good wire framed spinnerbait in a hurry.

I also keep a fair amount of wire framed spinnerbaits on hand so I can make adjustments to size, blades, and overall profile. I can honestly say, after reading that article, I’ve never put a 10″ plastic worm on a spinnerbait.

This guy can get away with a 10.5″ worm on his spinner bait because he doesn’t fish toothy waters! I’ve thought of trailing larger plastics behind a spinnerbait but I don’t because I know that the spinnerbait won’t handle the fish it’s likely to catch……… a muskie!!!

Titaniums may keep their form but they don’t have near the power to control a muskie and light dragging the battle usually results in an overexerted dead fish.

The reality of his rig is that if a bass is willing to chomp a 10.5″ worm, it’s likely willing to chomp one in tow as well.

Now, wrap your head around this…..

Ever detuned a spinnerbait so it turns slightly sideways during the retrieve? In a slower retrieve, you can put a little rod tip action in there to “lean, straighten, lean, straighten” the lure as well as a slight rise and fall, speed and slow action. When dealing with injured forage, irradic behaviors are common and I’ve seen detuned spinnerbaits with trailers bring a few bass and/or pike to the boat.

I’m not talking about much tilt, maybe 10 degrees at most.