Spinners

Tried spinners for the first time ever this weekend…I must’ve benn doing something wrong…been reading posts about set-up and speed abd I thought I had it right…I made my own harness with 2 hooks with about 3 inches of straight crawler hanging off the end…I think where I messed up is with the weight…I was using a 3 oz bell sinker hanging about a foot down from the 3 way swivel…i must have let to much line out and the weight was dragging through the mud and I think that the harness was as well…a buddy told me to drop it staight down and once it hits the bottom than bring it up a foot and troll that way…if that’s the case then what do you do if you’re working a flat break and you’re going up and down from 25-35?…I was also using one of my longer trolling rods and I think that was the wrong as well because the tip kept bobbing up and down…do most of you guys use a stiffer rod and keep the weight off the bottom and just wait for the rod to bend over, then set the hook?…any pictures on set-ups would be awesome…I know I’m close and any help would be great!!!!!…always wanted to learn how to fish this way!!!……THANKS!!!!!!!!

Your on the right track. I use a three hook harness and wack my crawlers before I hook them up. This stops them from trying to crawl on the spinner rig. You want the crawler to run straight as possible without spinning. I hand tie my spinners in lengths of 8 feet. My dropper is about 18 inches tied to a barrel swivel and I use a 1 or 2 oz bell sinker with the black clip on top. This allows me to change weight size easily.

My spinner rods are St.Croix Med-hvy rods with a fast tip. The weight of the sinker and drag will put a bend in the rod.

When working the edges, stay parallel with the edges. When you have fish located on certain areas of the edge, troll up and down the edge. Dont worry about being in contact with bottom. The fish will come up and whack your rig when going up and down the edge. I’ll generally set my rig on top of the flat and use that as a general depth for my rig.
You want your rig to run at 45 degrees and the size of the weight, depth and wind will determine the weight size.

Hey Pistol,

I usually use 6.5 to 7′ Med or Med Lite rod when pulling spinners. I also rarely use anything over a 1.5oz weight. I tend to finesse more than cover ground. If fish are finicky I use longer snells…maybe 3-4′ with spinner rigs (6-10′ with non spinner rigs). If you are using a bottom bouncer, then sometimes shorten the snell up to 18″ to 24″. Also, use “quick change” clevises for your blades. Sometimes a change in size or color is all that is needed if you’re seeing fish on your electronics. Also, try to keep your rig just off the bottom. You’ll need to keep in contact with the bottom every few feet you move. Watch your electronics for this as well. Sometimes a couple “glow” beads mixed in will entice ’em as well! Hope this helps.

With respect,

Savage Tuna

I troll mine at anywhere from .8 to 1.5 mph, I’m a little different though I prefer minnows or leeches for bait. I run anything from 1 1/2 oz to 3 oz bouncers bepending on depth and sometimes long line a lighter bouncer on short biters. I run abu 4400c3 reels with fireline on Fenwick 6’6 or 7′ med rods. Play with it till you find what the fish want then go with that, remember that could change hour by hour so always experiment.

Pick up one of the precision trolling books and try 50/50 method it has worked for me and I have tweaked it for all kinds of applications I feel this book is worth every penny available at Cabelas /Gander and so on I live in WI and can run multiple lines I use 8ft med action Diawa rods and diawa line counters
What ever you do keep doing differnt thing till you find what works for you
I also make my own harnesses experiment with them also and find what works for the time that you are fishing and remember it will change almost every time you are on the water
BEST OF LUCK AND HAVE FUN

Pete, I was in a bit of a hurry when I posted and would like to ad a few things.

You mentioned this was your first time using spinners. I like to compare spinner fishing to vertical jigging. Unlike rigging which usually involves drift fishing, spinner fishing is running that rig right through fish. Boat control is a huge factor when fishing these mud flat edges. When fish are on top of the flats or scattered on the deep gravel, you can pretty much run around and pick up fish. But working the edges takes time to learn and patience especially in wind.

I tie my spinners with premium finish deep cupped Colorado blades. These blades put out alot of vibration and flash. This time of year the water is stained and these blades work well in these conditions. Silver or gold is a good producer. The B-fish-N fish scale patterns are good producers as well and I like those types in early spring and late fall.

You stated your rod tip was bobbing up and down.Three reasons this is happening. Your going to slow, your hitting bottom or using too much weight. This is what you want to avoid. It doesn’t take much to make a deep cup blade turn but you generally want to keep your speed in the 1.5 mph range when using 2oz of lead.

I favor the longer 7-8 foot rods with a fast tip and long taper. The fast tip works well with heavy sinkers and the long taper helps with the strike. Spinner fishing is a reaction bite like crankbait fishing. The fish will just pound the rig. You really dont have to “set” the hook. Let the fish do that for you.

Spinner fishing is pretty simple. Get the boat moving and slowly descend your rig. Let the dropper hit bottom and crank up the reel a few times and hold the rod. Keep your line at a 45 as much as possible. I get clients in the boat all the time that want to let out a bunch of line because they want to feel bottom. Then when we make our turns their dropper is dragging bottom. When this happens the spinner rig sinks to the bottom. I always tell them to “keep the dropper under the boat”. I think too many people lose confidence once they lose bottom. This is not the case.

I favor crawlers over leeches for price and over minnows for less maintenance. This past weekend I experimented with Berkley Power Crawlers with no success. Pinch off the tail section of your crawlers once they are hooked on your harness. This leaves a scent trail. Make sure its not spinning before you drop it to the bottom.

Keep working at it and once you get a few fish you’ll get the hang of it..

Pistol, I run things a little different, but that doesn’t mean I am right or wrong just different. I use a 8’6″ softer rod with a bait cast reel and fireline, I use a quick clip for my spinner and my weight and I use stick weights usually 1.5-2oz. I let the fish load the rod and then start reeling. with the fire line on the rod and snell the fish will set itself. My snells are minimum 6′ long. and I usually move about 1-1.5mph. here is a pic of the snell. Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot for info guys…Can’t wait to give ‘er the ol college try again next weekend…the rod that I was using was a 8’-6″, medium action, Guide Series Advantage-Downrigger with a 3 oz bell…I’m seeing what’s going on now…Thanks a lot for all the help!!!…

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what do you do if you’re working a flat break and you’re going up and down from 25-35?

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In my opinion, it’s always better to err over the fish. In other words, in that 25-35 foot break, I’d set the bell sinker 2-3 feet off the bottom of the top edge. (Like 22-23 feet) and keep it there over the 35 foot drop.

This approach works well for inexperienced anglers like wife or kids or someone who just wants the rod in a holder waiting for the rod to bend. Many days this is how my wife out fishes me! Also, it’s just not too uncommon for walleye to suspend off the edge of the flat or break. So if the top of the flat is 26, look for marks around the 26 foot mark when your bottom reading is 35.

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I made my own harness with 2 hooks with about 3 inches of straight crawler hanging off the end.

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I make my own spinners too. Front hook is a #2 gami and the rear is a #10 trebble. about a 3 inch space. Add enough beads so the blade does not cover any part of the front hook. Always, always, always use the whole crawler. Bigger fatter the better!

Good luck,
-J.

Ok, one more thought on spinners…..

Kind of an advanced approach that should be working well right now. I like to either flat line or snap weight big spinners behind a planner board. When I say big spinners, I mean blades at least the size of the old silver dollars combined with a couple sets of treble hooks. (Forget the size but about the size on a #7 rapala) 2,3, or 4 big fat crawlers for the bait.

I’ll flat line the spinner 50 to 200 feet back, clip on a board and send it way off the side of the boat. If I want to get the bait down further, I’ll clip on a 1 or 2 oz snap weight about 30 feet in front of the spinner then play with the depth till I connect with fish. Both of these presentation are targeting fish suspend up high in the water column. This presentation is usually more effective on dead calm flat, usually stinking hot days! Speed is as slow as you can go as you don’t want to spin the blades as much as you want the blades “Thumping”. You will know what I mean after you play around with the big blades.

Good Luck!

-J.