These are wonderful little fishing lures found in any tackle box of a dedicated bass fisherman. It is my opinion that these are the jewelry of fishing. Spinnerbait are flashy, shiny and comes in fashionable brilliant colors. There are three main parts to consider in a Spinnerbait. The blade, the hook and the skirt. I’m sure there are more to them but my attention span can only handle 3 parts.
The blade part is a mostly a flatten piece of metal (aka an oval pendant). The pendant (blade) can come in a smooth polished look, a painted color or the all time favorite, hammered nickel. The hammered nickel tends to pick up more reflections which equal more blink. The shape of the blade is a clue on how to reel it back in. The more elongated blade that looks like a willow leaf requires a fast retrieval. So if you are fishing one of these be prepared to reel like crazy. If you fish for several hours, you might want to have margaritas waiting at home to help relieve the tension in your wrist and shoulders. The more rounded pendant doesn’t require as much reeling to get the same vibration and flash. So in my opinion, wider is better. Convince your darling hubby of this point and you can pack brownies on your next trip without guilt. Wider hips would mean…well, you can figure out where that was going.
Hooks have two basic shapes. A stick me once or a stick me three times shape. Also known as a single or a treble hook. My DH (darling hubby) files down that little barb on all the hooks we use to make it easier to remove it from the fish or from the back of his arm, my bad. The treble is a cluster of hooks that is usually easier to keep your catch caught but sometimes too much of a good thing isn’t good. I have the worst luck with treble hooks. They just seem to migrate to tree limbs, grass, lily pads, and husbands. The single hook isn’t as aggressive and I can retrieve them at a steady pace to keep them from grabbing things like a 3 year old at a checkout line.
Skirt is another name for accessory. It enhances the hook and makes it more attractive to the fish. Plastic skirts are usually recommended. They last longer in the tree branches. Skirts come in solid or multi colors. I would think the more colors in a skirt the better. In addition, some spinner bait has an additional skirt called a trailer. Needless to say, a trailer was not named by a woman. This lower ruffle (or trailer) doesn’t seem to do much besides adding more eye candy for the bass to see. I am all about more accessories so I like the extra fluff.
If picking the right color, the right size and the right shape was all it took to catch a little bass, we would all quit our jobs and be pro fishers. But spinnerbaits have this little hidden secret that makes it an important tool instead of just another piece of fluff to carry around. How did I figure out this phenomenal? I watch my husband.
After casting, he gets into a stalking stance like a bird dog. He watches the water. His senses are tuned into the feel of his lure being pulling though the water. His eyes encased in super hero fishing sunglasses allowing him to see though the murk. His hearing shuts down. This mighty spinnerbait secret is depth. The depth below the surface that you retrieve the spinnerbait appears to be more valuable than the shine, sparkle, color or rattling. Knowing what the magical depth is will remain a mystery to me. Usually, I can only find 3 depths for my lure: bottom of lake, top of lake, husband.
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