Spinner-Type Lures

Author:Dale Mazurek

Many fishermen choose their lures by trial and error. They keep changing their hooks until they find something that works. I'm hoping with some of the following articles I will be able to take a lot of the guessing out of choosing your lure.

It doesn't matter if the water is clear or murky because the spinner works in different ways to attract fish and get them biting. In clear water fish see the flash of the blades while in murky water they feel the vibrations and come looking for the hook. The nice thing about spinners is that they are relatively easy to use. You cast them and retrieve them straight because the hook does the work. And quite often when a fish hits a spinner they will usually hook themselves.

Spinner baits are a great hook for pretty much any type of fresh water fish. They will also work at any time of the year but they are especially effective in cold or warm water. This water makes the fish slow and sleepy and they really don't want to chase anything but you can even get the blades on a spinner moving
slow with a slow retrieval.

Different blades on spinners have different amounts of water resistance. A broad blade rotates at a greater angle. A large blade has greater resistance than smaller ones of the same shape. Sensitive tackle will help you feel the beat of the spinner better. Now if you don't feel the spinner than you may be retrieving the hook too slow.

When fishing a spinner bait you want to use a stiffer rod so you can set the hook better when you get a strike. Using spinner baits for small pan fish you should use 2 to 6 pound test. For walleye and small mouth you should use 6 to 10 pound test and for bigger fish 12 to 25 pound test would be recommended.

It's important to keep your spinner baits separated in your tackle box or you can waste valuable fishing time trying to untangle hooks when you should be fishing. Some people might disagree but I personally don't like spinners around weed beds because I find myself spending more time getting my hooks unstuck from the weeds.