Once something gets stereotyped , it can be tough to break free of those preconceptions . Fishing lures are no exception .
Underspins ? Those are for spotted bass . Jerkbaits ? Only for the cold months . Lipless crankbaits ? Throw them around grass or don ’ t throw them at all .
Is there some reality to these truisms ? Certainly , but underspins have caught plenty of largemouth and smallmouth all over the country , jerkbaits excel all year ( especially with new forward-facing sonar ) and lipless crankbaits can be deadly in lakes without a sprig of vegetation .
The point is , don ’ t let a stereotype stop you from trying something different .
Typecast as ultra-finesse lures only for smallmouth , clear water and when the fishing is especially tough , most anglers outside the Great Lakes hardly
PHOTO BY PHOENIX MOORE
give spybaits much thought . Yet pros like the Bass Pro Tour ’ s Josh Bertrand and Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit ’ s Chase Serafin have found these lures have plenty more applications than anglers give them credit for . It ’ s just a matter of understanding one of the most misunderstood lures out there .
THE BASICS
Before breaking molds , it ’ s best to understand the simple facts .
Yes , spybaits are incredible in clear water . Yes , smallmouth love them . And yes , they work best under tough conditions . That ’ s how Bertrand and Serafin were initially introduced to the lures , being that Bertrand ’ s home waters are the gin-clear variety out West and Serafin lives in the heart of the Great Lakes .
Really , that all makes sense considering there ’ s not much to spybaits to begin with . They ’ re tiny , minnow-profile baits with correspondingly tiny props on each end with an action that is , at best , an extremely subtle shimmy .
Fishing them is equally simple . Both pros cast it out , count it down to a desired depth ( with both saying half the bites come as the bait is sinking and shimmying like a wacky rig ), and then very slowly reel it back . That ’ s it .
As such , both Bertrand and Serafin typecast the spybait for a time . Slowly but surely , though , small incidents happened that helped them realize there ’ s a lot more to the spybait that meets the eye .
For Serafin , it was he and a buddy crushing smallmouth along a rocky , chocolate-milk-colored shoreline . Bertrand began unlocking the secrets by tossing a spybait out of desperation to a school of ledge fish that wouldn ’ t eat anything else .
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