“ There ’ s no wrong time to fish a spinnerbait . It ’ s that versatile . By changing weights , blade sizes , colors , and retrieve speeds , you can catch bass any time of year in any water .” where
Spinnerbaits are a viable choice just about anywhere you can use any other lure . You can ’ t punch one through heavy vegetation , and it may not be the most efficient choice in extremely deep water where you need to fish vertically , but almost everywhere else , a spinnerbait will work . You just have to figure out the right model and presentation for the conditions .
Spinnerbaits really excel around wood and vegetation because they come through cover well and don ’ t get hung up easily . Those are places where bass feed and live . If you can put your lure in those spots , hang on .
Very few lures cover water as quickly or as well as a spinnerbait . If fish are shallow and even a little bit aggressive , the spinnerbait is often the best choice .
ILLUSTRATION BY JOE MAHLER tackle
My go-to line for most spinnerbait fishing is 14- or 15- pound-test copolymer or monofilament . I know that sounds strange in these days of fluorocarbon and braid , but for me , fluorocarbon is just too stiff and doesn ’ t cast as well as copolymer or monofilament lines . I ’ ll gladly put up with a little stretch if it means I can be more accurate with my casts . In extremely heavy cover , I ’ ll bump up my line size to 20-pound test .
My spinnerbait rod is a 6-foot-9 medium-heavy Hi-Tech Jimmy Houston Blaze Pro DX casting model . It ’ s short enough that I can make super-accurate underhanded roll casts tight to cover , but long enough that I can make a long cast when I need to .
I pair up the rod and line with a Team Lew ’ s Pro-Ti SLP Series casting reel . It has a 7.5:1 gear ratio that ’ s really versatile . The 7.5:1 is ideal for how I fish a spinnerbait .
One key with the reel is making sure that it ’ s fully spooled with line . Your gear ratio doesn ’ t mean a lot if your spool is only half full . It also cuts down on your casting distance if the spool is not full . I see a lot of anglers with reels that are not properly spooled , and it ’ s costing them performance on the water .
lures
My favorite all-around spinnerbait is the Jimmy Houston Redman Spinnerbait from Luck-E-Strike . It ’ s the same spinnerbait I was making in the late 1960s and early 1970s . Back then , I was manufacturing it and selling it in Walmart . I negotiated those deals with Sam Walton himself . When it got so popular that I couldn ’ t keep up with demand , I sold the design and earned a royalty on the baits .
The Redman spinnerbait is a 3 / 8-ounce short-arm singlespin , and it has a unique vibration . It has a living rubber skirt instead of a silicone skirt , so the colors are more muted and subtle . It comes in eight colors and has a No . 4 1 / 2 Colorado blade . It ’ s a retro bait that still catches bass . In fact , since it was off the market for so long , it ’ s like nothing the bass have seen in more than 40 years , so no living fish have had a chance to become conditioned to it like they may have become conditioned to other lures .
The Redman spinnerbait only comes in one size – 3 / 8- ounce – but I believe it ’ s the most versatile size possible . It ’ s still made from the very same mold that I created over 50 years ago .
Back in the mid 2000s , the spinnerbait lost some of its popularity when the bladed jig came along , and as squarebill crankbaits grew in popularity . Even before that , tandem blades had replaced single blades for most anglers , but bass never stopped eating single-blade spinnerbaits , and the single spin is the most versatile spinnerbait there is . You can fish it fast or slow . You can bulge it just under the surface or crawl it along the bottom . You can lift and drop it like a jig , and you can kill it near cover so that that blade will “ helicopter ” down . It ’ s probably the most versatile lure there is , and it ’ s certainly under-fished these days .
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2022 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 55