masterS series
When I want more lift from my spinnerbait , I ’ ll switch to a tandem bladed model like the Luck-E-Strike Jimmy Houston Legend Spinnerbait . It comes in two sizes ( 3 / 8 and 1 / 2 ounce ) and four colors . It ’ s often the right choice when bass are aggressive and want a fast-moving bait near the surface .
basics
Part of the beauty of the spinnerbait is that there ’ s really no wrong way to fish it . You have to let the bass tell you how they want it , not just every day on the water , but every hour on the water , and you have to be aware of how conditions may be changing over the course of the day .
Spinnerbaits are at their best when fished around cover , so I like to make casts that will put my lure in and around cover like stumps , brush , grass or rocks . A lot of times , close just isn ’ t good enough . You need your spinnerbait to bump into cover and ricochet off . That will often trigger a strike from a bass that would otherwise ignore it .
Another good retrieve involves bringing the bait up to a stump or a hole in the grass and “ killing ” it so that the lure falls right next to the cover . You want it to fall straight down , and you need to watch your line . If it jumps or moves to one side , set the hook !
Those kinds of directional changes – ricochets and drops – are a big key to successful spinnerbait fishing , but also to just about any other kind of bass fishing . They trigger strikes . A bass can be a really curious creature . If your bait is nearby , the bass knows it . And when it does something out of the ordinary – like change direction – the bass ’ only way to react is to get out of the way or take it in its mouth . Because a spinnerbait is so effective at triggering strikes , you ’ re not just relying on the bass ’ need to feed to catch them . You ’ re also able to get a reaction strike , and that really increases your productivity .
A lot of times I ’ ll fish a spinnerbait just within or just out of sight . That ’ s often the right depth , and it depends almost entirely on the color of the water and light conditions .
But I ’ m also watching weather conditions as I ’ m fishing . If the wind starts to blow or it gets cloudy and dark , that can be a cue that bass are going to start feeding more aggressively . I ’ ll pick up the pace and start to fish faster . Usually , it gets me more bites , but if it doesn ’ t , I can always go back to what was working .
bonus
Back in the early 1960s , when I was in high school , an event called the World Series of Sportfishing came to Oklahoma where I lived , and I got to fish with some of the legends of that time – Virgil Ward , Glen Andrews , Jim Rogers . They were the best anglers of their era , and I learned a lot from them . At the time , I was fishing with Zebco push-button reels , and they were using conventional baitcasters . I was amazed at how well they could cast – much better than me . So , I made it my goal to fix that .
There are few shortcuts in fishing . You can get advice on where to fish and what to throw , but there ’ s no shortcut or substitute for casting ability . If you can ’ t put a lure where it needs to be , you won ’ t catch that fish , and the angler who can put his or her lure in the right place time after time is going to out-fish the angler who can ’ t .
You don ’ t have to be on the water to work on your casting . You can do that in your backyard or an open field or most anywhere else . Don ’ t be satisfied with hitting your target half the time or even most of the time . Work at it until you hit the target every time … or almost every time . It ’ ll make you a better angler , and it will definitely make you a better spinnerbait angler .
56 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2022