Spinner Bait Confidence

Having trouble getting bit on your spinner baits? There are some techniques that will turn this around in a hurry. The key is to fish different blades and skirts than everyone else is using. As I stayed with the old school baits and watch the trend move into a different direction my bite kept getting better. Spinners still produce bass after bass for those who know when, where and how to fish them. We just have to adapt to these subtle changes that have changed the spinner bait bite over the years.

There's no doubt that bass are a lot smarter today than they were just a decade ago. It takes more to convince them that the lure is alive, and slinging the same chartreuse/white tandem Colorado/willow leaf spinner bait where you slung it with great success a few years ago won't even earn you a sniff today. It is also no secret that big Bass bite big baits; but you will suffer the number of bites. This doesn't mean I am going to stop fishing the larger profile spinners for I have caught my share of big fish and they are old school baits which is plenty different from today's big baits.

Some Tips:
- Simply down size by removing the smaller blade. This changes the sound and vibration. It becomes a very realistic bait fish.
- Bass have become accustom to the beautiful Silicone skirts. Change over to Living Rubber. It has a completely different appeal as it pulsates and ripples through the water. Just cutting the full-length skirt down to just behind the hook will produce more bites and become obvious.
- With the skirt cut back the experimenting becomes crustal with the trailers. It is not likely that you will find these but my choice is the Stanley Pro Trailer.
- I rarely cast a spinner bait out and reel it straight back. I am constantly making subtle changes in each retrieves to make the lures do different things. Some of these are Stop-N-Go for just one second and resume. Use your rod to steer the bait into and around cover. Strike the cove and kill the bait. Keep the spinner bait in sight 98% on every cast. Let the bait flutter down beside the deeper cover.
- High water over the years has killed out the grass; so some changes are needed. Hit your target. Put that spinner bait in the right spots. No grass means they are using what they have and are not roaming for us to fan fish like it use to be. Bump the stump so to speak, let it die, speed it up, stop and go, burn it through a bush, kill it in the bush; using every trick in the book.

It's common knowledge that big baits catch big bass, but not as many bites. Struggling anglers who no longer have a spinner bait tied on need to get some bites to get their spinner bait confidence back up. The best way to do that is to fish a smaller bait. Step it down to a 1/4 oz. and still make the changes. You can step it back up when the cover is heaver with grass.

All these spinner bait tips are offered to help you improve your spinner bait bite, but you want improve if you don't use them. It's easy to go back into the same old rut with the plastics, and that's going to keep you wondering about what happened to the spinner bait bite.

Good read, thanks. I have never given up on them but do not fish them as often as I probably should. Had fair luck ditching the skirt all together and putting on a boot tail swim bait.

Where is Jason Christie getting the old style flat rubber skirts? Wish I could get ahold of some... Dan

Very nice read.

And I have bags of Stanley pro trailers, its the small accessories that I'm running out of.

In my experience the Stanley pro trailers work well in pre-spawn. other times of the year I do not see an increase in bites.

http://www.tacklethisshootthat.com/ttst/...amp;x=7&y=4

http://lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Pro-Skirts/Premium-Pro-Skirt.html

Great info for us newbies

Very good info Mr Harper!


Clunn prob did a lot to sell a lot of spinnerbaits in the near future

This is the type of things I look for when working Old School baits. This is where Clunn got started with the one he makes and or endorses now. The Trickster spinner baits with the Long Drop blades with Luck-E-Strike

This is another great little spinner bait that made the history books when Don Butler won on Percy Priest Reservoir in 1972 and repeated in many other bass tournaments with it.

Spinnerbaits were 6 dollars a pop even back then? Or was that like the LC of spinnerbaits?

Excellent post Mr. Harper. I'm one of those guys who has almost forgotten spinner baits, and will throw a chatter bait instead. I've seen several pros using spinner baits on the Major League Fishing show with good success. And Jimmy Houston is still devoted to them and likes to keep the bait near the surface as you suggested. I threw H&H spinner baits back in the 50's and caught a lot of bass. Thinking I need to rebuild some spinner bait confidence. Thanks for the specific tips.

Most of the good ones were $2.50 and the H&H spinner baits were .39 cents for a single blade and .49 cents for a tandem blade, both available in the willow leaf and Colorado blades with colors, chartreuse, yellow, white and yellow and black. Could be found at the local Gibson's

That was my first thought as well, read the fine print and it is actually $5.95 for 4 SB's, 4 trailers, 4 trailer hooks and some other misc. garbage.

I have some of the old Weed Waders as well as the Don Butler S.O.B.'s here at the house still NIP. Great SBs.

Another great spinner thrown by Bobby Murray in 1971.
Key Lure: Zorro Aggravator (spinnerbait)
Site: Lake Mead, Las Vegas, NV
Winner: Bobby Murray, Hot Springs, AR
Color: White with tandem blades
Weight: 1⁄4 ounce
Method: Murray ran from cove to cove, making long casts and bringing the spinner bait past any brush in the cuts. He caught most fish in about 2 ft..



Good read here about Stan Sloan's Zorro Bait Co.
http://bassfishingarchives.com/retro-ads/zorro-1977

Really great tips. I used to throw spinner baits a lot but the less I throw them the less confidence I have which makes sense.

Thanks for sharing. Time to dust them off

They still sell H&H Spinnerbaits at Bass Pro Shops. I still use them from time to time.

H&Hs still catch fish! Have a buddy that I fish with who will sometimes beat me badly using one. I will go to a single bladed white or black one when things get tough.

Some Old School blades that have won many tournaments just because they are a little different.

Deep Cup Hammered Colo. - Mag. Hammered Colo. - Royal Fluted - Willow Fluted - Wide Willow

- Drop Indiana Fluted - Mag. French Hammered - Diamond Willow/Rattle - Serrated Diamond Quivver - Chopper Hammered

- Doc. Shelton Hammered - Chopper Smooth - Wide Willow Hammered.

Spinnerbaits are out of date honestly it's a old man baits that can't fish fast...

It is out of date according to the research and has become a lost art in fishing. As far as fishing fast it one of the fastest locators that one can throw; then this old man really slows down. It is not so much about the bait as it is about getting in the right spot. When you accomplish this then they can be caught on many baits.

Apparently, a lot of bass haven't got the memo about it being out of date.

Yeah I have heard all of those stories about how spinner baits are out of date but like Donald is trying to tell you if you use the right one it will catch more fish than anything in your tackle box. The spinners I like are from the 70's made by a guy in Mineral Wells named Bob Murphy. Bob is dead now but I still have several of his spinner baits and they still catch fish. They are different in that they are short arm style and have a Indiana blade and a Colorado blade combo. Oh yeah you can fish these as fast as you can reel. These originally came with the flat rubber skirts but all of mine have come apart so I put on the round rubber type. I used every spinner bait that Donald has listed and these caught more bass for me that any of the others. Mike you could buy any spinner bait on the market for less than $2 back in the 70's until Clunn won the Classic with the Fleck. The H & H Donald has pics of were .39 cents.

Super machinist, those are some beautiful spinners. They really look stout. Thanks for sharing.

Some years back, I bought 150 Small Okie Bugs without spinners, just the lead head, hook and wire. Also have about the same number of blades that are stamped SOB. I found them on ebay, sold by the original owners son. I am a died in the wool spinnerbait fisherman from way back, so these were like gold to me.
Also for the guy that says you can't fish them fast, try a 1 oz spinnerbait with small willow leaf blade. (about the size you'd find on a 1/4 oz) No more versatile lure exists than a spinnerbait.

Built a NEW old spinner bait today. Who can tell me what the knockoff was from??

Are you talking about the arm of the lure? If so, looks like a Bill Dees SOB.

No. Not Bill's; but there were not many with the bent arm. The new one on the market today still has that same arm.

When I first saw the title of this post I read it as Spinner Bait Conference lol.

I mean, I would totally go to a spinner bait conference.

I can certainly try to make that happen. Sense it is your thought and Idea; I will need your help. Please run a pole to see how much interest you can generate. It will cost some bucks but I believe BPS would bring in there Pro's to give it with enough interest along with a small fee to get in. They don't seem to want to do things for free any more. The tank there would be a great place to view the action and techniques presented.

Great post, thank you. I love spinnerbaits. People seem to dismiss them pretty quickly. Makes me laugh inside. I caught some of my biggest bass on a spinnerbait. This is some good info, and I look forward to applying it. Thanks again.

A spinnerbait is one of my least favorite things to throw, but when they are eating it, I sure don't mind feeding it to them. These 2 fish were caught on texoma back to back trips on a custom built spinnerbait.
Okie blade combination.

Build these 1/4 oz. Confidence Builders for my Daughter. She wanted the flashy sissy silicone skirts; so I did it. In many aspects it will represent the bait fish better.

Tandem Spins:


Single Spins:

Good read!!

I agree, Mr. Harper.

I don't buy $10 spinnerbaits. I buy cheaper baits in bulk and then start the customization process.
Swivels, blades and my own skirts go on them to create baits that fish are not wary of but will readily attack.

A spinnerbait is one of, if not the most versatile lures ever created.
Bass love 'em, even real big bass.

Thanks for the post.

thats funny I caught 20+ on a spinner bait 2 years ago anywhere from 2-5lbs. I have some 1oz spinnerbaits with huge blades that I jig up and down that work well.

I love seeing good pictures of these old spinner baits that the early pro's won these tournaments on. Ricky Green won several times on the Vibra Queen by Cordell. If anyone has pictures of any of them please post. If have them in your collection please post them up. They are the greatest and we need to see them.

This one is not very good:
http://www.ebay.it/itm/VINTAGE-COTTON-CO...D-/252106738573

in all your photos i only see one "leg" of the pro trailer are you conserving your stock and using them a single trailer.

do you know anyone that has the rattles.

Mr. Harper-most of the posts on this thread are dealing with changing blades, skirts, etc. If you can, please give us your views on the thickness of the arm of the lure. Almost 30 yrs. ago, I bought some Stanley Vibra-Shaft spinnerbaits and was amazed at how much more vibration the lure had and how many more fish I caught on it. But every once in a while, they wouldn't hit the Vibra-Shaft. Years after I began to fish them, I discovered that many days when the bite was slow or non-existent that I could change to a 3/16 oz. Strike King which not only downsized the profile of the lure but had a stiffer wire and could catch fish on it when the lighter wired shaft couldn't buy a bite. Your thoughts on when to fish different lures with different wire thickness.

And another question-is there ever a time when you fish the old type swivels instead of the Sampo type ball bearing swivels? There are a lot of people here that like the old swivels for river fishing on the Red and Ouachita Rivers. I know because of the ones on here who have posted the old H & H that some still use them. But again, what are your thoughts on when to use the old type swivels?

Good job Donald.
When I first tried to learn them I must have thrown them three days straight, all day, without a bump. As you can guess, I had zero confidence, but heard how great they could be. I finally went to a catch and release lake that had more fish, and a friend also gave me advice I fished with. He had me hitting trees and letting it sink (they were in 8 to 12' or so, not far from deeper water). They would hit on the sink. You had to have contact with the bait so you knew you got hit. Also, I was throwing braid, and I could feel them hit it once or twice on straight retrieves, kinda nudging it to see if was real?, and then I'd get them seconds later. So much fun. They've even hit while I got out a backlash and it sat on the bottom! Bass are strange! I think the 2 pounder size will always hit, no matter what the style, they have not learned yet.

Lately it's a buzzbait bite, similar bait worked a bit higher huh? And they are funny too. I've pulled them over laydowns, decided to let it fall a bit and work it like a spinnerbait just because it 'seemed right', and got them that way too. (Guess that's how you know your getting it down, when you think out of the box on your own and it works). It's all so fun really.

Keep up the good work buddy, nice of you to share so much of your knowledge with everyone.

On all my large spinners I run the full Stanley Pro Trailer. On these small 1/4 oz. they are too long and wide to run a full trailer. Again small is about down sizing; so half is plenty to give it just the right amount of kick.

I have thrown and modified the Hank Parker Classic ever sense I got my hand on the prototypes back in 72. It has the lightest wire of all and gives off the best vibration. This just makes for a very expensive spinner bait as it cost $8 with tax; then I put $7 into customizing the bait. I have thrown this bait my whole fishing life. I have tried many of the others and had some success but never did much on the Stanley. Bill Dance and Charles Spence was selling out of their garage in Memphis in the early 70's. I was born and raised in West Tenn.; so we went there often. Most all of his early baits were .035 wire with a decent long arm. I still have the prototypes he gave me and caught many good Bass on them. I loved the flat minnow head and scale pattern they were using.

Those old school swivels are good for the small cheap baits. I have not had one to fail but just used them in small lakes. I truly believe if I had been banging it out on the Tenn. River rock and Buck Ball Bushes with that swivel that it would fail me in some way. They were thin wall and just couldn't take a lick which would cause it to fail. Over the years I have had a couple to come apart in my hand as I was removing it from a bait to put on the ball bearing swivel. I never could bring my self to trust them in a tournament.

P-L-T= Success or something like that was Al Linder's formula. Presentation, Location and Technique equals Success. The arms make a lot of difference in both presentation and technique; yes, there will be times that they want the stiff arm. I use these more on deep water baits and the Short Arm Spinner bait that I bought from Jackson Lure Company (Little Jewel) which was the best in my book. Family still runs it but many of Billy Phillips's old baits are not produced any more including the Short arm and Do-Drop-In. My deck was covered back in those days with 12 spinner baits for each technique and presentation I wanted to throw that day. You are right there were at least 3 different wire sizes involved.

When you have spinner bait fishing down pat and run out of fish; I do not believe it is the bait. It is the location.

Thanks Michael. You are doing it exactly right; just put these down size baits in your arsinel for tough summer time fishing or the deep water spinner to get down on structure and keep after it. More fish is good. This is why Mexico is such a great place to test everything from baits to scent. In half a day on Lake Oviachic I absolutely know if something will work or not here in the states. Moving that possible catch ratio toward 100 fish per day is a must for a testing ground.

I have a buzz bait called the Hydrilla Gorilla made on Lake Amistad back in the late 70's and marketed in the 80's. I have had this bait recast and putting it back to work. In my book there is none better. Let me know if you need one.

Wishing everyone safe and productive fishing over the 4th. holidays. Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts on the entire thread.

Just put together what I had; but other blade options could be:
- Red Blade Blue Star
- White Blade Blue Star
Don't know why the head looks yellow; as you can see the hook keeper is RED and so is the head.

The Patriot:

STARS AND BARS BABY! GOD BLESS AMERICA & GOD BLESS THE FISHERMAN.

As far as a corporate level event, I can tell you that it probably won't happen. BPS has almost 100 stores and the logistics would be tough.

As far as a local level tank demo, I can tell you that we can support that 100 percent. In fact, I can tell you right now, publicly, that if you want to come in and do a tank demo at the Grapevine location, I can absolutely make that happen. Send me a pm and we can go from there.

We can promote here (on our awesome forum ran by Texas folks, for Texas folks). We could set it up for peak hours on Saturday, and pretty much do whatever we wanted.

I know a guy.