Advanced Spinnerbait Techniques

When bass feed voraciously, anyone can load a livewell by simply casting and steadily retrieving spinnerbaits—but top anglers know how to tempt inactive fish.

“A bass might spend less than 10 percent of its life actively feeding,” said Kevin VanDam, a three-time Bassmaster Classic champion from Kalamazoo, MI. “During the rest of the time, bass might strike targets of opportunity, but they are not actively looking to eat something. About 90 percent of the strikes I get are because I triggered an instinct. I want to tantalize that bass into thinking that something is wrong with a baitfish.”

Few things in nature run in a straight line. When fleeing predators, baitfish dart, weave and hide. Instead of expending precious energy chasing healthy baitfish, bass look for easier targets. Tempt them by putting more life—or more appropriately, more death—into a lure presentation.

“Often, just shaking the rod tip at the critical point will create a strike,” said Jimmy Houston, of Cookson, OK, host of the Jimmy Houston Outdoors television show. “Most good spinnerbait fishermen shake their rod tips when their lures pass through where they most anticipate strikes. A couple extra shakes in the rod tip changes the sound of the bait running through the water and makes it look like it bumped into something, and stunned itself.”

“One of the biggest mistakes people make is to throw a spinnerbait around the cover,” said George Cochran, a two-time Bassmaster Classic champion from Hot Springs, AR. “To consistently catch fish, trigger them into striking by learning how to work a spinnerbait inside the cover. Run it through and bounce it off objects. Stop it and start it. Shake the rod, making the bait look crippled. When I’m throwing a spinnerbait down a log, I keep it within inches of the log. I want the blade to tick the wood. The farther off the log the bait runs, the less chance a bass might bite.”

Most people consider spinnerbaits lures for shallow water, but anglers can also successfully tempt fish in water more than 30 feet deep with spinners. In deep water, anglers generally slow-roll baits along bottom contours or vertically jig them. Even with these methods, vary the retrieve to make baits stand out and cause more commotion.

“The key to slow rolling is keeping the bait coming over the top of some type of cover,” VanDam said. “When I bump something, I speed it up a little and then let it flutter. Slow rolling in deep water is just the same technique as bumping cover in shallow water, only slower. I like a single Colorado or willow-leaf blade for slow rolling. A willow-leaf blade goes a lot deeper because it has less water displacement, but it doesn’t have as much thump to it.”

In deep water, many anglers “yo-yo” or “helicopter” baits, although they can also employ this method to some extent in the shallows. Let the bait fall to the bottom. After it hits, pop the bait up several feet and let it fall again, like a yo-yo. As the bait falls, blades spin and flash, almost like helicopter rotors. Quite often, bass strike falling baits because they mimic dying baitfish.

Anglers can also “worm” a spinnerbait. After it hits bottom, raise it up a bit with the rod tip, just like working a Texas-rigged worm. Then, let it flutter back to the bottom. Keep repeating this method, working it slowly along a bottom contour until you reach its end—or until a bass engulfs it.

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