Getting the best from your Bassman Spinnerbaits
Tie the line direct to the link in the wire arm, using a uni-or half locked blood-knot. If using braid, double the line before tying the knot for added strength.
Practice a cast into the water and observe how the blades spin and vibrate according to different retrieve speeds. Often a slow retrieve, with the blades just spinning is successful, but varying the retrieve speed can induce strikes. Lower the rod tip to allow free-fall next to structure and along the face of weed-beds.
Clip the weeds and structure as you pass over it to induce strikes.
Double blades work shallower than single blades at the same retrieve speed.
Buzzbaits:after casting, kick reel into gears as spinner hits water and retrieve. Alter your retrieval rate, surge sometimes.
Please practice catch and release. Take only your immediate needs. Large fish are our breeding stock for future generations.
The ability to have the your personal ideas custom made by Bassman, within reason means that head weights and blade sizes can be altered from traditional configurations to a suitable combination for your most fished scenario. For instance upping the blade sizes to shallow up a retrieve in waters lacking depth.
For deeper presentations the Single WiIlow, Tandem and Double Willow combination of blades grab less water and therefore hold deeper during the retrieve. This is especially so if the head weight is increased from the norm.
Have an assortment of configurations on hand for when trial and error is needed to find an appropriate colour, depth and vibration for a certain situation.
Even though the normal rule of thumb is dirty water dark lure, clear water bright or fluro coloured lure, there are exceptions on different days for unknown reasons. If you are in a normally productive area and you haven’t seen any action think outside the square and experiment till a consistent pattern becomes obvious.
The addition of a stinger hook and soft plastic trailer have several benefits when trying to draw strikes from wary, easily accessed waters. Apart from holding the stinger hook perfectly aligned, the others are many. Firstly the soft plastic adds to the bulk of the lure slowing down the sink and retrieve rates and giving the fish an easy target to strike. Secondly the silhouette of the soft plastics from underneath adds that bit of realism when the blades have done their job and enticed the fish close enough to check it out thoroughly and see the plastic tail wriggling behind. Thirdly scent additives can be applied to the plastic without contaminating the rubber cottar on all spinnerbait skirts, which is eroded by the petroleum based plastics. Also the soft feel of the plastics in a fishes mouth has a sense of reality and increases the chance for that second strike. And finally, personal colour preference can be precisely adjusted to your exact requirements. For instance you can match a night glow trailer to a dark purple skirt for night time pursuits etc. etc.
5’10” to 6’6″ Graphite rods are a handy alteration to general schools of thought when using spinnerbaits, particularly when fishing from a boat. The longer rods mean that when a spinnerbait is being retrieved the subtle hand movements and spinnerbait control can be combined to have total contact and control with the lure at all times.
Braided line is almost a must when using spinnerbaits, as the direct feel and control heightens the anglers awareness and subtle taps and tastes from an inquisitive fish are relayed directly to the angler and the retrieve can be altered to entice a strike.
At times a shallow retrieve is necessary to either negotiate structure and snags or present a lure in a shallow water situation such as as weedbeds. If you don’t have a specifically designed surface lure such as a Buzzbait the next best thing is to use a double Colarado spinnerbait. The technique is to cast the lure to the desired position and as the lure touches down hold the rod tip high. Immediately commence a relatively brisk retrieve so as to create a bow wave pulsing the rod tip wall allow the angler to hear the blades break the surface. If this happens slow the retrieve down so the spinnerbait is just below the surface film. I commonly refer to this technique as “bulging” due to the pressure wave bulging the surface film of the water.
Even though spinnerbaits were originally designed to be tied onto a leader with a direct blood knot or uni knot, I find it better to use a split ring slid over the neck of the spinnerbait and then a speed clip such as the Halco Crosslock to connect the spinnerbait. The ability to change spinnerbaits in a couple of seconds without using up leader material is one great advantage. Having this connection also means the lure can be hopped over structure as the loose loop gives a hinging effect. Struggling imitations can be produced with subtle twitches of the rod rip so that the spinnerbait can be made to kind of leapfrog through the water and produce even more action through the lure.
Hang any spinnerbait up to dry after shaking off water as any remaining moisture can leave microscopic rust spots inside the swivel and this will stop the blades swimming at the extremely slow speeds that are sometimes needed to induce a strike from spooky fish.
Learn to cast the lure gently onto the surface of the water as super charged casts can spook fish that are close to the lures landing spot.
If the lure is felt to contact some form of structure, hop the lure over with a twitch of the rod tip and allow it to sink vertically beside the obstacle. Many fish are just waiting for something to flutter past their nose, but will not venture too far from home to strike on many occasions.
As a general rule brass blades are usually more successful in water containing suspended sediment and are fairly dirty. Clear water demands reflection from a spinnerbait most times and again this is only a general rule of thumb, but has a consistent record.
Lastly, make every retrieve count. Bass, Cod, Goldens etc. have a maximum of around 6 to 8 feet attention span and if you retrieve every cast as though you think a fish may be following you’ll be amazed at how many extra strikes you get. Subtle twitches, speed up and slow down retrieves and anything in between should be tried, every time you venture forth to have a crack at ’em. They can sometimes change their preference from one hour to the next.
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