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FRESHWATER
BY TOM MELTON
An assortment of sizes and
colors will increase your
chances when searching for
largemouths or smallies.
Long Island’s
Small Pond Bass at
TheFisherman.com
THE
ALMOST
FORGOTTEN
SPINNERBAIT
O
ne of the first lures I ever tossed for largemouths was a spinnerbait. It was back in the
early 70s at Blydenburgh Lake with an ice
hockey friend of mine, John Spampinato. He
was throwing a purple jelly worm, and I would not change
for anything. I liked the speed I could fish, plus the coverage area due to longer casts. He out-fished me ten to one
that day if I remember correctly, and topped his score with
a four-plus pounder.
To this day, one of the first lures I use is a spinnerbait,
albeit nowhere near as much as I used to. I would stay
with a spinnerbait for hours, casting, changing colors,
different blade configurations and retrieve speeds. I
have caught a lot of largemouths on spinnerbaits, and
in fact, my largest ever was a brute of 24-1/2 inches on
a chartreuse 1/4-ounce spinnerbait in Hards Lake, inside
Southaven Park.
Over the years, and even on the local and professional
circuit, the spinnerbait has become a secondary tool for
many bass anglers. Soft plastics, lipless cranks, chatterbaits, jigs and other lures seem to be getting the nod more
frequently than the old reliable spinnerbait.
GREAT SEARCH BAIT
What always impressed me about spinnerbaits was
their ability, or the angler’s ability, to search out various
types of structure and fish-holding hotspots. You could
cast a spinnerbait into the lily pads and allow it to bounce
off the stems, often resulting in a vicious strike. The Fisherman senior editor Fred Golofaro regularly uses this method every year to score bass to five pounds from small Long
Island ponds. You can also slow-roll it along the bottom,
almost dragging it in search of a hole, or rock. One of my
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favorite methods was to bang it off timber. I would cast a
spinnerbait, then allow it to bang and change direction off
anything it would come into contact with. Sure, I hung up
a lot of spinnerbaits, but I also caught a lot of fish.
There is no secret that I am a Kevin VanDam (KVD)
fan. This came partly due to his ability to catch fish, but
I have also had the pleasure of riding with him in several
BASS Classics, and was able to fish with him in the Finger
Lakes, thanks to a Mustad outing. He is a power angler to
say the least, and the spinnerbait falls right into this category. I remember one of the earlier trips with him and
he had to make over 100 casts in an hour, using a white
willow leaf spinnerbait in and around docks, lily pads and
blow-downs. The one thing I remembered most was his
retrieve. He would move his rod to force the spinnerbait
to hit objects, but more importantly, change the direction
of the retrieve. Think about it, a baitfish does not swim in
a straight line, so why are you retrieving your spinnerbait
in a straight line?
COLORS AND BLADES
As far as colors go, you cannot go wrong with chartreuse
or white. I have had more fish on these two colors than all
others combined. If you fish after dark, black is a very good
choice and is very effective on new moon nights.
Blade configuration is another option. I strictly use
Colorado or willow leaf blades. They are my choice, and
have proved faithful over the years. For clearer water,
I like the willow as it gives a nice, tight profile similar to
a fleeing baitfish, and the flash needed for attraction. In
darker, weed-covered bodies, I opt for the Colorado blade.
This blade will emit a louder (vibration) sound that bass
can home into when visibility is poor. The Colorado is also
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a great blade in deeper bodies of
water where you want to allow the
spinnerbait to slowly sink to the bottom. The spiraling effect and thump
of the blades works great on Lake
Ronkonkoma, Laurel Lake and Fort
Pond in Montauk.
Spinnerbaits come in a wide array
of sizes, but for the most part, I opt
for the ¼- to 3/8-ounce models. I feel
for our local waters, they fit the bill
nicely in mimicking baitfish profiles.
Lighter models like the 1/8-ounce
pond magic by Booyah works well in
shallower bodies of water, especially
in the spring/early summer when
bait is smaller.
Loomis SJR 842 matched to a Daiwa
2500 SH. Although the G. Loomis is
rated for 10-17 pounds, it handles
lighter lures fine due to its fast taper.
Where lines are concerned, if I
am fishing a relatively clear body of
water, fluorocarbon line in ten- to
12-pound-test is my choice. If I am
going to be banging off rocks, lily
pad stems or timber, then I prefer
Sufix Braid in 20-pound-test, with a
ten-foot length of fluorocarbon in
12-pound-test. For really clear water
like some of the Finger Lakes, lighter
line of six- to eight-pound-test is a
better fit. The lighter line is less visible, allows for longer casts with
lighter lures, and does not alter the
spinnerbait’s “look” on the retrieve.
Most bass anglers include spinnerbaits in their arsenal, and some
still rely heavily on them. Make sure
you take along a few on your next
outing and give old reliable a shot.
Remember, it was not that long ago
that spinnerbaits were the go-to bait
for most any condition. There was a reason for it then, and
there is a reason for it now. Very simply, they catch fish.
Isa Muqattash used a white/blue
Colorado bladed spinnerbait for this
chunky two-plus-pounder.
TACKLE
For the business end of the spinnerbait, I prefer baitcasting gear,
with the Daiwa Ballistic 100HS and
Abu-Garcia Vendetta VTC70-5 rod
my personal choices. If I feel the
need to go with very light line, or
light spinnerbaits, ¼-ounce or less, then spinning gear
is better suited to the task. For spinning gear I like the G.
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