What is a spinnerbait? That's an easy question to answer, but the history behind this lure is surprisingly extensive.

The earliest spinnerbait was designed in 1951. It featured a wire frame bent at a 90-degree angle, with one or more blades attached to the upper arm and a bullet-, round-, or minnow-shaped lead head attached to the lower arm, typically dressed with a rubber skirt.

Since the inception of the bait, there have been countless adaptations and refinements. In this guide, we'll look at some of the most common spinnerbait designs, where they perform best, why they work, and what rod and reel combinations are best suited for different spinnerbait presentations.

Spinnerbaits for Bass: Common Sizes and Models

Spinnerbaits come in a wide variety of sizes and configurations, ranging from 1/8 oz to 2 oz models.

The most popular sizes are 3/8 oz and 1/2 oz spinnerbaits featuring tandem blade configurations.

A quick Google search for spinnerbaits can easily send you down a rabbit hole for hours. Rather than getting lost in endless product listings, I'll share a few lessons that have helped me over the past 40 years and may help you become more effective with spinnerbaits as well.

Spinnerbait Blade Types and Their Uses

Spinnerbait blades are designed to perform several different functions:

• Create flash and vibration
• Provide lift
• Help maintain depth in the water column

Spinnerbait Blade Comparison Chart

The various blade options can seem confusing at first, but they don't have to be.Willow leaf blades work exceptionally well around vegetation and in open water situations. They create substantial flash while helping keep the spinnerbait lower in the water column.

Colorado, Indiana, and Oklahoma blades generate excellent vibration and lift, although they are more prone to collecting vegetation when retrieved through heavy cover.

These blade styles can also be retrieved just below the surface at higher speeds to create a bulge or wake that attracts bass from deeper water or pulls fish out of heavy vegetation.

How to Work a Spinnerbait: Rod, Reel, and Presentation Tips

Understanding how to work a spinnerbait effectively often comes down to selecting the right blade combination and matching it with the proper rod and reel setup.For most summertime bass fishing situations, tandem blade spinnerbaits are hard to beat. Tandem willow leaf spinnerbaits and Colorado-willow combinations are both highly productive options.

The tandem willow leaf setup produces maximum flash and works extremely well when paired with a medium rod, a 6.4:1 gear ratio reel, and 15 lb line. This combination provides excellent casting distance while helping maintain lure depth throughout the retrieve.

Single willow leaf spinnerbaits are another excellent option when targeting deeper water. The same rod and reel combination performs well for this application.

The key to deep-water spinnerbait fishing is keeping the lure in the strike zone, which often means maintaining the bait within a foot of the bottom.

To accomplish this, remember three important factors:

1. Line diameter
2. Lure weight
3. Retrieve speed

Larger diameter line creates more water displacement and therefore more lift. This is one reason braid and fluorocarbon often perform better in deep-water spinnerbait applications.

Retrieve speed is equally important. It's far easier to keep a 3/4 oz or 1 oz spinnerbait in the strike zone than a lightweight 1/4 oz model. As depth increases, heavier spinnerbaits allow anglers to maintain a retrieve speed that remains appealing to bass while still staying near the bottom.

I've also experienced days where switching from a 6.4:1 reel to a slower 5.4:1 gear ratio baitcaster generated noticeably more bites. Don't be afraid to experiment until you find the retrieve speed fish prefer.

Colorado Blade Spinnerbait Fishing Tips

A Colorado blade spinnerbait excels during low-light periods, nighttime fishing, and stained or dirty water conditions.

The large rounded blade produces a distinct thumping vibration that bass can easily detect and track, even when visibility is limited.

For most Colorado blade spinnerbait applications, a 6.5:1 gear ratio reel works extremely well.

Three productive retrieves include:

• Steady retrieve
• Stop-and-go retrieve
• Lift-and-drop (yo-yo) retrieve

Another highly effective technique is waking a Colorado blade spinnerbait just beneath the surface to create a bulge or wake.

For this presentation, a faster gear ratio reel such as the KastKing MegaJaws Elite Baitcaster 9.1:1 is an outstanding choice.

If you don't want to dedicate a high-speed reel solely to waking spinnerbaits, another option is increasing line diameter. Anglers who normally fish 15 lb or 17 lb line can switch to 20 lb or 25 lb line. The larger diameter increases lift and helps keep the bait running higher in the water column.

Naturally, you'll still need to retrieve the bait slightly faster, but the increased line diameter can significantly improve wake-style presentations.

Most Versatile Spinnerbait Blade Combinations for Bass

One of the most versatile blade combinations is a tandem Colorado and Indiana blade or a tandem Colorado and Oklahoma blade setup.

The Colorado blade is usually slightly smaller and provides strong vibration and flash. In stained water, many anglers choose painted blades, particularly fluorescent orange or red, to increase visibility and create additional contrast.

Under the right conditions, these contrasting blade colors can produce outstanding results.

I spend a lot of time targeting smallmouth bass in the Northeast, and burning painted tandem blade spinnerbaits across shallow rock rubble flats can trigger some truly bone-jarring strikes.

Cold Water Spinnerbaits for Bass Fishing

Most of what we've discussed so far focuses on summertime bass fishing with water temperatures ranging from 60°F to 80°F.

However, spinnerbaits can be equally effective in cold-water conditions.In my experience, once water temperatures fall into the mid-50s, low-50s, and even high-40s, spinnerbaits become one of the most productive reaction baits available.

Cooling water temperatures signal the approach of winter. As baitfish begin migrating into the backs of coves and feeder creeks, predator fish follow closely behind.

After the first significant cold front of fall, I often begin throwing a Buckeye Lures 3/4 oz Select Series tandem spinnerbait and focus on the 15- to 20-foot depth zone located near the mouths of coves and feeder creeks.

Specifically, I target the areas where deeper water gradually transitions into shallow flats.

There is typically a two- to three-week window during this seasonal migration when the deep-water spinnerbait bite can be absolutely phenomenal.

When fall water temperatures begin dropping, don't overlook the spinnerbait. It remains one of the most effective and versatile multi-species lures available for covering water and locating actively feeding fish.

FAQ：What is the best trailer for a spinnerbait?

Adding a soft plastic trailer can increase a spinnerbait's profile, add action, and help slow the lure's fall rate. Paddle-tail swimbaits, split-tail trailers, and curly-tail grubs are among the most popular options.

Swimbait trailers create a realistic baitfish profile, while split-tail and grub trailers add lift and extra movement. Many anglers use trailers when targeting larger bass, fishing colder water, or matching larger forage.

FAQ：Should you use a trailer hook on a spinnerbait?

A trailer hook can improve hook-up ratios when bass are short-striking a spinnerbait and missing the main hook.

Trailer hooks are especially effective in open water, around rock, and during cold-front or post-spawn conditions when bass often swipe at the bait without fully committing. However, when fishing heavy grass, wood, laydowns, or brush, many anglers remove the trailer hook to reduce snags and maintain the spinnerbait's weedless performance.

As a general rule, use a trailer hook when maximizing hook-up percentage is more important than fishing through heavy cover.

About the Author

Captain Burnie Haney is owner/operator of New York Fishing Adventures, Army veteran and retired Sergeant Major with a 38-year military career. A tournament bass angler since 1992, he has won five Angler of the Year titles, set the NYTBF five-fish weight record, and qualified for two National Championships. Burnie holds two International Game Fish Association (IGFA) New York State line class records (walleye and smallmouth bass) and the IGFA All Tackle Length World Record for Chain Pickerel. He is a lifetime member of B.A.S.S. and member of the New York State Outdoor Writers' Association. Haney was inducted into the New York State Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame in 2017. Today, Burnie focuses on multi-species seasonal fishing adventures.