10 Quick Tips To Become A Deep Water Spinnerbait Master

The Carolina rig of spinnerbaits, heavy ¾ - 1oz baits are intended to go where most other baits can’t, and produce bass around heavy cover when others won’t. 1.Count your bait down Use your electronics to determine the depth or cover bass are holding around and either count your bait down (measure the rate of fall) or let the bait hit the bottom. To start up the blades pop the rod tip and then begin a slow, methodical retrieve. 2.Slow Down The beauty of a deep running spinnerbait is how it slowly navigates its way around; to keep the bait in the zone for longer periods similar to a crankbait opt for a 5.4:1 or 5.1:1 retrieve ratio reel and let it do all of the work. 3.Add a Trailer To combat low visibility in stained to dirty water add a grub or swimbait trailer. The trailer will eliminate short strikes and increase the profile of the bait. When rigging a trailer test the bait out in the shallows to ensure it runs straight and doesn’t offset the balance of the bait. 4.What blades to use? Indiana blades are widely considered the all purpose blade for deep spinnerbait applications, but when bass are actively targeting baitfish you just can’t beat a tandem Willow Leaf spinnerbait, such as a big gold (size 5) combined with a smaller silver (size 3.5) blade. The big blades tend to cause quite a bit of lift but when retrieved with the blades barely ticking over cover you can keep the bait in the strike zone for almost half of the retrieve. 5.Two Blades are better than one When fishing brush or deep grass you always want one of the two blades turning, specifically when the bait runs into cover and deflects causing the bigger bottom blade to pause for a second. If you are getting bites close to the boat it generally indicates that a change of direction was the trigger. 6.Pay attention to when the bite occurs The same principles used in swimbait fishing apply when you are slow rolling a big spinnerbait - and it pays to pay attention! If you are getting bites close to the boat it generally indicates that a change of direction was the trigger as the bait veered upwards. Incorporate pauses or twitch the rod as if you were fishing a jerkbait to trigger similar bites. In clear water scale down the blade size, thin the skirt out and throw a lighter spinnerbait. 7.Clear Water = Small Baits During summer bass are keyed into the size and profile of the baitfish currently on offer. Instead of throwing a bulky skirted, heavy bait, wrap soldiering wire around the bait keeper and hook shank of a 3/8oz spinnerbait to get it down deeper. In most cases the size of the blades will also be smaller so as not to overpower the bait and cause it to roll. 8.Ditch the mono When fishing deep-water monofilament tends to have too much stretch to set the hook at distance. Fluorocarbon offers far lower stretch properties with added abrasion resistance; use 17lb-plus when fishing around flooded timber and brush at dams like De Hoop. 9.Colour Selection You can’t go wrong with a white spinnerbait just about anywhere, but when bass are feeding on baitfish such as Blue Kurper you’re looking for that Lavender Shad sheen to the skirt, if Vlei Kurper or Bluegill are on the menu try a bluegill or olive white skirt, and for Redbreast try a Golden Shiner coloured skirt. 10.The Rod A 7’0” or longer medium heavy action spinnerbait rod with a softer tip that transitions to a decent backbone is essential for deep spinnerbaiting, but if you don’t have a spinnerbait specific rod on hand try a medium heavy crankbait rod and lock down your drag for positive hooksets. The softer tip of the crankbait rod will enable the bass to engulf the bait better due to the pause in reaction from the blank.