[Eric C.]

I am nearing completion of having all my lures ready for the upcoming fishing season, but I need to get some spinnerbaits. Is double willow with chartruese blades still king for smallies on St. Clair? What ytpes and weights are you using? And what do you guys like for largemouth on inland lakes, types and weights? Thanks for your help.

 

[No More Mini]

Yes the double willow with painted chartruese blades is still my favorite. I prefer the 3/4 to 1 oz size for burning them. I also throw a combination of white and chartruese, and all white. There are plenty of other "clear water" patterns that work as well. Nickel blades with shad colored skirts with a chartruese trailer are good too. Look at the new Bassmaster line at Bass Pro Shops, War Eagle, Nichols and Terminator. All are quality spinnerbaits.

As far as inland fishing for largemouth, I like the bluegill patterns and even all black or all purple in addition the colors mentioned above.

If you are going to try to buy every spinnerbait you need, you will spend a bunch of money. I usually carry different blades and skirts so I can "assemble" my own as needed.

Mini

 

[Eric C.]

Has anyone tried the Leverage spinnerbaits? And what do you think of them? Its supposed to eliminate the need for a trailer hook.

 

[No More Mini]

I thought Leverage baits eliminate the ability of the fish to throw the hook. I dont know if you can ever eliminate the need of a trailer hook on short striking fish. (unless the hook extends way past the skirt)

Mini

 

[jcheetam]

I have a few Leverage spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. Yes, the hook extends further than most spinnerbaits, but I still use a trailer hook (better safe than sorry IMO). As for colors, I have most of them but end up throwing white and white/chartreuse 90% of the time on inland lakes with the occassional firetiger, blacks, blues and a few others thrown in the rotation for the heck of it. Sizes I use are primarily 3/8 and 1/2 ounce but have a couple 1 to 1 1/2 ounce Ledgebusters for fishing the deep stuff...

 

[garza7585]

I love fishing spinnerbaits....

For St. Clair...ALL chartruese is the way to go....but I also like to throw ALL white or ALL white/chartruese.

My favorite color for spinnerbaits and its the first color i'll reach for is chartruese and white with double willows in gold/silver...

I always carry a few other colors like golden shiners and blacks...

White is always a good color to have also...

Jose

 

[ABA]

My favorite is the white strike king Premier Pro-Model with a Nickle-Silver Willow and gold colorodo blade.

I do not use a trailer hoock and never ever will again.

Let me tell you why.

I was on a trip in Canada. A buddy of mine conviced me to join him and 3 others on a pack-in trip to lake that could only be fished by Fly-ins.

The 4 of us packed our 14 foot v-bottom boats well over a mile through the woods and over a large hill (mountain).

We got into this lake and found the fishing to be excellent. I was throwing a white Stanely Spinner Bait with a large trailer hook on it. I caught several huge pike one after the other. I was sitting in the front of the boat when I landed this nice 36-38 inch pike. While trying to remove the fish, which was hooked by the first hook not the trailer, he shook loose out of my hand and burried the trailer hook deep under my knee cap. The fish continued to flop around while I screamed in pain. Thank god he finaly fell of the hook. After hours of trying and a great deal of bleeding we came to the conclusion I need to go to the hospital. I had to hike back over the mountain and through the woods to the car and drive over an hour to the hospital. At the hospital I knew I was in trouble when several surgeons surrounded my x-rays. The hook had buried itself deep into my cartilage and had to be surgically removed.

The most scary part of the ordeal was when the doc came to me and said. Mr Adams we can not except your insurance. We have a national health care plan here and were unsure how to bill it. We ask that you pay your bill in full before leaving and take the matter up with your health care provider yoruself. Me and my buddies are trying to figure out how much money we had between us while the Doc went back to get a price on my bill. I had x-rays and surgery......how can I afford to pay them for the bill I am thinking? This bill will be thousands of dollars.... The doc comes back and says Mr. Adams how does $50.00 sound? .........whew was I relieved. I still can not believe how cheap that was.

However I swore that day I would never use another trailer hook again.

 

[No More Mini]

50 bux? WOW, I would have went and bought more trailer hooks...lol

That had to hurt!

Mini

 

[ABA]

Yeah it hurt.....

Try to image a huge trailer hook burried deep under the knee cap into your cartilage. It wont come out. You are forced to cut your jeans so it does not pull on the hook while you walk up and down a huge rock covered hill side, through the woods and back to your car.

It hurt the entire way......big time.

 

[jcheetam]

Anthony after 15 years of having almost no cartilage in one knee, and 4 years having almost no cartilage in the other, I think I have found, thanks to that story, one more positive thing about it (aside from knowing when a front is coming it...knees hurt=good fishing!). Looks like I'll never have to worry about a trailer hook embedding in either one!

 

[madman24]

anthony,

tell us about the time you knocked yourself out while casting. thats my favorite anthony story of all time.

you guys are gonna love this one.

madman himself

 

[No More Mini]

We may be on to something.....hurt knees = good fishing!

I was a baseball catcher prior to my years fishing. from 9 years old to into my early 20's, dont even talk to me about hurting knees (and shoulders and elbows and hips....they are all arthritic already!)!

Mini

 

[djkimmel]

Hey! I hear AARP may be starting up a tournament circuit soon! Some of you guys sound ready for it. Get those trailer hitches on your wheelchairs buffed up!!!

The thing about the Canadian medical bill - it probably was $4,000... Canadian! Luckily, you had Greenbacks. (A meaner part of me wants to say something about who really could be taken EASY by Martha! but I won't... I'm not bitter)

Now, back to the original subject of this post - I've been using War Eagles for a while now and I like them... a lot. A killer sometimes on St. Clair for me on bright days when the water is clear is the Blue Herring. It's a great bluegill imitator on inland lakes too (at least the bass seem to think so). Last year, it wasn't as hot on St. Clair for me, but it's still working great on inland lakes.

If the water is stirred up a bit, I do white on white, all chartreuse and chartreuse/white and let the bass talk to me. They know what they like. I don't argue with them.

I've done really well the past two years on the chartreuse skirt with gold blades for some reason (again, who am I to argue). I've been starting with that one and switching to white skirt, gold blades. This is when the water is fairly clear for these two. I use 1/2 in all the above when I'm still working up a decent limit or if I don't seem to be around semi-lazy toads.

When I need the kicker fish, I usually just go to the 3/4 oz white on white and keep tossing. I've caught some tanks (for you Canadians on that one, so no matter what, I'll always have some of those ready.

 

[jcheetam]

Mini I feel for you brother! As soon as the pressure drops, I can feel it in my knees, they swell a bit, and just plain HURT...So what do I do? Hook up the boat and go fishing! Since tomorrow will be the first time out in a few months, I already know these knees will be aching tomorrow night!

BTW Dan, I'm a card carrying member of the AARP! I get a good rate on my insurance because of it

 

[gwlloyd]

Want to try a new spinnerbait. Check this web page out

www.bandcustomlures.com

Its called an "Eviloution" I just ordered a few. W

 

[muskiebobsr]

My best spinner bait for largemouths has always been the #4 or 5 hammered brass colorado with a white rubber skirt and at times put on a white M

r Twister Tail about 3 or 4 inches . works wonders for me. Bob

 

[Basschaser]

When I was younger I was trying to put a worm on a hook while standing up and as I was doing that I got destracted by something and when I did the rod slipped from my hand and started to fall to the ground and as it did the hook and barb caught my finger and the barb penetrated into the tendons. I bit on a stick as my buddy tried to use pliers to get it out. I ended up going to the hospital to have surgery to remove the hook. Also got a treble hook from a crankbait stuck in my finger last year because the compartment lid on my boat slipped and fell down and slammed my hand against the crankbait hook and floor. Luckily I was able to twist and turn that hook out. Anybody else got any crazy stories about getting stuck with a hook?

 

[h2o]

My son was casting and as he started his cast his friend walked behind him and the jig went threw his eye lid. Zoom to the emergency room 6 hours later doc's got it out. Seemed like every doctor in the hospital was helping. Fortunately there was NO damage to his eye and everything turned out the best it could.

I PINCH MY BARBS #1 HOOK COMES RIGHT OUT #2 EASIER TO TAKE OUT OF FISH. # 3 EASIER TO TAKE OUT OF CLOTHS OR ANYTHING. I don't loose fish because of it either. To speak of.

h2o<---says just pinch the barb when you can.

 

[fish tremble]

Only had two awkward ones that I can think of. One was while drifting across Metro Bay at night I sat down on my seat only to realize I had left two bomber long a's on the chair. Fortunately I was able to tear those ones out with a minimal loss of meat. The second one was at Cass Lake casting the canal at Dodge Park I walked behind my brother-in law as he leaned back to cast he caught me in the groin with a treble hook and attempted to cast me into the canal. Had to work that one out quite slowly and left me sore for a few weeks after. So far nothing that has ever put me in the emergency room or needing stitches (the bomber holes in my bottom might have needed it but couldn't handle the humilation so I didn't go).

 

[jaerdy]

To make a long story short, I hooked my buddy in the neck with a buzz bait! We were fishing a no motor lake, and the row boat was very cozy. Reached way back for that long cast and Wham! the reel blew up my buddy screamed. Of course we were miles away from the launch in a row boat. One mistake I made was I didn't like the looks of my buzzbait hanging from the back of his neck. It made me feel reel bad, so I cut it off close to the skin and the doctors had a heck of a time trying to get it out. make sure you leave enough for leverage to remove. A lesson learned the hard way. Yes he still fishes with me but in a 21 foot boat now.

John