A question for the spinner using crowd

M
madoc
Okay, with GI Joes liquidating, I picked up a bunch of spinners. I've never been particularly successful with spinners - generally I will try them out and either lose them all on the first cast, or I will manage to retain them but not catch any fish. To be honest, I don't think I have ever caught anything on a spinner.

I want that to change. I understand that reading water conditions correctly is a key component, as well as choosing the right size for the right time.

I was down at Riverside today. The river was up, cloudy green. I tried a #3 vibrax - brass spoon and orange body. I tried casting upstream and not retrieving until it was almost parallel to the bank. Today was pretty much no different from any other day that I have tried a spinner - hang ups, snags, miscasts and such. My biggest frustration is losing the lure to boulders. I understand that the spinner, properly fished, needs to be near the bottom. but as soon as I let it get near the bottom, it seems to find a nook or a branch or something to grab, and instead of having a smooth run, I either lose the gear or my patience, often both.

Any advice?

OOps, just scrolled down on the main page and noticed the spin section.

Moderators, feel like moving this one to a potentially more appropos subforum?
 
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K
Kodiak
Hehe!

Hehe!

First things first. Take that crap back to G.I. Joes go to tcotackle.com and shop there. It is much harder to mass produced garbage and be succesful. Most are not tuned, out of balance, producing unatractive vibration. There are several smaller custom shops that will help your catch rate dramaticaly.

The other part of this getting over that learning curve and you've picked the best forum to do it. Keep in mind when you are throwing spinners you are looking for active fish. The ones that are on the move and agressive. Slightly faster water in 6' to 3' is what I prefer. Try drifting your spinner keeping your line just tight enough to maintane contact with your spinner. Also try changing from a treble to a single siwash, it will be easier to dislodge when it does hang up. Good Luk!
 
M
madoc
Unfortunately there are no returns to Joes anymore (liquidating).

The good thing is that I build models and other things, so building my own spinners looks like a good exercise. Maybe I can use the parts from the ones I have now - tear them apart and rebuild them.

I think learning to recognize the correct water for using a spinner is the part I am having problems with.

Thanks for the advice
 
M
metalmania
Kodiak I couldn't agree more;).
 
F
Fishtopher
You got an alright deal at joes, I guess. I was there too and was thinking; man, with 40% off, I could grab all those BF's and just cut em up and twist 'em right, and put some real hooks on 'em. But I just bought every sturgeon hook they had instead.

When you are casting upstream, you need to slightly reel the slack until the spinner is in front of you,(between 11-12 o' clock from you) or you will be done before you even started. When it gets to 12, give your rod a mini hook set to get the blade thumpin' and then let it drift.
 
M
Mike123
I know there are better spinners out there, but I've caught hundreds and hundreds of fish on Blue Fox spinners.

I think you had the correct color of spinner Madoc. In cloudy stained water you want to use brass and color blades because they stand out the most.
In clear water use silver or nickel.
I use number 4's when the water is up a bit, and when the water gets real low I switch to 3's. You want to cast your spinner up stream slightly, real SLOW, just picking up the slack until you barely feel a bump then reel up a bit and just keep the blade barely thumping. Most do not catch fish because they get their spinner blade twirling around at 100mph and fish wont hit it. Keep that blade at a slow even thump. Same goes for spoons. It's how you fish them that will catch you fish. The last 3 summers I've hooked have been on a cheap Rainbow Plastics spoon that cost $1.47... Granted Pen-Tac spoons are bad a**, but no need to spend 6 or 7 bucks on a spoon.

But I'd rather you fish with TCO or R&B spinners so when you loose them I go find them and be happy happy! :lol:
 
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M
madoc
Fishtopher said:
But I just bought every sturgeon hook they had instead.

So you're the one who took all of the barbless hooks. And the 4 through 8 ounce weights as well, I assume?;)

Thanks for the advice guys - I'm pretty much self taught when it comes to fishing - loads of reading and then trying it out by myself, so actual advice to questions I have is greatly appreciated.
 
B
bitesetreel
Good advice on what water to fish from Kodiak. Spinners work best on moving fish. After all a moving fish is an active fish. Fish those deepish 3' to 6' riffles. Just want to add one thing. In higher flows a lot of times fish will hit your spinner as it completes its swing. The worst thing you can do in terms of presentation is start reeling it in quickly as it completes its arc. Let it linger for a second or two and don't be surprised if wham! fish on!
 
M
Mike123
bitesetreel said:
Good advice on what water to fish from Kodiak. Spinners work best on moving fish. After all a moving fish is an active fish. Fish those deepish 3' to 6' riffles. Just want to add one thing. In higher flows a lot of times fish will hit your spinner as it completes its swing. The worst thing you can do in terms of presentation is start reeling it in quickly as it completes its arc. Let it linger for a second or two and don't be surprised if wham! fish on!

Really, spinners work real well on holding fish too. Fish that are in tight spots that have no where to go.. Deep slots and fast chutes.. fish have nowhere to go so they lash out at your spinner.
 
C
chodathug
Hey guys, good info here - thx! I'm in the same boat kinda, I've never caught a steelhead using spinners. I'm wondering...do you guys ever use weights combined with spinners to get em' down near the bottom? Or is it all about the cast upstream and the slow retrieve? Thanks in advance
 
A
ArcticAmoeba
Don't put weight above a piece of hardware. It will take away some, if not all of the feeling the lure sends up the line. Some of us here twist our own up, because store bought stuff simply doesn't cut it, the way we fish 'em. Let them sink all the way though. When learning, if you are not hanging up, you are not fishing as well as you could be. And hang ups don't mean lost gear. I stick the tops of rocks, and logs often, and rarely loose a spinner because it is hung up too bad.
 
K
Kodiak
Nine!!!

Nine!!!

I second what AA says. Steelies will come up for metal. They are constantly looking up. If you can imagine a two foot cube startin at the fish's eye and moving two feet forward and two foot up, not to mention peeved steel will travel a looonnng way to crush buzzin metal when they are in the mood. I've had fish come up from 14' of water to hit a spinner running across the top at 4' deep.
 
C
chodathug
Cool - thank you guys for the info! One more question (sorry if I'm hijacking), do you guys ever fish for steelhead using spoons in the Clackamas? If so, is this a productive way to fish? And is it pretty much the same technique as spinners?
Thanks guys,
Danny
 
A
ArcticAmoeba
Yup, just drift fish spoons like we do spinners. They naturally ride a bit higher in the water column, so that is a great place to start learning how to properly drift, and swing terminal gear. And the fact that spoons run higher, will result in much less, lost gear.
 
S
skyhammer
I have to disagree that spoons naturally ride higher in the water column. In fact, most people use spoons in high and fast water because they get deeper faster.
Just like spinners, it depends upon how the blade/ spoon is made. A Little Cleo/Daredevle will ride much higher in the water column than a Pixee because of their shape.
Just like a willow leaf spinner that hugs the spinner body like Panther Martin/RoosterTail will go much deeper than a Blue Fox or Mepps with a French blade in faster, deeper water.
 
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F
Fishtopher
skyhammer said:
I have to disagree that spoons naturally ride higher in the water column. In fact, most people use spoons in high and fast water because they get deeper faster.
Just like spinners, it depends upon how the blade/ spoon is made. A Little Cleo/Daredevle will ride much higher in the water column than a Pixee because of their shape.
Just like a willow leaf spinner that hugs the spinner body like Panther Martin/RoosterTail will go much deeper than a Blue Fox or Mepps with a French blade in faster, deeper water.

I agree. You pretty much summed it up.

I like to just let my spoon bang across the bottom of deep holes, and let it spoon through the middle of the water column when fishin' classic drift runs. But what do I know. I've only caught one fish on a spoon.
 
Troutski
Troutski
Spoons -vs- Spinners...

Spoons -vs- Spinners...

Fishtopher said:
I agree. You pretty much summed it up.

I like to just let my spoon bang across the bottom of deep holes, and let it spoon through the middle of the water column when fishin' classic drift runs. But what do I know. I've only caught one fish on a spoon.

Ah the debate begins, I will wait to voice my view on this subject; but my first Steelhead was caught on a 1/4oz spoon. I think it was gold too...;)

Chuck
 

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