Looking for an Extremely Versatile Fishing Lure? – Part 4

Part 4 – Getting in Tune

This article, the fourth in a series about spinnerbaits, emphasizes the importance of tuning. I sing with the Hill Country Chorus in New Braunfels, a men’s A- Cappella Barbershop singing group. We spend countless hours tuning our voices in harmony so we can “ring” the chords, which produce the finest sound. It only takes minutes to tune a spinnerbait but the results “ring” the best vibrations.

As stated, in previous articles, safety-pin spinnerbaits’ are extremely versatility fishing lures. They can be fished fast or slow, shallow or deep, brushy or open water, muddy or clear water, cold or hot water, and search or target bait. Plus, the blades and the skirts can be changed in the field to match the specific fishing condition, which are covered in articles two and three.

Tuning incorporates design, blades, skirts, trailers, wire type and alignment. Let’s begin with the type wire used to make the safety-pin style spinnerbait. Even though wire quality and wire gauge are important factors, it’s not something to worry about when buying name brands. There are two radically different wire type that deserve attention, stainless steel versus titanium. Titanium wire spinnerbaits introduces the concept of “tune free” spinnerbaits. And, for the most part, they work as advertized, meaning you cannot really adjust the wires. However, you can still tune with blades design and skirt styles for optimum performance.

By far, the most common and tunable are the stainless steel wire spinnerbaits. Let me first explain that tuning by adjusting the wire can be both a blessing and a curse. When the spinnerbait is tilting off to one side or spinning around, it is a curse. However, if you what the ability to adjust speed by bending the wire, it is a blessing.

Safety-pin style spinnerbaits always need to run straight (not tilt to the side or spin) regardless of speed. Common causes for tilting and/or spinning are wire alignment, poor quality swivels, improper blades or skirt size. The wire extending from the head should be perfectly in line (side to side) with the hook. Likewise, the arm (which holds the blades) must always be directly in line (side to side) with the bottom wire and hook. During the course of a day’s fishing, it is extremely important to watch for bent wires and correct immediately, when necessary.

Poor quality or damaged swivels will cause the blades not to spin properly causing a planing effect and erratic movement. Wider blades but be retrieved slower than narrower blades. Retrieving wider blades too fast will cause the spinnerbait to tilt and/or spin. Likewise, with skirts, bulkier skirts slow the bait so thinning the skirt allows for added speed. Depending on the trailer shape, it can cause erratic behavior and slows the bait. My opinion about trailers is that the clearer the water the less need for trailers because clearer water usually means faster retrieves for visual instinct strikes.

Now, an additional benefit to stainless steel wires is the ability to adjust the gap between the arms on the spinnerbait. The primary reason is that increasing the gap will slow the bait and decreasing the gap will allow it to be retrieved faster.

Whether you like titanium or stainless steel, both have their pros and cons among spinnerbait fishermen. Titanium spinnerbaits are the simplest to fish but stainless steel is the most versatile. However, neither catch fish in your tackle box so go fish them and ejoy your day on the water.

<< Go back and read Part 3 of this series

For additional articles, comments, questions or scheduling a professionally guided outing, contact me (Barry Dodd) at Website: teachemtofish.net , Email: barry@teachemtofish.net or cell: 210-771-0123.