spinner bait rigging...

[As yet un-named]

I've been told by several people and heard on TV and read in magazines/books that folks "always" use a trailer hook on their spinner baits. The few pix I've seen of it, looks to me like just another hook slipped onto the main hook. Is that so? How do you keep it from slipping off?

[bassfishingnw]

You can buy the tubing that is use for this but I just bite a piece of plastic worm or senko and put it past the barb of the first hook.

I also do this on my buzz baits.

The weather is sure getting nicer!!

[Striper Club]

If you want a bigger profile or if the bite is short, then sure...otherwise, keep it simple. If they are hitting the spinners, then you really don't need to dress it up all that much. :smile:

[fishsauce]

I've have yet to try it yet, but will definitely do this coming season. Definitely worth a shot if it helps you land more fish! Heres an article and some great pictures : http://espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/s/b_fea_bm_0411_trailer_hook_tricks.html

Good luck!

[jaybee]

I try to use a trailer hook anytime I can, unless snagging is a significant concern. I've caught a lot of fish on the trailer alone! You can keep it on with an old piece of plastic worm imbedded on the bend between the barb of the spinnerbait's hook and the eye of the trailer hook. jb

[ExBassGuide]

I some times use a stinger hook on a spinner bait. But I will NEVER fish a buzz bait with out a trailer hook!! I put a 1/4 inch piece of surgical tubing over the large eye of a trailer hook. Then push the spinner bait hook through the eye of the trailer hook. This will make the stinger hook stick strait out. The biggest bass I have landed on a trailer hook was 7 pound 3oz (buzz bait). VERY GOOD POST!!!!!!!!!!! :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:
:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:
:yay: Roger

[rob allen]

Since we are taling about spinnerbaits...

Make sure that when you buy them buy baits that have a

"R bend" design.. This simply means that the spot where you tie the line to the bait is not a closed loop of wire.
maybe someone can describe it better than me???

what brands of spinnerbaits do you huys like?? I used to fish bulldogs and stanley wedge spinnerbaiits a lot but theyt are increasingly difficult to find inthe colors i like...
Roger, what brand buzz baits do you like?

[Striper Club]

I used to buy Strike King spinners back in the 80s since they had the best commercial blade design in my opinion. Bass Pro has a great variety that are pretty decent these days....I pretty much buy whatever looks decent and has a good price tag on it.

Rob nailed it about the 'R' bend, could not have said it better myself.

The best spinnerbait of all-time is something you cannot find anymore. There was this old fella by the name of Leo Cauffman in Arkansas that made the finest spinner baits. I had a ton of his baits, but they all got lost or damaged over the last 20 or so years. However, the design is not all that different from modern spinners....hmm, will have to call my Dad up and see if he still has some.

[ExBassGuide]

Good Question Rob
I have had GREAT success with Strike king (BUZZ KING JR.) I have a HOT pattern for buzz baits. My best color is black and blue. I fish it after the sun goes down till it is dark.
So a darker color is easier for the bass to see! I also hang the buzz bait out my truck window for about 50 miles so as to make the bait squeaked. Also a buzz bait that makes a squeaking noise catches more bass for me! I also like the four blade baits so that I can fish it more slowly and that helps me get bigger bass. Buzz baits are the second best big bass lure ever made (just my opinion).
Roger :smash:

[sbasser]

I've been a fan of the Bulldog spinnerbaits for some years, but find the Stanley's to be pretty fragile for my taste. I haven't had that many Strike Kings, but I very clearly recall one that I could not make run straight up until I clipped off the smaller Colorado blade, tells me they didn't get the combination dialed-in before going into production. Plus the hook was not hard enough to suit me. The BPS Laser Eye is as good as the basic Strike Kings, if not the Premium grade (and $) SK's. I'm looking for another brand, because Bulldogs are not easy to find. Maybe I will look harder, or maybe I'll switch. I saw a brand today that uses Titanium wire and Tungsten head, $9.99, and they're still not proud enough of their hook selection to say what it is! I'm NOT buying THAT!

On the brands with soft hooks, I have found the point gets hammered over like a worm hook in a rocky lake. My theory is that this is the blade whacking against the hook point, but I'm open to other ideas. I mostly do the Jimmy Houston retreive...chunk and wind (at night), so I'm not coming up with any other reasons.

Normally, I just buy the BPS Cajun trailer in white, and go with it. Maybe black, with a black spinner. I'd think seriously about the Mr. Twister Split Doubletail, a boot-tailed grub, or just a Zoom Fluke. One I've actually tried is a feathered treble hook, and it works. I put it on so there was a single downward hook point, and I cut that one off. Trailer hook and trailer all in one, huh? By the way, when I have tried Roger's tubing over the trailer eye trick, I had the trailer get whacked out of line, and the spinnerbait ran crooked, laid over on it's side. I wouldn't recommend it. Just cut off a short bit of tubing and impale it with the spinnerbait's hook after installing the trailer hook. Some folks use a cheap paper punch and make discs out of a coffee can lid, and stick that on the SB hook. While I haven't tried it, I like the idea better than surgical tubing, which rots quickly.

I would like to close (!) this essay, by telling about a new and inexperienced basser who did real well in a WBC tournament. He used "the Backlash Pattern". Every time he made a cast, he got a backlash. The spinnerbait laid on the bottom, while he picked out the 'lash. When the mess was cleared, he'd reel up the slack, pop the spinner up off the bottom, and a fish would hit it! This is a classic reaction strike. The fish followed the spinner to the bottom, and sat and watched it. When it moved, they couldn't help themselves. When stuff like this happens, PAY ATTENTION! C&R, Steve

[bucketmouth]

I agree with sbasser on the rigging of the trailer hook. If you put surgical tubing over the eye of the trailer hook then press it onto the spinnerbait hook, it has a tendency to skew the line of return if it has been knocked to one side or the other. If it does get knocked to one side or the other the surgical tubing holds it in that askew position on the spinner bait hook throughout the return. If on the other hand you keep the trailer hook on the spinner bait hook by putting tubing in front of the trailer hook, the trailer hook will always return to the proper position if it gets knocked around during the return.

I add a trailer hook only if I am geeting short bites.

"Booyah" has been my favorite spinnerbait of late.

I also go with BPS skirts.

Use a bump the stump retreive and you'll catch fish.

[rob allen]

I have been watching some of the videos on the western bass website ( not western bass club) and many of the pro's in california on these videos swear by a brand of spinner and buxx baits named "persuader" I bought a couple at the jamboree. They seem to have really nice components but i haven't got a chance to use them. they are mid priced baits around 6 bucks a piece. if they work well i think i'll go with them.

[grplnxprt]

Biggest bass I ever caught was on the trailor hook of a spinnerbait.