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Casting Spinners for Trout

153K views 77 replies 64 participants last post by  baltz526 
#1 ·
Trout are attracted to spinners due to their size, color, flash, and vibration. While the above factors play a role in attracting hungry trout, spinner vibration is credited as the key to spinner appeal. And although some companies tout theirs as the only one producing sonic vibration; in reality, all spinners generate underwater noise created by the blade spinning around the metal shaft as our spinner moves through the water.

Of course, spinners come in a variety of different blade shapes, which affect their sonic vibration, pulling resistance and retrieve speed. For example, a narrow blade shape will perform at faster retrieve speeds while producing minimum drag - meaning they can be more easily pulled through the water. Wide blade shapes generate more cranking resistance (drag), especially when pulled fast, but will maintain high action and blade vibration at the slowest of retrieve speeds.

According to the tackle buyers I interviewed (Fred Meyer, Bi-Mart and Fisherman Marine & Outdoor) the Rooster Tail is the most popular trout spinner. This lures popularity is due to its versatility. For example, the fact that its semi-narrow blade will perform when pulled both fast and slow means you can quickly cover an area when searching for concentrations of trout but then slow down your retrieve speed to more thoroughly work fish over.

Strikes are easily identified but can, at times, be subtle as trout will sometimes just stop the blade and/or forward movement of your spinner. In either case, it's important to set the hook hard when noticing any change in spinner action. Sharp hooks; so sharp the fish can't let go, are important for consistent hookups.

Spinners come in a variety of different colors, which can have a huge influence on your success. What color works best will likely depend on the amount of available light (which can vary depending on time of day or whether it's sunny or overcast), water clarity and the type of natural forage that's available. For example, if minnows are abundant there is a good chance that silver (Shad), gold (Chub), white, blue or green & silver, Rainbow Trout or Brown Trout finish will produce best, especially when worked in an erratic fashion.

When aquatic insects are the main forage, and especially when combined with clear water and bright sunlight, spinner body colors like black (Leech), brown (Salmon Fly), green (Frog), yellow (Bumble Bee), dark red, with (perhaps) a (bug0 print stamped on the body may produce best. During times when the light is low or water turbid; try a fluorescent red, orange, pink, white, yellow, chartreuse, fluorescent green or copper finish. What I do is follow these basic guidelines and let the fish tell me what color they like.

In lakes, most anglers searching for trout cast and retrieve spinners while working their way along the shoreline or from a drifting boat. What I've found is that trout are likely to be found cruising near the surface when water temperatures are cool, early in the morning, on overcast days, or evening time periods. Trout are more likely to be found near bottom (or at some level above it) during the middle of the day when the sun is bright or at times during hot summer when the surface water temperature is warm.

To determine the depth they're running, and be able to return to it, may require you to practice what's known as the (count-down) method. In preparation for learning the (count-down) technique, realize that most weighted spinners will sink at a rate of one foot per second. Here's how: cast out, and allow your spinner to fall freely to the bottom, counting one-one thousand, two-one thousand etc. until it hits bottom.

Now that you know the bottom depth based on counting you can begin your retrieve, on the next cast, just before your lure hits bottom, which may help you avoid hang ups. Using this simple procedure will allow you to search for fish at different depths and reliably return to the fish-producing level on subsequent casts.

In addition, working your lure near bottom may require you to step up to a larger/heavier spinner size. For example, small spinner sizes (up to 1/6 oz.) will likely produce best when fish are near the surface, say in the top ten feet of water; but you'll need to step up to a larger spinner size (say � to 3/8 oz.) when fish are lurking deep in the water column.

While tipping is a common practice employed among bass and walleye anglers, the trick is often overlooked by those chasing trout. With spinners, what works is to tip the hook of your spinner with a short section pinched from a scent-filled worm - like the 3-inch PowerBait Trout Worm. And while different colors can work, in clear water what often adds to success is to hang a half to one-inch section of a dark red worm from your hook, just let it hang straight back behind your spinner.

Best,
Buzz Ramsey



 
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#2 ·
hey buzz, i've been wondering for a long time if worden's are ever concidering coming out with a line of rooster tails with french blade spinners? also i enjoyed the very informative post. it gives a little more information on what to use with certain prevailing light conditions. a couple months back i read jed davis's book on spinners for steelhead. unlike his book your post gives better insight on what to use for certain light conditions.
 
#53 · (Edited)
This spinner technique is apple vs. oranges to what jed davis was writing about. Jed's book (CRUCIAL reading for any serious steelheader) is about fishing larger weighted spinners for steelhead in rivers.

Rooster tails are more for trout and not nearly heavy enough for river steelheading. If you want french blade spinners for steelhead, roll your own (easy and the best) or buy blue fox spinners in #2-4. Rooster tails will never come in french blade. If you want smaller french blade spinners for trout, once again 'roll your own' or buy Mepps trout spinners.
 
#3 ·
Great post Buzz. I watched a couple of characters in a "hidden" coast range lake (honest, 10 miles of gravel and potholes) put on a clinic with rooster tails from a small boat. I wasn't fishing, but watched them for awhile and what I could gather from my observations is that each of the anglers was counting to four before beginning their retrieve. These guys were hooking a fish on every other cast! Partly the time of year and maybe something to do with the impending low pressure system that was due to move in that night, but sure was fun watching them C&R nice shiny trout!
 
#4 ·
Great post, Buzz. My three boys and I have a great time casting Rooster Tails for trout at Roosevelt Lake in NE Washington.
 
#5 ·
Thanks Buzz, I have lost the try everything lure wise over the years. I need to get back to it, but it is hard to change when it has worked over the years and still works to a degree. I like the idea of a worm because that was something I did when I was a kid with some success. Definitely going to give the Power bait worm a try this year in the cascade lakes this year.:applause:
 
#69 ·
My favorite spinners for trout are in this order;

1. Super Duper
2. Roostertail
3. Panther Martin

3 must haves in your tackle box if you fish for trout.
Have to say for creek trout fishing, Panther Martins would be my go to lures. Best are black body with yellow spots and gold blade or yellow body with red dots and silver blade. The way the blade is mounted with the shaft through it, there seems to be a better action / rotation than spinners attached with a clevis.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Buzz that was the widest ranging and concise discussion on trout fishing I HAVE EVER READ! You definitely know your stuff. I learned a few things too! Thank you! I would like to add to the discussion by bring up the topic of changing up speed and or giving the lure a twitch from time to time. Last week I did very well on Friday by casting out let it sink about 5 feet and start slow rolling. And after a few cranks I would pick up the pace for a short distance. The let the lure sink and go back to the slow roll. As I get nearer the boat I would go as slow as I could and still have the blade spin. That worked for several fish that day. I also speed the bait up as I get very near the boat and as I start to see the bait I pause in a attempt to get any followers to hit the bait.
Also the use of flashers to draw fish in to your bait, they work very well and I used them for many years. But now I enjoy fighting the fish without the gear between me and the fish. I would like to get your thoughts on something that I have found that works better for me. I now almost never troll spinners. I try to locate and area that is holding some fish them switch from my crank baits and then cast my spinner. I land most of the bites I get and I can control the speed action and location better than trolling. I would love to hear your thoughts. My favorite flatfish is a F4 white with black and red spots. And the second best one I have used is a white F.F. with a center yellow stripe and small black dots on each side of the yellow stripe.
Roger
 
#8 · (Edited)
So that's how Rooster Tails are supposed to be used. I've have several colors and sizes of Rooster Tails, and have limited success.

You know, Iit's really nice that most lures on the market have very clear instructions on back on how to use them, like....

"This product is known to cause cancer in people in California". :D
 
#10 ·
I have been using roostertails for many years with great sucess for everything from trout to salmon, bluegil, crappie, small and largemouth bass. (there are a few colors I wish they would bring back however)
I have had success with certain colors in specific rivers, however, I am not 100% certain it was so much the color, but the method that it was fished. I believe that each style or color lure works best fished a specific way(what that is has to be determined), once you find that perfect action, that lure will work in just about any waterway. As an example, I have fished side by side with fishing buddies using different lures or colors and with both catching fish, if we switched rods, we would stop catching fish until we figured out how to work it properly. I also have certain colors/lures that I can use anywhere anytime and catch fish and I believe that is due to that fact that I have found the perfect action for that particular color/lure and any trout will react to it.
A couple of questions for Buzz. How hard would it be to get them to make some of the old colors again? I to have never seen an all black roostertail and would love to know where you're hiding those?
 
#19 ·
my absolute favorite spinner for trout was and is still a Mepps Thunderbug. i have a couple that are black and dark green, they look alot like a Rooster tail but the body is heavier and the blade is shaped like insect wings. the tail has the standard hair on it with a hint of crystal flash. dark body/ chrome wings with the insect wing detail. i have just killed them with these spinners in the deschutes and also some of the lakes over in central oregon.
 
#22 ·
spinner fishing for trout

I am mainly a hardware fisherman for trout, and am an avid spinner builder. I think one of the reasons the smaller Panther Martin spinners work so well is that they have a slender profile; the blade spins close to the body on the PM spinners, and most fish prefer prey that has a slender profile. Easy-snackin!
The Panther Martin's sonic 'fingerprint' if you will, is quite good--the blade design is very good.

The close-to-the-shaft spinning axis of the PM spinner keeps the spinner running relatively deeper than other designs that use French, Colorado, or swing blades, like those on the Rooster Tail line. The PM's blade design works well in swift currents and on cast-sink-and retrieve type of lake fishing situations, or when trolling the spinner on an unweighted or lead-core line.

The Rooster Tail spinner design has a nice, heavy for its size cast,painted lead body, and most patterns are available with a hackle dressed hook, which a lot of people really like. Spinners don;t need to be all that flashy for trout in most situations--in fact, I often deliberately use dull-finished spinners that have very little flash. My favorite color is actually a small size 2 coffee-colored spinner with a very small 3.5mm green bead right above the hook, and basically nothing else except some scent product where legal.
Skill in presenting the spinner and in locating fish is very important. If the water is clear or the fish have "seen it all", I seldom use a bright, flashy spinner with a nickel, brass, or gold finish blade, but rather something very dull-finished and rather plain-looking.
 
#23 ·
From my experience, if I'm going for trout on a crick or stream in late spring/summer; I have had the best success with either the black with gold or the brown with gold roosters. Preferably, I use the black as they seem to work the best. I mainly use the gold due to the fact that in late spring/summer the water is more clear thus needing less reflection to attract the fish. A silver tends to detour the fish due to the perception of the lures size from the reflection. Anyway, in the Lewis basin tributaries the black with gold works great. In fact, I set my two boys up on them for an outing on a local crick a bit ago, and they caught probably about 100-150 combined size 10"- fish in an ten hour or so outing. I would say that's pretty good results. I was drifting worm and got about 50 or so 10"- and two 16"ers on two pound test. That's how you make small fishing interesting I tell you.
 
#24 ·
This is an awesome post. In fact, all because of visiting ifish net, ever since seeing the rooster tail posts, the fish ninja decided to pick up a variety pack of 1/4, size 2, rooster tails at about 2am at wallmart. (wolly world) because all this rooster tail business on ifish net is quite thrilling.

Well, while fishing the spooking trout over at Klineline where it is not always easy to bring home a trout do to the fishing pressures, well, man let the fish ninja tell you guys rooster tails are awwwwweeeesome!

Started out just catching two fish on bait when first started fishing at the beginning of the month. Since that time have caught one two on a flasher and six on rooster tails. No. Make that eight! Have two roasting in the oven right now. Caught one on a pink rooster tail and the other later in the day on a yellow green rooster tail. 1/4, size 2.

If you have bait, like shrimp, then it flies off the hook a lot. Worms get pretty chewed up and man the cost of bait adds up you know? But the rooster tails, man, they are durable, they catch fish and they save you bucket loads of money too. Just loving those rooster tails.

For right now, its the fish ninja favorite thing. Oh yeah, the thing with the flashers, at least mine, is that they do not cast out as far as the rooster tails. There is a lot of pressure on the fish at Klineline, its fished alot out there and the fish are pretty spooky. Lots of people go home with no fish. All the time. If they are going home with their limit in trout, more times than not they have a ten and half foot pole to really launch out to the deep waters when it is hot in the day and the trout are lurking in the deep cold spots.

Man, just love the rooster tail. My favorite of all lures so far. The black ones probably work because of the shadowy contrast that the fish see when they look upwards to the water surface. But it was pretty overcast today and used the pink one and the yellow green one to bring em home. HEEEEYAH BOY! XD!!!

If it were not for the invention of the rooster tails, then the fish ninja would have only caught two fish all month. Owe it all to you rooster tail. Oh just love em. Love em. Love em. Glad to find out about this lure on ifish. Glad lots of others are talking about the rooster tails. The flashers just do not seem to get out there or go deep as the same size rooster tail, but perhaps my flasher selection is not the best.

Go get those fish you guys! Roooster Taaaaiiils YEEEeeeeeah!:meme:
 
#31 ·
Ive used rooster tails my whole life and have always had problems with them not spinning. Sometimes they get bent and you have to stop and straighten them out. Sometimes brand new ones wont spin very well. giving them a little jerk before you start reeling will usually get them started. Its a pain when you are trolling and after 20 minutes you realize your spinner wasnt spinning the whole time.

I recently started using Panther martins and I like them a lot better. I almost never have problems with them not spinning. When you are reeling it in, you can feel it dragging more than a rooster tail, so you know for sure its spinning. Ive caught just as many or more fish also on the panthers. The black with the gold blade is also my favorite.

I almost feel bad switching lures after all these years. Like I'm cheating on my girlfriend or something. I still keep a few rooster tails around.
 
#63 ·
I've had problems getting the Roostertail to spin while trolling, so I hold the rod and snap the rod tip until I feel the pressure of the blade spinning. If I leave it in the rod holder then on an inside turn it stops spinning, so hold the rod....or cast it.
 
#39 ·
I'm planning on trying trolling a black PM with a gold blade behind my kayak this weekend. Love that spinner. Anyone ever use a diver and a PM or RT when trolling to help keep the spinner at lower depths? If so do you find it affects the spinners action?
Btw Buzz, fantastic post. Very informative. :)
 
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