spinners for winter steel?

I'm just curious as to how many of you toss spinners for winter steelhead. I toss spinners nearly exclusively for summer fish, but have always been reluctant to toss them for winter fish. Any one out there throw spinners? I'm confident with spinners and may therefore begin throwing them when I fish for winter fish. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks,
Dave

[Lefty]

Eastside, spinners used to be my mainstay. BlueFox or else panther martins. I used them for about 3 years and whacked all kinds of fish. Be prepared to loose a ton of them with all the winter junk in the river, but I wouldn't hesitate to throw one around....

[Snapset]

10 years ago I got 90 percent of my winter fish on drift gear, now it is 70% spinners, 15% bobber and jigs, and 10% drift gear, 5% flies. Spinners are the fastest way to cover water I know to hold fish.

Thanks. Just looking for a little confirmation here. I'm a much better spin fishermen than drift fishermen, therefore, I'm going to quit kidding myself and break out my spinners a bit more this winter. We'll see what happens!

[Snapset]

I prefer low and slow, as straight upstream as I can cast.

[wannacatchem]

Throwing spinners.....throw upstream and let dift down? or actively work them back toward you? Throw slightly upstream and sweep by, then reel in? Pointers please......

[Water Ready]

Just weighing in on the subject......My Dad and I always used nickle steele's during the winter steelhead runs if the water was good. Always caught fish. My dad always told me "if you can't catch it with this, you won't catch it today"! 95% of the time he was right, the rest I drifted eggs. :tongue:

[The Bad Fish]

hooked 4 today all on a chartreuse #4 blue fox.. i have jigs and all the other stuff.. spinners from the bank and plugs from the drift boat.

[float2ber]

#4 and #5 Bluefox are deadly on winter fish. If the jigs aren't working, out come the spinners, and visa versa.

[sliverslinger]

cast upstream to a likely looking spot and drag the spinner towards you just fast enough to make the blade turn. you will know with in a couple of cranks, because you will get smalled. good luck

[BuKuBass]

"Spinner Fishing for Steelhead, Salmon and Trout" by Jed Davis. The section on winter steelhead location due to river temperature, height and clarity is applicable to all methods.

[Radke]

I've done really well over the past three years on spinners, but seem to do a bit better once the water warms up, especially around late March & early April.

[hustlerrjim]

consider this
you can order the components from cabellas for about 30 cents / spinner
a drift rig will cost around 50 cents if yuo lose it.
my favorite is a chartruse body no.4 blade -
silver if i want to change colors i keep a red blue and black felt marking pens to change colors.
while doing a story for out door life with a fellow named Jim Bedford {god almighty spinner fisherman]who writes for s.t.s. the storey was how would a spinner fisherman from mich. do against the top notch n.w. drift fisherman I drift fished and he used spinners, I beat him 19--17 in two days of fishing, he is good.
he used to sell the components for 22 cents / spinner you can get his address from sts. and buy the components,dont know the price.
we call them michigan spinners,
nick amatto is another expert [I taught him well]
if you want to lrn spinner fishing leave all other gear home and fish only spinners all day,
you will be surprised esp in low water cond.

[Dragfreedrift]

By all means DO use spinners in winter. I did really well last year on them. Had luck on 4's and 5's....silver blades and orange or chartreuse bodies.


HC

[Siwash]

I've also had good results w/ spinners in winter, mostly #4s & 5s, either all silver or silver combined w/ red or orange. I like the BFs, but I can build a standard silver #4 for less than 1/2 the cost, which definitely adds up when you lose several on an average trip. Also, you can build them a bit heavier, which helps on bigger rivers and/or higher water; I usually save the BFs for lower flows. One bonus with spinners when it's cold out (for bankies, anyway): If you fish them right, it means covering lots of water, which means more moving around. More activity keeps you warmer, compared to more stationary time with normal drifting.

[Son of Bigjim]

i dont care what anybody else says, but blue fox spinners, numbers 4 and 5 in metallic blue,copper, silver, purple. and flat forest green, chartreuse, half chartreuse half orange, and orange

[chinookin]

brass buds #4, blue fox #4. Have had my best success with these on the coast. I drift them. The slight bow you get in the line will actually drag them down and you can get a real nice spin without even reeling. once you feel it tick the bottom, start a very slow retreve. You should feel it hit every once in a while. Be prepared to loose lots of spinners, but it works very well.

[The Reverend]

Spinners are pretty much all I will throw for winter fish. It has been my go to lure for as long as I could hold a rod. Those of you who don't use Pen-Tac lures don't know what you are missing. They are above and beyond any spinner out there. By far superior to commercially made lures like blue fox or panther martins. They are also cheaper, at $1.21 per spinner size five. And that is genuine silver. Not the nickel or chrome that comes on other lures. Also, go with the smallest lure you can stand to throw. 3's have by far outproduced any other size for me 6 to 1. The best colors for me this year have been hot pink and blue. Hope this helps.

[SafetyChain]

I see that the Blue Foxes are mentioned a lot. But anyone care to share their homemade variety?

Last spring Drachir did a great service to show others how to make spinners for chinook. He even held a couple of clinics. If you make your own spinners for steelhead, please share a pic. Others will be greatly appreciative.

[SteelieSlammer]

Can somebody post of picture of a panther martin? I don't think i have ever seen one of these lures before and I looked at fishermans yesterday and didn't see one.

[ChuckDog]

Steelie Slammer -
When you go to use the Panther Martins be sure to use a small barrel swivel a couple of feet above the lure to eliminate the line twists. If you don't - twist ahoy there me harty!

[Trophy]

SteelieSlammer,
The Panther Martins are in-line spinners and are packaged in yellow blister packs. Great trout/steelie catcher imo.

A good swivel is a must for all spinner and spoon fishing in the river to reduce line twist. The problems is worse with a spinning gear.

I used to make PenTac spinners, but not anymore. Their price has gone up so much, I don't think its worth the time to make them. Unless you like making them. I now just go buy BF when they're on sale. In my opinion, they use more quality components and lasts longer.

[SpinnerMan]

SPINNERS WORK FOR WINTER STEELHEAD!!!

I've caught more winter steelhead on spinners than any other method. . . :smile:

So try it and let us know how you do!!

:grin: :grin: :grin:

SM

[Crazy Fisherman]

I rememeber one year on one of my favorite rivers, if you weren`t using spinners you weren`t catching fish. Real easy to make and they really work. I like to cast alittle up stream and let them tail out keeping presure on them all the time. Hang on when they start to tail out, the take can be hard. But if you feel any hasitation set the hook. Silver steelies work great too. Good fishing.

[ORpoke]

I use the Pen-Tac components...also use spinners more than anything for steelhead because I like the versatility.