Spinnerbait Fishing for Trophy Bass

By Clay Steele

Catching small bass can be fairly easy.  It’s the trophy largemouth bass that can be hard to come by.  This is when the right approach and lure presentation can make all the difference.

Virtually all bass fishing experts agree that day in and day out the spinnerbait will catch more really big bass than any other type of artificial lure.  The spinnerbait is a reflex lure.  Bass, especially trophy sized bass, will angrily attack a spinnerbait when they won’t touch another type of bass lure.

Fishing a spinnerbait is relatively easy.  A stop and go retrieve will always entice more strikes.  Reeling in and then stopping, letting the lure fall a foot or so, then picking up the retrieve will catch more bass.

If you’re faced with short strikers, just add a trailer hook to solve the problem.  A very important point is to be sure you have the sharpest possible hooks on your lure.  More bass are lost by dull hooks than any other single reason.  The hook may look and feel sharp out of the package, but a little touch up with a sharpening stone will put more bass in the boat.

Colors of spinnerbaits can matter also.  A rule of thumb is to use white or brightly colored lures in clear water and darker lures in stained water.

When the strike occurs, set the hook promptly and hard.  Then hang on, because if you’re fishing a spinnerbait, the bass is likely to be a good one.