When I left the house this past Monday morning, en route to West Neck Marina, it was after closely following the weather and water level for a couple of days, plus checking some advice from experts on the Internet. I didn't expect to have a great day--only figured to catch a couple of fish--and that's exactly how it turned out for me.
How many fish I caught wasn't really important. This time of year, I'm perfectly content once I get a skunk out of the boat. The one thing that has been on my mind ever since that fishing date was what I caught both fish on--a spinnerbait. In particular, it was a spinnerbait that resembled exactly the one recommended for fishing cold, muddy water.
Understand that I routinely carry a small sampling of spinnerbaits with me on every trip, but it's only on rare occasions that I throw one anymore--it's been that way for years. Given the way that Monday turned out, though, I have to admit there's better than an average chance I'll be throwing a lot more spinnerbaits this year than I have in a very long time...for multiple reasons.
For openers, bass tend to love 'em, despite the fact that spinnerbaits don't closely resemble anything in the food chain. They also don't hang up very easily. Further, spinnerbaits are one of the most versatile lures around; they can be fished in any part of the water column. You can cover the entire spectrum in just one cast by buzzing the spinnerbait over a submerged log, then killing and slow-rolling it back to the boat. Finally, you're not nearly as likely to bury a spinnerbait hook in the tongue of a fish, as you are one of the treble hooks on a crankbait. Don't know how everyone else feels, but I think it's a bummer to see blood pouring from a fish with a treble hook stuck in its tongue.
In any event, I've been in my garage off and on the past few days, digging out a lot of 1/4-oz. and a few 3/8-oz spinnerbaits that, for the most part, never have been used. As I expected, that factor in no way spared me the task of removing many deteriorated skirts. Otherwise, though, they were fine. They're now bagged and ready to go for my next trip. Also have organized a collection of different replacement skirts and blades, along with a few plastic trailers, that should take care of most needs.
It's tough to go wrong with a spinnerbait. If you ever can't decide what to fish with, a spinnerbait is never the worst choice.
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