Spinnerbaits Ready for the Scrap Heap of Time? Never!

As some people age, they often tend to become resistant to change. Just don't include Kevin Van Dam in that assessment, though--at least, not yet.

For example, you probably remember that, prior to the start of the 2018 Bassmaster Elite season, KVD opted for a Minn Kota trolling motor, vice MotorGuide. And as I learned during some Internet research yesterday, it also appears he shelved his affinity for spinnerbaits...even earlier than that.

Throughout most of the 1990s, KVD always "was flinging blades and whipping ass," as veteran outdoor writer Pete Robbins put it. "But since taking the 2011 Bassmaster Classic with a one-two punch of a spinnerbait and a crankbait," continued Robbins, "he's won five B.A.S.S. events, and a spinnerbait played a major role in exactly none of them. The world's greatest power fisherman has won more times with a dropshot in the last five years... ."

So, what does that mean? Is the spinnerbait likely to disappear from store shelves? Hardly. At worst, it's just another contender for space on those shelves with the likes of square-billed crankbaits, swim jigs, vibrating jigs, and swimbaits...all of which weren't as much in play when KVD first arrived on the scene.

As Brandon Palaniuk, the 2017 Bassmaster Angler of the Year, explained, "The fishing world has constant innovation, and people always are trying to get a leg up. There are so many more techniques available now, and when you look at something like a bladed jig or a swim jig, they're just easier to understand than a spinnerbait. You don't have to be in tune with all the different spinnerbait styles for specific situations and conditions.

"Therein lies the rub," said Robbins. "A spinnerbait's situational specificity is what makes it tougher to pick up and throw, but it's also what makes it so deadly when conditions are ripe."

"You shouldn't forget it because it's so versatile," added Palaniuk. "I love it in the spring when the water is cold and muddy because I can get a whole lot more vibration fishing it slowly through the water column than I can with any other bait. And I love it later, during the shad spawn, because the multiple blades imitate multiple shad. There are so many things you can do with a spinnerbait--you can slow roll it, bump stumps, fish it around grass."

"The only limitation on spinnerbait use is your imagination," noted Robbins. "There may be no more versatile category of lures. Perhaps most importantly, to the extent that spinnerbaits have lost some street cred, that's all the more reason to start slinging them again."

"In the last seven to 10 years, spinnerbaits probably haven't been as popular," Palaniuk concluded. "The age of most bass people catch is younger than that, which means there are whole generations of bass that never have seen one."

Tournament wins may move products, but big bites will elevate your heart rate.