Spinners Aren’t Just For Bass Anymore
Capt. Tommy Derringer
With the flood tides we have coming this fall, anglers will be focused on tailing redfish in the grass. But what do you do when the tide is higher than normal but not high enough to look for tailers?
You spin to win!
That’s right, the spinnerbait has gone from the go-to bass lure to one of my favorite high tide redfish baits. I’ve been having great success and a lot of fun over the last few years using both the inline and r-bend style spinnerbaits to catch some big redfish. It’s one of the easiest lures to use; you just cast it out and wind it in. And let me tell you, when a redfish thumps that spinner, it’s one of the most exciting takes there is. There are a few reasons why the spinnerbait works so well in the flooded grass. First thing is that it’s weedless, especially the inline versions. You can cast that inline through the thickest of grass and it will come through it with no hang-ups. They are also fairly heavy, so getting the lure down in the water through the thick stuff is no problem. Another reason is they give off a ton of vibration and flash. That’s important when fishing in the grass, as the fish will more likely “feel” the lure than see it right off the bat. I like to add a paddle tail as a trailer on my spinnerbaits, essentially adding more thump to an already vibration-rich presentation, making it easy for the fish to find.
The r-bend style of spinnerbaits come in very handy as the tide starts to fall after a flood. The redfish will fall off the grass flats and patrol the edges of the grass lines looking for bait to filter off the flats. You can cover a lot of water by casting that spinner right down the grass lines and slow rolling it in. The redfish won’t be the only fish that will eat that spinner either. In that same situation, as the tide falls, I’ve had clients catch some really big flounder, especially this time of year. Sometimes if you wind that spinner in really slowly just along the bottom, the flounder can’t stand it!
Of course it doesn’t have to be a high tide for a spinnerbait to catch fish… case in point… I competed in the Power Pole Redfish Series this year and my partner and I caught all but a few of our redfish throughout the entire series on Slayer Inc. inline spinnerbaits. In fact, that spinnerbait currently puts us in first place for the team of the year in 2015. On some of those tournament days, we had murky water and overcast conditions and blind casting was the only way to go. It allowed us to cover a ton of water and catch some big redfish.
Bottom line is, if you’re looking for a fun and very effective way to catch some big reds this fall, give a spinnerbait a try. Trust me, when you get that first heavy thump of a bite, you’ll be hooked!
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