DON’T WE HAVE SOME- THING BETTER?
Indicative of the “modern” spinnerbait is this Pro-Line tandem willow.
I’ve had the conversation on several occasions with long time industry people and veteran anglers, and a popular topic is why don’t the old lures work anymore? Or at least, work like they once did.
With spinnerbaits (and I pictured a tiny sampling) the configuration sure hasn’t changed much. If you toss out the improvement in hook manufacture, the basic elements don’t change. You have line tie, overarm length, head shape, swivel and blade and skirt material. Nothing there sounds all that scary to me—and bass do bite the dang things.
So in order, the first of these, most Millennials probably didn’t know there was an issue. But yes, guys used tie their knot to a loop created by a twist in the wireform creating the vee shape. Through constant casting, tumbling in air (and fish catching) the line might grab on the wire twist, crimp the line and break it. The revolutionary answer was an “R” bend at the forward portion of the wireform, and that has remained the standard for the last 25 years.
As relates to that wireform, the lengthening of the overarm was once considered quite an innovation when the Zorro Aggravator (originally Agitator) came to the fore, winning the first Bass Classic on Lake Mead. The long overarm, extending beyond the bend of the hook, was considered better in heavy cover, and did not seem to limit hook-ups.
The long overarm was somewhat of a response to a style of spinnerbaits that featured an oblong or more elliptically shaped head with a short overarm with a large, single Colorado blade. This was often fished with eel length pork trailer, and was more akin to a jig than spinnerbait.
These were available in California, but eventually the manufacturers made the arm length. Old-timers might remember such names as the White Tornado,
40
KR or Fluttercraft that
ditched the long arm,
but each kept the
elliptical head design.
But somewhere
along the way (again
beginning late in
the 1980’s and
continuing today)
the bullet or fish-
shaped head
design took over
and continues
to the present.
Yes, there are
artistically sculpted
shapes with hologram finishes and 3-D
eyes, but from a practical standpoint, merely
provide the role of keel weight for the blades and a
collar for the skirt.
But who could argue that innovative ball bearing swivels (once they were all just barrel swivels) with every configuration of blade shape, size and color give today’s angler the best spinnerbaits in history. Yet, there is a reluctance to tie one on. And while you will still find baits today with skirts of dear hair, live rubber, round rubber, vinyl, or the multi-colored silicone with Mylar highlights, you would think that might lead to an increase the use of the spinnerbait, rather than the opposite?
OUT OF FAVOR OR SPECIALIZED?
Hard to believe the lure’s popularity could be washed away given its overall track record—and continued productivity. So in fact, what appears to be the spinnerbait falling out of favor, may actually be a result of its more specialized use by anglers.
I think back to the time, 1980-81 when Gary Klein left Oroville, California for the big stage of the Bassmaster tour. When I got in the boat with him after he’d been gone for a year or so, the thing he wanted to show me was the “bulging” technique.
Right away I could tell he was casting and retrieving “the blade” much faster than I had seen him in California. However, now in addition to a stop-and- drop retrieve, he had added a near waking method, retrieving fast enough and high enough in the water
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