column that the trailing Colorado or Indiana blade was pushing water without really truly the surface.
This was much more common in the Southeast, but did not catch on widely among western fishermen. And how often do we see the method today? But why would you, when specialized wake baits with short bills or heavily back-weighted, can push water. And they float, so they don’t take the same angler dexterity to control and provide the bulge.
Talking to a couple of successful pros in my backyard, I sensed that specialization may actually the cause of reduced spinnerbait use. Said Kyle Grover of Trabuco Canyon, “At Lake Mead year-round and sometimes at Havasu in the clear water, you can’t go wrong. Half the fish in the [U.S. Open] came on spinnerbaits.”
But aside from that, he pulls it out rarely, although he admits, “I also have my AAA throw a single-bladed bait, slower and deeper in the water column.”
Stan Sloan, the designer of the Zorro Spinnerbait, and one usually credited with introducing the all-
chartreuse spinnerbait skirt, must be turning in his grave to hear that. The lures he designed were obviously designed for dirty water and heavy cover. Who knew where they might end up?
Similarly taking a narrower approach to spinnerbait use, Rusty Brown of Canyon Lake, Calif. and former Open champion, earned his title in part to throwing a Pro-Line tandem in the tinted waters of Mead’s Gregg Basin.
Yet elsewhere he has a more old school notion. “I have always tied on a one-ounce single Colorado to cover a lot of water, slow rolling with a pull and flutter [retrieve.] I pull it out in February with a 5-inch Kalin grub and fish it in dirty water, windy or calm.”
USER CONFIDENCE
Following western tournament results and listening to serious anglers, it’s pretty certain the lure has not lost its effectiveness since it was such a staple through the 1970’s and 80’s. But in that earlier era of fewer choices, the bait earned almost default
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