#spinnerbait

I haven’t been able to fish for quite a while, so I was really stoked to have a great day. Caught two really nice fish along with a bunch of small ones.

The water was clear and low, but overcast in the morning with light rain. I knew I had a chance to catch a few quality fish if I could find a pocket of them. Luckily I did. Super fun.

Conditions:

I haven’t been fishing in over a month. I’ve had to travel so much for work, and along with family things, I just haven’t been able to find time to get in the river. I forced myself to make time this weekend. It felt great to be back in the water catching fish.

I’ll create another post, but I caught a 17.25” fish two cast after this one. The water was pretty low, so I found a bunch of them stacked up in a deep hole. Caught a bunch of small ones and two huge toads in the same spot within 20 minutes. Was a lot of fun.

Conditions:

I will add that he caught a 17”-18” smallmouth on a store bought glide bait, so not sure he really needs one of my spinnerbaits, lol.

Anyway, I would say I’ve caught 80% of my 17” plus fish on this bait. The other 20% were caught on variations, primarily one that swaps the smoke back/dorsal for black paired with a gold Colorado blade.

Save for a couple of randoms, I’ve caught all of my largest fish in stained to muddy water. With my level of expertise (no a lot), large fish are way too hard to catch in clear water. When conditions are right, I normally start with the black/gold patten in the early morning when the light is low then switch to the Bluntnose Minnow pattern as the light starts picking up mid-morning.

Photo Credit: Emilio Concari

I know this is debatable, but I believe smallmouth start preferring fish as prey as they getting larger whereas smaller ones focus on insects and crayfish (though I know tube fishermen who disagree and have the receipts to prove it, lol). I also believe large smallmouth are more likely to bite on colors and patterns they are familiar with. Bluntnose minnows are the most common prey in the sections of the Monocacy I fish. If I still fished the Potomac, maybe I’d think differently.

Skirt

Trailer: 483-10 Black Death @ 2 strands per side + 133-10 Silver Flash @ 3 strands at bottom

Back/dorsal: 246-10 Smoke Silver @ full tab

Belly: 133-10 Silver Flash @ three quarters tab

I thread tie my skirts using common fly tying tools. It’s just how I started and I like the control I get with it, but I’m sure you could achieve the same thing wire tying instead.

Components

3/16oz or 1/8oz compact frame (LPO Finesse C-spin, unpainted)

#3 Colorado polished nickel

4mm Fish Skull Living Eyes | Earth

#1 ball bearing swivel

Finish

For a while I struggled to get acrylic to stick to the led in a durable way. Regular primer didn’t work well, it would chip and flake off pretty easily with use. One day when I was picking up paint at Michael’s I started talking with a local artist, also there to grab some paint. She suggested I try chalk paint. It is by far the best base coat I’ve ever tried.

From there I mix deco paint to get the color I want for the belly and apply that with a brush to the entire head as a first coat. Then I use that as a base to mix in other paints to get the back/dorsal color I’m looking for. I just rub the accents on with my fingers. I think the irregularities make it look more natural.

There is a sequence to the finish coats. I first apply a coat of Sally Hansen glitter over the acrylic before adhering the eyes. Once I adhere the eyes, then I will top coat with clear Sally Hansen hard as nails. A top coat over the eyes helps keep them in place.