There is absolutely no telling how many bass are caught on spinnerbaits each year. And I would be willing to bet my favorite casting rod the majority of those bass are caught in less than five feet of water.
There’s a good reason for this — the majority of anglers who utilize these versatile baits fish them in depths of less than five feet. But I’m here to tell you those bass that live down deep like them just as well.
One of my most productive techniques throughout the year involves the art of probing deep structure with a spinnerbait.
How do you go about catching bass when they are deep? Your first thought would be a jig-and-pork combination, or maybe a plastic worm, grub or lizard rigged with a heavy sinker — or possibly a jigging spoon or blade bait like a Sonar. Or perhaps a deep-diving crankbait. All of these lures are proven fish-catchers, but there are times when bass can become very selective and are not triggered by those offerings, but will aggressively attach a spinnerbait.
This method of fishing is a technique that I’ve got a tremendous amount of confidence in a system I’ve used for years. But recently, I’ve found myself relying on it much more often, especially in older lakes where the cover has eroded and the bass have moved deeper to key structural features.
Fishing spinnerbaits deep provides an excellent way to search for bass quicker than with a plastic worm, jig or other slow-presentation lures. And it allows you to feel for cover areas along or near the structure you’re fishing.
Also, bass can become very selective in their feeding habits, yet these are the times when I’ve seen a spinnerbait outshine just about anything you could use when fished deep. There are several solid reasons for this special allure:
- A spinnerbait is the type of lure that can trigger reaction strikes from bass that might ignore slow-moving lures like plastic worms, lizards or a jig-and-pork combination.
- These bladed baits have a wider zone of attraction because of the action, flash and vibration they produce.
- Spinnerbaits can be fished faster, covering more water than most other lures.
- Spinnerbaits draw bass into striking from a greater distance.
- Spinnerbaits represent a baitfish better than most other rigs.
- These lures can be fished in a wider range of water clarity and water temperatures.
- They can be fished effectively on the bottom or up several feet (or more) off the bottom.
- Spinnerbaits are effective all seasons of the year.
- Spinnerbaits produce well with a wide range of presentations, including slow-rolling, free-falling and bottom-bouncing.
When fishing depths of 15 to 20 feet or deeper, my choice of spinnerbait is a Booyah, which is made of practically indestructible titanium, of at least 3/4-ounce in weight. And if there is a current or if windy conditions exist, I’ll switch to a 1-ounce size for better feel and control. Heavier-sized baits also help keep the lure deep during the retrieve.
Selecting the right blade or blade combination for deep-water spinnerbaiting depends a lot on the time of year. During the warmer water months when bass are most aggressive, I will select spinnerbait with medium-sized willowleaf blades, simply because they have less lift and are much easier to keep deep at faster retrieve speeds than rounded style blades. Since willowleaf blades have less water resistance and spin faster, you have to retrieve them somewhat faster than you do other blade styles.
Willowleaf models are among the easiest to fish deep. When fishing them in open water, I make a long cast. Once the lure hits the water, I pull back slightly, keeping a semi-tight line so I can feel for any change during the fall (especially a strike). Once the bait reaches the bottom, I give it a short jerk to be sure the blades are turning. I then begin a slow retrieve, occasionally stopping the lure to allow it to stay in contact with the bottom. It is important that blade or blades are spinning and the lure is following the bottom contour.
I normally use a willowleaf model during the warmer months in deep, clear water. But during the coldest periods of the year, I’ve had much better success with a round-style single blade like a Colorado or Oklahoma. These types of blades produce a stronger beat or thump and can be fished much slower for cold, sluggish bass.
When fishing a rounded blade, I cast it out and carefully watch my set-tight line as the lure falls to the desired depth. Once it hits the bottom, I give it a slight jerk to get the blade turning. Then I begin reeling it several feet before pausing and lifting my rod tip to let the lure fall back down to the bottom (which is normally less than 18 feet). I then work the bait in this yo-yoing fashion all the way back to the boat. It’s important to stay in contact with the lure at all times with a semi-tight line simply because the majority of the strikes will occur as the lure free-falls back to the bottom.
Spinnerbaits, by design, have a tendency to ride up on the retrieve, but there are a few tricks you can do to help eliminate this.
If you find yourself having trouble keeping your lure deep as you work it along the bottom, you might try down-sizing your blade or blades. Smaller blades don’t have as much lift, allowing you to get a smoother presentation and keep your bait in the strike zone longer. Give it a try, and you might be surprised at the results.
If the deep structure you are targeting will permit it, you will have much better success in keeping your spinnerbait close to the bottom by working it from shallow to deep versus deep to shallow. Working up the terrain is much easier than traveling down it. But I should point out that you run the risk of hanging up more often if there is cover present.
Another advantage to positioning your boat shallow and casting out into deeper water occurs once you have hooked a bass. There is a tendency for other bass to follow a hooked fish. By pulling the bass from deep to shallow, the trailing bass move a certain distance, but then quickly return to their original location. When you hook a bass and bring it out over the deeper water, the following fish become disoriented and it takes them much longer to regroup back to their original spot.
I’ve seen this happen many, many times. I’m convinced you will catch more fish from a deep-water area by fishing from shallow to deep.
When spinnerbaiting deep structure or cover, perhaps the most important element is your level of concentration during the presentation. You’ve got to stay tuned in to what your lure is doing at all times. Your presentation should be slow and steady, with an occasional drop to maintain bottom contact.
Patience is the key word with this type of fishing. It takes time for the lure to drop 20 feet, and it takes patience to slow-roll the spinnerbait along the bottom. But if you are willing to work at it, your patience will be consistently rewarded.
Avoid overpowering your retrieve by reeling too quickly. I find that I do much better with a lower-gear ratio reel. This type of reel, such as a Quantum 4.4 to 1, forces me to fish slower and provides me more power once I get a fish on.
For deep spinnerbaiting, my rod choice is a 6-1/2 to 7-foot IM6 graphite Quantum Dance class baitcast rod with a medium-heavy action. This type of action and length provides more sensitivity and power for a solid hookset and fighting a big bass from deep water. The extra length provides more distance to help take up more line on the hookset.
The longer rod also helps you get a big bass up and out of thick places, which is important with this type of fishing. And it allows you to reel down and punch off a lure that is hung on the cover.
With this particular type of fishing, it is important to use a low-stretch line with a small diameter like 12-14 pound test. Any line test above 14-pound creates additional friction, which can hurt the maximum depth of the bait and cut the distance of each cast. Anything greater than 14-pound test is not advisable because of the stretch factor, which can affect your feel for the lure and hamper the hookset.
Deep spinnerbaiting has produced for me in a variety of structure/cover situations.
I’ve caught a world of bass by bouncing a big spinnerbait off stumps and rocks along a deep-water ledge. Any broken rocks, boulders or riprap can be perfect for spinnerbaiting.
In the summertime, you can often load the boat by targeting deep grass patches with a heavy spinnerbait. If you have vegetation growing on the bottom in 10 to 12 feet of water, for example, concentrate on counting the bait down to the top of that grass, and then retrieve it so the spinnerbait ticks the top as it comes through the water. If I know I’m coming to the edge of this submerged grass bed, I’ll slow the bait down and try to shake it off that edge where there is likely to be a bass or two waiting.
With submerged grass, the key is to either skirt the top of the weeds or parallel the edges and any irregular feature like a cut, pocket or point in the weeds.
Regardless of the situation, it is important not to just straight reel the spinnerbait. Your success will be a lot greater if you speed up and slow down and do erratic things with that spinnerbait as you retrieve it.
Standing timber is another situation where deep-spinnerbaiting can out-produce other techniques. With the right approach, a spinnerbait can be an outstanding choice for the kinds of places usually reserved for jigs and plastic worms. In this situation, I cast the bait to the trunk of the tree, let it sink to the bottom, and then pump it a foot or so off the bottom. Then I let it settle to the bottom again. I fish it similar to the way you might work a worm in deep water. All during the retrieve, I’ll pull it up until it hits a few limbs and then release it.This method will often catch difficult summertime bass that are suspended in deep brush or trees.
Deep spinnerbait places a premium on concentration and patience. If you just can’t wait for that bladed bait to sink deep or are unable to maintain a slow, methodical retrieve, you will have little success with this technique. But if you have what it takes to slow down and probe the depths, you just might catch more deep bass on spinnerbaits than you ever did with the lures in the shallows—especially during the inactive times.
