Spinner baits come in all sorts of sizes & colors. Some are custom made, while others are mass produced. Not all spinner baits are created equal and here are a few points/tips to keep in mind when using spinner baits

Anglers guide to spinner baits
Part five of a seven part series

Hooks

Generally, most spinner baits come with one, single, “siwash” style hook. Rarely, if ever, do you see them with treble hooks.

The “siwash” style hook is an ideal hook to have on the end of a spinner bait. It allows for a great hook set as well as making the hook removal an easy process – great for catch and release, as well as tournament anglers.

However, more often than not, the fish seem to hit short and miss the hook. There is a quick and easy remedy to this and that is to add a stinger hook.

Stinger Hook

A stinger hook is another single siwash style hook, which is actually attached to your primary hook, making a tandem type set up. With this second stinger hook, you have now increased your odds of catching a fish, as well as giving yourself some options, like adding an additional bait.

The stinger hook you use should be the same size as the hook already on your spinner bait, or one size smaller. This will keep your set up streamlined & not interfere with your primary hook.

Some stinger hooks come with an “open eye” – meaning that eye of the hook has a gap in it. Once you place this hook on your main hook, simple tighten the hook eye with a pliers until such time the gap is closed.

Another option is to use a siwash hook with an extra large eye. The extra large eye will allow you to slip it over the main hook & right over the barb as well. In order to keep it from coming off your main hook, you can use a small piece of plastic tubing – or anything similar.

Trailing bait

Most spinner baits will come with a skirt as an attractor. However, if you were to add an addition bait to this set up, you have now added some bulk to your presentation and changed the action as well.

A typical trailer bait is your basic, simple plastic worm. You can thread this plastic worm on to your main hook, or if you have a stinger hook, you could add it here. Should you use a worm with a curly tail, you now have added another dimension to your spinner bait, with a different action.

Summary

Trailing baits will increase your odds of catching fish, as will stinger hooks. Be sure to add these features to your spinner baits and watch your fish catching ratio go up!

Until next time, good fishin’!
Ivo