I am just wondering if it is necessary or a big advantage to be running a trailer hook with a crawdad plastic or something on it? Or maybe a crawdad directly on the spinnerbait hook? Planning on trying out my spinnerbaits this weekend and wanted to get some opinions.

No.Run a spinnerbait straight or with a trailer hook. No trailer

Try fishing spinnerbaits with trailer hooks and then trailers and see what works best for you.

I usually 9 out of 10 times don't run a trailer. Just a trailer hook. The blades beef up the profile making for more of a reaction strike than one that we have to generate ourselves.

That said, on a small 1/4 oz spinnerbait, if I want something different and the blades are small, I will on occasions run a small 3" tube on them so I can fill the tube with scent

Lace on a 3" grub on a trailer hook and have the best of both worlds.

You should also do yourself a favor and check out Glenn's vid on spinnerbaits...he's not only the admin and owner of this fine site but quite the spinnerbait aficionado and a darn good spinnerbait fisherman at that.

I dont use trailer hook hardly at all I feel they kill the action of the spinnerbait. I rarely fish a spinnerbait fast Im usually just slow rolling it in. The few times I have used a trailer hook is when fishing a spinnerbait fast and Im getting short strikes.

I always use a trailer hook. I have tried various trailer but usually go without.

The only time I use a plastic trailer is in the spring pre and post-spawn periods. It's usually a Kalin's grub or the tail section of a G-Tail worm.  The reason I do this is to slow the bait down more than to add attration/action to it.  I shorten the arms on most of my spinnerbaits and don't find a need for a trailer hook. The few times that I've felt a bump and added a trailer hook, I ended up catching crappie.

I use a trailer more often than not.  I think it makes a spinner bait look complete.   I use different brands,  Zoom & BPS & Lucky Strike.  I think that if they feel something squishy, that moment that the strike happens, then that gives me an extra moment to set the hook.    Believe me, I need that.

no, I fish 1 dollar walmart spinner baits as is and catch plenty of fish on them, no trailer hook. 

 

On the contrary I had a strike king model with a trailer hook and lost more fish on it in comparison to the sk model without

i use a trailer hook 90% of the time....

i don't see any benefit to a trailer.. imo

ive never used a trailer hook and i dont recall ever being short striked on a spinner bait. i did use a trailer one day on a spinnerbait, for some reason i threaded on a white curly tail grub and the fish in the pond must of loved it because i started catching them where i had got nothing with just the regular spinnerbait...

What hook do you guys recommend I put on as a trailer on my 3/8 oz spinnerbaits?? How do you attach them?

 

Preferably something I can just pick up from Walmart

Always run a trailer hook except when fishing extremely heavy cover.  50% of my spinnerbait catches have probably been on the trailer hook.

Alright what size trailer hook should I be looking for?

I literally just learned this by watching a Bass Resource video.

Most of the time, short bites on a spinnerbait are caused by blade color. If they are short striking it, change the blade color instead of adding a trailer hook. Ex.-silver instead of gold. Also, trailer hooks ruin the weedlessnes of a spinnerbait because it can kick off to the side and hook into weeds or branches when you are fishing cover.

I typically throw just the spinnerbait

I guess I will just try without the trailer hook...I have watched the Advanced Spinner Baits video by the way

CC268, you can use a 2/0 trailer hook and attach with surgical tubing or just use a section of a plastic worm. Short striking fish are usually telling you something is wrong with the presentation. It could be retrieve speed, blade color or size, skirt color or vibrations the blade is putting out - blade style. I fool with blade size and color as well as retrieve speed before I change out the bait all together. Short striking fish are telling me that the lure choice is correct and the fish ate active - all positive feedback.

Good luck.

Alright thanks!

just remember if you add a trailer to your spinnerbait it provides lift to the bait ex. regular 1/2oz on a regular retrieve runs about 6feet

 same bait with a trailer runs about 3.5 to 4 feet so choose a trailer wiseif you decide to use one, also the bigger the trailer the more  

lift your gonna achieve

I never used a trailer hook on a spinnerbait until I bought a strike king spinnerbait that already had one on it. There are a few times that I have caught a fish on that spinnerbait that was hooked with just the trailer hook. So I do believe that they can help you catch more fish, but with that said, I have never added a trailer hook to a spinnerbait that didnt come with one on it. Like someone before mentioned, the trailer hook will get caught up in grass and hook onto cover every so often. So it all depends on how and where you are fishing your spinnerbait as to whether or not I would use a trailer hook. Also, I have never used a soft plastic trailer of any kind. No real reason why, I just have never seen the need to use one.

Never a trailer hook but always a tailer. Usally something small like a twister tail with a 1/4 of it or so pinched off to fit. Chartreuse spinnerbaits get white and white spinnerbaits gets chartreuse and so on. When fishing at night I like to bulk it up I will use a beaver or creature type bait.

Trailer hooks are specific hooks with eyes large enough to fit over the barb of a spinnerbait hook.  Put on the trailer hook then add a piece of tubing so the hook won't pop back off the hook when a fish is on there.  You want the trailer hook to swing freely.  Some trailer hooks come with pieces of tubing in the package.  If not, you can use round cut-outs from a plastic milk jug.  I usually use #1 or #2 size trailer hooks.

Thanks guys!