1 hour ago, cgolf said:

If I am missing fish they are ones that completely miss the bait, because most hits I feel now are hook ups. 

It's the fish you don't feel that you are missing.  Look at the photo below.   If I did not have the trailer and hook on this spinnerbait, a fish could hit at it all day without me knowing about it.   This happens far more times than most anglers realize.  To a tournament angler, one fish could mean the difference between getting paid or not.   A casual angler doesn't care because there is literally nothing on the line.  (no pun intended)

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

It's the fish you don't feel that you are missing.  

 

If we are not feeling a strike,

how do we know we missed one ?

Asking for a friend.

A-Jay

 

2 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

If we are not feeling a strike,

how do we know we missed one ?

Asking for a friend.

A-Jay

 

There are many times a fish hits your lure without you knowing it.  They leave telltale swirls, bubbles, strange bumps Etc.  This is even worse with worms like plastic worms.

 

 

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

It's the fish you don't feel that you are missing.

 

I respectfully disagree with this train of thought when fishing a spinnerbait. And here's why.  I have fished a spinnerbait for years to the point I know every little nuance my baits give off. Blade thump and vibration become second nature to my rod hand. Anything that feels out of sorts and I am setting a hook. If it's not a fish, no harm done since all I have to do is restart my retrieve. Often times this sudden bait movement actually does cause a fish to strike. 

 

I don't believe that I can't feel the fish that are actually striking the bait. There are too many telltale indicators. Sudden ceasing of the blade movement, line goes sideways or gets slack, any number of indicators that tell me something is different at the bait end of this equation. And hook sets are free. 

 

I will say that often a bass will follow a spinnerbait and swirl away without actually striking at the bait once it moves out of that fishes strike zone. A quick pitch with a senko or fluke  in that general direction usually remedies that problem. This one-two punch has saved many days for me. 

 

Again, no disrespect intended. My experience has just been very different. I have found that trailer hooks hinder my experience way more than they assist me. 

 

YMMV. 

Here on the Harris Chain, our bass are notorious for short striking. I expect this to be due to two factors, low visibility and high fishing pressure.  Without a trailer hook on your spinnerbaits, you can set the hook all day on telltale indicators without hooking a fish.  If you use a trailer hook, you will hook more fish.  If you do not use a trailer hook, you will never know about these fish.  

 

The same thing goes to making multiple slow accurate casts to each target.  An angler who doesn't can fish all day and come back to the ramp believing there are no fish in these lakes.  An angler who does will come back with a full live well.

On 11/14/2020 at 11:37 AM, Team9nine said:

The problem with manufacturers (and anglers) is they all use/package their spinnerbaits/buzzbaits with these giant, full-sized trailer hooks, which IMO is the wrong approach. Throw ‘em out and downsize and you’ll solve all kinds of problems, including short strikers and excess hangups.

 

I usually don't use a trailer hook unless I have to (ex the spinnerbaits blade starts past the hook and I'm getting short strikes and not from tiny fish) but I will agree. I had bought some 5/0 trailer hooks because that was all the store I was in had, and those were obnoxious. Then I got some 3/0s, and those were a little better. Finally I ended up with some 2/0 size and they aren't too bad.

44 minutes ago, Boomstick said:

 

I usually don't use a trailer hook unless I have to (ex the spinnerbaits blade starts past the hook and I'm getting short strikes and not from tiny fish) but I will agree. I had bought some 5/0 trailer hooks because that was all the store I was in had, and those were obnoxious. Then I got some 3/0s, and those were a little better. Finally I ended up with some 2/0 size and they aren't too bad.

 

The ones I use (when I do use them) are the ones in the picture which are a size 1 (not 1/0). They are just about an inch long, but work perfect for leaving a little longer skirt length or adding above a plastic trailer without interfering with anything. You almost don't realize they are back there, and they will get any short strikers. Plus, they set easier being smaller/thinner diameter, and are more easily concealed by the skirt and trailer. 

3 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 

The ones I use (when I do use them) are the ones in the picture which are a size 1 (not 1/0). They are just about an inch long, but work perfect for leaving a little longer skirt length or adding above a plastic trailer without interfering with anything. You almost don't realize they are back there, and they will get any short strikers. Plus, they set easier being smaller/thinner diameter, and are more easily concealed by the skirt and trailer. 

 

Yeah, I saw size 1's on that too. I'm going to have to try that. I do have some other unspecified size that I believe may be around 1 or 1/0 too, but once I got down to 2/0 it was significantly improved.

The only trailer I use on a spinnerbait is a trailer hook. All the time. 

On 11/14/2020 at 2:33 PM, A-Jay said:

If we are not feeling a strike,

how do we know we missed one ?

 

   Some of us are lucky enough to have fished from a slightly elevated position, and can see the fish strike at the spinnerbait at the same time that they notice that there was no sensation of a hit.

   Not to mention any names, of course  ..........     ??          jj

On 11/14/2020 at 2:10 PM, Captain Phil said:

It's the fish you don't feel that you are missing.  Look at the photo below.   If I did not have the trailer and hook on this spinnerbait, a fish could hit at it all day without me knowing about it.   This happens far more times than most anglers realize.  To a tournament angler, one fish could mean the difference between getting paid or not.   A casual angler doesn't care because there is literally nothing on the line.  (no pun intended)

 

 

 

 

Hildabrant tin roller correct?

 

Allen 

I think it is an Okeechobee Special

Hildebrandt Okeechobee Special 3/8 oz. tandem w. Zoom split tail trailer.  Top blade downsized to #4.  

On 11/7/2020 at 9:55 PM, cgolf said:

Any opinions let me know

Those are all good, and cover the range of compact/finnesse SBs. I would add a SK 3/16. The Booyah 3/16 is tiny, and best for shallow water. Don't be afraid to pinch a sinker, or change out a blade or two if the conditions require it..

On 11/15/2020 at 9:24 PM, jimmyjoe said:

 

   Some of us are lucky enough to have fished from a slightly elevated position, and can see the fish strike at the spinnerbait at the same time that they notice that there was no sensation of a hit.

   Not to mention any names, of course  ..........     ??          jj

That is the height of maliciousness,...

So maybe the angle of the trailer hook has something to do with it?...   

18 minutes ago, BassWhole! said:

So maybe the angle of the trailer hook has something to do with it?...   

Pretty sure it's the motion of the ocean.

   All strange humor aside, I think we have two different problems here:

 

   1) A bass strikes at the spinnerbait and doesn't get hooked. A trailer helps this.

   2) A bass "bumps" the spinnerbait. I've felt this often, but seen it only very rarely. Sometimes it's not a bass that does this.

   My personal opinion is that a bass (or any fish, really) that does this is trying to find out what the heck this "thing" is. From what little I've seen, they're not hitting the rear of the bait where the hook is. Instead, they're "bumping" the lure. In this case, I doubt a trailer hook does any good.

   What I've tried to do in this case is change to a lure that they attack straightaway, with no hesitation. Sometimes I've been successful.  More often, I haven't.

 

   Just my 1/50th of a dollar.         jj

When you catch a bass that has the trailer hook in it's chin, it crashed the blades, from above.  You don't usually catch that fish without a trailer hook.

@Team9nine have you tried those size 1 trailer hooks on bladed jigs?  

27 minutes ago, GReb said:

@Team9nine have you tried those size 1 trailer hooks on bladed jigs?  

 

Never ran a trailer hook on a bladed jig - just spinners and buzzers. Don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work though  

My observations, using a trailer on a spinnerbait has eliminated blade strikes.  The water I fish is clear to crystal clear.  After reading this thread, I think these things are directly related.

 

scott

 

10 hours ago, softwateronly said:

My observations, using a trailer on a spinnerbait has eliminated blade strikes.  The water I fish is clear to crystal clear.  After reading this thread, I think these things are directly related.

 

scott

 

If they're that keyed in on the bait, why not run that trailer bait on it's own?  Honest question, and I don't know what trailer you're using, so that might be impossible if it's one of those skinny deals like this:

44 minutes ago, J Francho said:

If they're that keyed in on the bait, why not run that trailer bait on it's own?  Honest question, and I don't know what trailer you're using, so that might be impossible if it's one of those skinny deals like this:

I've been using a spunk shad, fluke, zako, single tail grub, etc as trailers.  I believe it's an honest question for sure and it cuts to the core of my spinnerbait fishing, it's not super effective for me.  I basically think of texas rigged 4-5" swimbaits, open hook swimbaits, chatterbaits, swim jigs, underspins, and spinnerbaits as doing the same thing but working different depths and levels of weed cover.  Just roughstimates...t-rigged 50%, chatterbaits 30%, open hook 10%, underspin, swim jigs and spinnerbaits make up the rest.  Chatterbaits have dominated the 12'+ water, open hook has been 5-10' down over the weed tops, and t-rigged is in all depths.  

 

Where spinnerbaits have been effective is post spawn/early summer when the deep weeds haven't come all the way up.  I throw uphill and roll it down hill, and find it's best post memorial day when the water gets stirred up from recreational users.  This bite seems to last 2-4 weeks at most.  This year, I plan to use swim jigs a lot more frequently, including the deep weed clumps.  My time in deep water with chatterbaits ripping grass has told me that the painted blades are more effective which leads me to believe painted blade spinnerbaits might be the ticket on these lakes.  Taking it a step further, I think the vibration and displacement in clear water can be a plus, and so can flash albeit much less frequently.    

 

So a real long answer, that should have said.....You're correct, I throw the trailer only, a majority of the time.

 

scott

Your comment made me say "Huh..." out loud.  I had a couple days where it was breezy, warm, prefrontal, with intermittent clouds blocking the sun.  I noticed when the sun was bright, a Skinny Dipper on a belly weighted hook was fully hooking fish that were missing a spinnerbait.  Seemed like they were crashing the blades, because they were throwing a ton of slack when striking.  When the clouds blocked the sun, the Dipper was ignored, but the spinnerbait was crushed.  It never occurred to me try combining a plastic trailer and spinnerbait, because I never had any reason to, but I'm rethinking when that might have been the better thing.

4 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Your comment made me say "Huh..." out loud.  I had a couple days where it was breezy, warm, prefrontal, with intermittent clouds blocking the sun.  I noticed when the sun was bright, a Skinny Dipper on a belly weighted hook was fully hooking fish that were missing a spinnerbait.  Seemed like they were crashing the blades, because they were throwing a ton of slack when striking.  When the clouds blocked the sun, the Dipper was ignored, but the spinnerbait was crushed.  It never occurred to me try combining a plastic trailer and spinnerbait, because I never had any reason to, but I'm rethinking when that might have been the better thing.

Someone earlier in this thread said and glide baits prove this, that Bass take center mass and head shots very frequently.  More than I realized until last year.  I'm guessing that the bulk of a trailer lowers the center of "displacement" and improves their targeting.

 

Making me type that out, just made me regret only picking up bladed a-rigs.  A-rigs are new to me and I can't wait to give it a shot.  Now, more shopping

 

scott

The only thing I've done that's close to a blades on an umbrella rig is put a spoon on the center wire.  Truth be told, I felt like the spoon alone would have been enough.