I find that I have developed a lot of confidence in drop shot, Ned rig, weightless worms, and Texas rigs. So much so, that I more often than not end up defaulting to these techniques the most. 

 

Now that it's winter and covid getting out of control, to keep my sanity I would like to learn more than the basics for spinnerbaits and shallow squarebills. 

 

I have caught fish on both these techniques, enough to get a dedicated combo for these techniques. But I don't have enough knowledge of those techniques to feel that I have mastered it. I don't mean mastered as in Kvd level, but a deep understanding of the technique and how to fish it or variations to account for. 

 

My combo is a Dobyns Fury 703c paired with a Shimano SLX MGL HG with 28ipt spooled with 10lb big game mono or 30lb braid to leader, not sure yet. I am in Ontario, Canada and my local bass are generally 2-4lbs,with my largest being about 6lbs. Both largemouth and smallmouth, but mostly largemouth. I fish mostly ponds and small lakes, some rivers from both the bank and a small kayak. So far I have bought a few Berkley 5.5 squarebills, some Cotten Cordel big O squarebills, a kvd 1.0 that works very well so far, and some 3/8oz booyah spinnerbaits both willow leaf and double Colorado blades. 

 

I have caught fish with these lures, but I would love to hear from more experienced anglers about the finer points like depth, retrieve speed and cadence, colors, trailers, etc. I feel like I need to learn much more about reaction type lures instead of defaulting to finesse and texas rigged soft plastics. 

 

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to give some background. Thanks everyone. 

For spinnerbaits:

 

 

For square bills:

 

Hope that helps!

 

Yup, Glenn covered it. One thing I can't stress enough with both squarebills and spinnerbaits is if there's some kind of wood or rocks to deflect off of, that's only going to help you.

Even in the summer I've had better luck with a slow retrieve fishing around cover.

 

36 minutes ago, Bankbeater said:

Even in the summer I've had better luck with a slow retrieve fishing around cover.

 

Similar experience. Most effective was casting beyond weeds, reeling up to weeds quickly, letting it rise and then bringing it over the weed tops slowly. 

 

If you dont have a copy yet, I highly recommend the book Joe Bucher's Crankbait Secrets: The First Complete Guide to Fishing With Crankbaits. A member here recommended it and IMO its the best bass fishing book I have read in terms of depth and detail on a specific technique.

    I Use one that heavy is  enough to cast easily like a   1/2 ounce ,mostly because I'm a better angler with that weight  . I use bright colors in the spring then tone it down after the spawn . Using baitfish patterns that are not bright seems to work better than flashy colors after the bass have been hammered by spinnerbaits all spring .  

   It sounds as if a good chunk of your fishing time is spent on the bank.

   I'm a shorecaster. I have to deal with riprap the majority of the time; the federal, state and local governments use it everywhere to stabilize banks. The two lures you've mentioned are my go-to lures for riprap, but I don't use them the way most people use them.

   In any kind of rocks, I don't retrieve my lures topwater, or two feet off the rocks, or even one foot off the rocks. Instead, I beat those dadgum rocks with my lures, contacting the rocks and staying in contact with the rocks. It's almost like I'm knocking on the bass's door, saying, "Ba-a-a-ss! Come out to play-ay!" (like "The Warriors")

   I do this because of the spinnerbaits' ability to ride up and over stuff. Even still, I lose a lot that get wedged in the rocks. To avoid losing squarebills left and right, I fish them VERY SLOWLY, with a "tic .... pause .... tic" sort of retrieve. That's just the opposite of the way most people retrieve squarebills; most people retrieve them at a medium or fast rate.

   Naturally, this style of fishing wears out lures fast. The friction of pulling spinnerbaits over the rocks chips heads and shreds skirts. And the "square" in my squarebills turns into "kinda-sorta square".

   What makes it worse is that as a shorecaster, I try to position myself so that I can make a long cast parallel to the shore.  So .... more wear and more chance to snag up per foot of retrieve.

 

   I do things this way for one reason: I've learned from this site that I can't count on the bass coming to me; I have to go to the bass. Big bass are ambush fish.

   Of course, I see that you've mentioned some rivers, too. I fished rivers for years, and they're different from impounded waters. The fact that the water levels change radically throughout the year allows (or forces) fish to move. Sometimes they move a quite a ways, too. Under those circumstances, you'll need to resort to wide-area casting to find fish, moving and searching taking up a sometimes-frustrating part of your day.

   I have no idea whether or not this has helped you. But I learned by doing, and that's still the best advice I can give anyone. Listen to other people all you want, but at the end of the day what you've proven to yourself, in the areas you fish, is what counts.

 

   Good luck!      jj

  

The key to successful spinnerbait fishing is fishing close to cover. Rarely does a bass hit a spinnerbait out in the open away from cover.  If it does, it most likely followed the lure from cover.   Most anglers position their boat perpendicular to the shore or weed line and cast into it.  When you do this, your bait is only in the strike zone for a short period of time.  With the fishing pressure we have today, the strike zone may only be a few inches.

 

Try positioning your boat directly on the shore or weed line and cast down it.  This puts your bait in the strike zone for the entire retrieve.  Don't be afraid to make numerous casts to the same cover.  Slow down, a spinnerbait is not a buzz bait.  Stop and go.  This mimics a deflection.  Watch KVD, he knows how to fish spinnerbaits. 

^ This. My best bass on spinners have been when I park the canoe near the corner of a lily pad patch and run the spinner along the edge. Either across the front, or along the side from shore to deeper.

I love to fish both baits.  Each bait shines around cover and each bait becomes so much more effective when it can be deflected off of cover.  Both are designed to be worked through cover but are effective in more open water situations.  Both can be manipulated to make abrupt changes in their movement.

 

Except when burning a big spinnerbait in choppy water for smallmouth, I apply it to cover.  I like to cover water with wood and bump that wood, roll over it, tick the branches and so forth.  I also like a spinnerbait in hard vegetation.  By that I mean reeds, lilly pads, bog bean, water celery, anything that won't drape over the bend in the wire and line connection.  A spinnerbait is also great for fishing softer vegetation by running next to it and or following the contour from shallow to deep. Experiment with sizes, colors and blade configurations.  Dirty equals thump and clear equals flash.

 

Squarebills are awesome for rooting round cover like rip rap. it's a great bait for fishing stumps, bushes, over vegetation and hard man made structure.  It's amazing how a squarebill can be maneuvered through wood and branches by deflection and allowing the bait to float back and up.  Don't hesitate to throw one into trees.  I've hung them up and had fish take them off a limb when trying to snap it off. Deflection is your friend. 

 

Commit to these baits when the situations present themselves.  If you have bluegill and I'm sure your do, these are can't miss lures.