Just now, Catt said:

Amen to that. Just stocked up again yesterday, but my fish like the black. 1/4 oz. 

17 minutes ago, Catt said:

I'll second this one Catt. White, green, or black. I like the 1/4 oz model. Hard to go wrong.

Just about any kind of spinnerbait will catch fish, and just about all of them will fall apart or get destroyed eventually. 

 

I just want one with blades that spin easily, that hooks up reliably when a fish hits, and that won't fall apart too quickly.  Unfortunately, my experience with the really low price ones is that they have some trouble in these areas.

 

My sweet spot kind of lands in the $5-$10 range, where there are a lot of solid options -- Siebert, Booyah, War Eagle, Stanley, Strike King, Z-Man, Pepper have all been good value for me.

The Walmart spinnerbaits and sometime BPS has their spinnerbaits on sale.

Member @Catt often recommends relatively inexpensive spinnerbaits. Humdinger, Stanley, and Johnson Beetle Spins are all great options.

 

I have expensive taste in spinnerbaits $10+ 

 

 

Skip the walmart $1 baits. Jump up to their $2.49 spinner baits. Much better quality. 3/8 and 1/2oz same price. I use them all the time and have no issues with them. They are all double willow, very rarely i'll swap the large willow for a large Colorado to get that thing thumping.

14 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I have expensive taste

 

I do to! Her name is Carolann!

BassPro has some of there’s on sale for 4.99. I picked up 4, now just need a chance to get out and test them out. 
Thank you everyone who has chimed in, I really do appreciate all your recommendations!

@Buffdaddy54  Bass pro still carries their version of the “chatter bait” called shudderlicious which is on sale currently also. The bait is pretty cool as you can change the hook to a different style or size. I’m going to pick up a few more when I go for the spring sale.

I had two Greenfish bluegills arrive today - I'm keen to throw them. I tend to throw a lot of Nichols.

On 2/26/2024 at 8:20 AM, gimruis said:

 

The cheapest ones I see on the regular are the Northland Reed Runners.  Usually they are about 3 bucks.

 

The durability is exactly as you stated though, you get what you pay for.  One pike hits that thing and its toast.  The frame is bent and then its a Christmas tree ornament.

You bend them back right? Before I started making my own, the war eagles I fished would get thrashed and needed to be resent after almost every fish, but would get 30 plus fish on each one. 

For cheap baits I agree hummdingers catch a lot of fish. Just need to rebend them often because they are a lighter wire bait, which for the waters I fish makes a big difference. 

15 minutes ago, Cgolf said:

You bend them back right?

I don’t use them anymore.

 

I use higher quality versions that last longer.

On 2/25/2024 at 5:34 PM, Buffdaddy54 said:

Spinnerbait

 

I made a mistake in my original post, I said swim bait but ment to say spinner bait.

 

Edit the text click on 3 dots upper right corner.

Looking for a bargain check TW Clearance Spinner Baits. 

The Covert spinnerbaits have expensive Hildebrandt blades as a mid priced bait . 

40 minutes ago, scaleface said:

The Covert spinnerbaits have expensive Hildebrandt blades as a mid priced bait . 

I don’t consider Coverts a budget spinnerbait but they are nonetheless some of my favorites. Slap a sampo swivel on one and they are machines. 

One other thing for those that use light wire spinnerbaits like War Eagles, hummdingers, and I believe the Walmart ones, boat flipping even a 15 or 16” fish you may need to rebend the bait. I have taken to netting them or grabbing them boatside to minimize this. Smallies, well all bets are off lol, they seem to bend them no matter what. 
 

Small price to pay when I have seen a light wire bait outfish a thick wire bait 7 to 1. 

Booyah Pond Magic on Amazon… I never pay more than $3.13 and have caught monster LMB on them. Just wait for the color you want to drop to 3.13 or less…Just don’t pay more, if we start paying more they’re likely to raise the price… best secret I had, now it’s out there. 

On 2/29/2024 at 4:49 PM, LrgmouthShad said:

Member @Catt often recommends relatively inexpensive spinnerbaits. Humdinger, Stanley, and Johnson Beetle Spins are all great options.

 

I have expensive taste in spinnerbaits $10+ 

 

 

 

My most expensive bought baits are war eagles, but I am starting to think that making my own, buying the frames, isn't the most cost effective way to go either. That said the unique home builds definitely fill the boat much better than even my war eagles, so worth it in the end.

49 minutes ago, Cgolf said:

 

My most expensive bought baits are war eagles, but I am starting to think that making my own, buying the frames, isn't the most cost effective way to go either. That said the unique home builds definitely fill the boat much better than even my war eagles, so worth it in the end.

I found the same thing when I purchased frames from Nichols. The benefit, however, was that I built them with hildebrandt blades and sampo swivels and my choice of skirt for about $10 a piece. The highest end components possible

On 3/3/2024 at 11:33 AM, scaleface said:

The Covert spinnerbaits have expensive Hildebrandt blades as a mid priced bait . 

I'm not a fan of these.  Maybe it's just been bad luck.  But pretty much every other spinnerbait I've ever used has never given me any problems, but these Covert spinnerbaits seem to always want to get tangled in my line when I let them sink on a slack line.  

Granted, I've only owned 3.  And after the 3rd in a row gave me troubles, I have no desire to try for a fourth.  The other Booyah spinnerbaits are great though.  I have no problem with them.

 

But yeah, if you want cheap, the Ozark Trail or just whatever is cheapest is probably okay.  I'm not loyal to spinnerbait brands as I've tried dozens, and they all seem to catch fish about the same.  I usually just buy whatever has the color, weight, and blade combination I'm looking for and ignore the brand.  But I usually avoid the cheapest ones, as I assume I'd have to sharpen the hooks or maybe the skirts wouldn't last or something. 

 

Either way, the best quality to look for in a spinnerbait is one you're not afraid to throw in thick stuff.  

Highly pressured: Booyah Pond Magic, Strike King Mini King.  Red is good right now, white or black/blue in stained water. Both brands are inexpensive. Put a curly tail grub or small swimbait trailer on them. Fish them slow.

11 hours ago, Cgolf said:

 

My most expensive bought baits are war eagles, but I am starting to think that making my own, buying the frames, isn't the most cost effective way to go either. That said the unique home builds definitely fill the boat much better than even my war eagles, so worth it in the end.

 

If you start pouring your own heads costs go down and quality goes up. Problem with pre-made heads is they stick to a pattern of 3/8oz has a 4/0 hook, 1/2oz has a 5/0 hook with generally R3 .035 or .040 steel frames. Break out of the box and start switching up frames and hooks! A basic bullethead spinnerbait head can be poured for $0.75 with good components. You can start with a basic Hotpot lead melter a Do-It bullethead spinnerbait mold for about $75-100. 

 

Allen