A buddy of mine gave me a few of these and I'm curious how and when to use them.

Is there a specific time of year they work best in or is it a year round bait? What are the best sizes, colors and ways to fish them?

Are they mainly for quanity or will they provide quality fish? Also, how are they in ponds?

They are a great little lure. I catch bass and pan fish on them. Most are small but I do catch some decent fish, especially smallmouth in rivers.

BTW white "seems" to be the best color for me. Yellow would come in second.

Dude beetle spins are KILLER. They work year round for us down here in Louisiana. Ive caught everything from bunches of bluegill, bass, and even a few redfish on the bigger ones. Bubblegum will always be my favorite and most productive color 8-)

They catch catfish too. :

Good or bad?? Up to you.

I saw that one of the bass on the 2007 Michigan master ang. list was caught on a beetle spin.

Like has been said, I rarely get big fish, but I almost always get some fish, on Beetle Spins.  It's one of those classic lures that is perpetually good.   White, black w/ yellow, and yellow w/ black work best for me.  

I love beetle spins for one main reason, the fact that they are extremely universal as far as fish species.  I've many different species on this lure.  Was one of my favorite bass fishing lures when I was little because it was so easy to use.

Amazing in ponds and will catch a lot of smaller bass.  They are also good in tough conditions.