Ive had very low success with spinnerbaits and i feel that it is because i cant  distinguish the hot spots to fish them. obviously between/next to stumps and logs, but if theres 50 logs in an inlet, how do you decide where the fish are gonna be holding?

The only time I have EVER had luck with a spinner was off a friends boat dock and I tossed it past a steep drop off and slowly reel'd it up the side of the ledge I've managed to cast a friends hat once off his head  :-/.

I have never been a real big fan of spinners either...

My wife and Father in law throw them all of the time with fairly good success. I think some of it has to do that they have confidence in using it...so they fish them well.  One of the things with spinners I have noticed is that there are variables...

how many blades, what shape blades, what color, what size, length of the skirt, yadda yadda yadda. I think spinners work fine once a pattern has already been established using other baits. For instance...if the fish are active/aggressive and hitting my crank...my wife will throw a three or four bladed spinner of a similar color. If the fish are slower they will throw a smaller single blade and draw it in slow...pausing to let it fall or pulling it up on occassion...

these are just my observations though...I have tried using the spinners like they do and still do not do as well...so I do not use them often.

Spots like that can be a little overwhelming! Look for spots that offer the best ambush spots. Start with the logs that are out next to deeper water and cast past your target and bring the bait past. Don't forget to try from different angles (are they holding on the sun side or the shady side?) and vary your retrieve until the bass tell you what they want on that day. If there is vegatation, the logs with the more dense grass or a variety of grass (ex. hydrilla and lily pads) will be more productive as well. Sometimes it takes multiple casts to the same spot in order to frustrate them enough into hitting. Hope this helps!

Spinnerbaits are a low confidence bait for me as well.  I've gotten to the point where I only throw classic twin blade (small colorado, larger willowleaf) in silver and gold, with white or chartruese/white skirts.  I also only throw on windy days accross the wind blown points.   I do pretty well under these conditions but can't seem to buy a strike any other time with one major exception.  A large black bladed single colorado spinnerbait is an excellent lure for night fishing the shallows.

You best bet it to look for the stumps that offer a little more, example adjacent to deeperwater, or another type of cover.  Target the shaded sides of the stumps.  Cast beond the stump and reel to it or Drop it right next to it.  Bang or deflect it off them this can cause reaction strikes.  Spinnerbaits are more of a search bait, once you find out where they are holding move in with a finesse type bait, Goodluck!

I rarely throw spinnerbaits mostly because it seems that everybody does. This spring, as a result of several threads on the forum, I decided to fish them a few times. Well, I can assure you, they do work! I fished them parallel to the bank, along and extended ledge with some success. I also found them to be particularly effective along weedlines. Although I'm still not a big fan, the strike can be awesome!

I bought a couple of big (3/4 oz) Ledgebusters to fish deep water for smallmouth. Although I didn't catch a bass on my first outing, I did catch the biggest drum I have ever seen. Maybe that doesn't count, but at the time, I thought it was the World Record smallmouth!