On Friday my girlfriend asked me what keeps a bass from keying in on the blades of a spinner bait instead of the body.  I told her that while I don't know of a right answer, it seems that the blades are spinning and flashing which attracts the fish while the body had a constant profile and eyes that the fish keys in on.  I told her that I have never seen a bass attack the blades instead of the body.  Well yesterday afternoon I was slow rolling a spinner bait and caught a 2.5lber that was hooked about two inches down on the outside of his lower jaw.  It was as if he ate the blades and got hooked from underneath.  Now I have caught a lot of fish on spinner baits but I have never hooked a fish from below his jaw before.  Have you guys and gals ever experienced this?

Flash and vibration are the two keys that the blades give as the body and skirt give the lure bulk something easier for the Bass to see when attracted to it by the blades.

If you're slow rolling very close to the bottom I can see this happening, though usually most of mine are hooked on the inside.  For anything else but slow rolling the bass are usually swimming horizontal or up to get the bait so they are more likely to hit the bulky part of the lure.  Still, if you use a fairly sensitive rod you can sometimes feel the bass bump the blades but not take the lure.  It seems like they take a half-hearted swipe at the lure and brush by the blades.

That is definitely isn't something you hear about often!  I have heard of them trying to take the blade, as you slowly troll, but I haven't seen this myself!

Thanks Senile1, that's the answer I was looking for.  I was tapping the bottom with it.  Makes perfect sense now.  Still curious to know if this has happened to anyone else on here.  

Yes that happened to me twice in one day several years ago. I was running a black, single colorado bladed spinnerbait through some pads and hooked two bass up through the chin. Both fish were small. Can't remember it ever happening since.

I was throwing a spinnerbait one time when I saw this large dark shadow following my lure (it was a huge LM bass).  Right before I got the spinnerbait to the boat, the bass opened his mouth and enhaled the whole spinnerbait.  I went to set the hook and pulled the spinnerbait out of his mouth.  He then slowly just swam away.  That experience made me realize that maybe bass just eat the whole thing (blades, jighead, and skirt.)  

i was always told that with any lure a fish(especially a bass will hit it in the head or front so that if it was a real fish it would kill it faster and the blades are more toward the rear of the bait so i guess this makes sense,,,but i have been running a spinner class tot eh surface before and seen it jumo about a foot to either side witch i belive is a bass hitting the blades,i guess it all depends on were the fish is when it sees the lure and decides to eat it

Actually a bass will slap at a bait but not really biting it thus getting foul hooked; happens more often with crank baits, rat-l-trap, and such.

There have been so many times where the trailer hook has hooked em on the outside of the mouth, but with a trailer hook you never really know where the original bite was.

I have had lots of bass hit the blades but it is mostly because i fish alot of muddy water.

IMHO, this is a sure sign that you need to change the color of the skirt. It worked for me one day, after missing several fish. I finally hooked one through the lwer jaw, the way you described, and managed to catch a couple when I changed the skirt.

bass hit the blades quite a bit.  If you think about it....a bass inhales what it eats...the blade is usually further back than the hook point......logic says that its eating the blade and the skirt, you're just pulling the blade back out when the fish gets hooked.  

A lot depends on how the fish hit it, too.

I've had spinnerbaits just demolished from the side and the fish don't really get to do much other than grab the skirt portion.  I've seen them hit from the back and take blade and skirt.

One thing I haven't seen is a fish come from the front of the spinnerbait and then eat it.......they usually will move to the side and then either follow and hit or just smack real quick from the side.

I think bass do hit the blades more than we know. When I throw a blade I am throwing it certain times of year in places I know there are big bass are in stained water that hit a big SB. Majority of my spinnerbait fish seem to suck in the whole thing. Blades and all. so it seems they might hit the blades alot.

They hit a Mepps, and a Mepps is nothing but blades.

Come on it was your girlfriend you can tell her anything and would she know?