I've noticed that fisherman will burn lipless cranks in the winter time to get a reaction strike, what about a spinner-bait? Now i know the spinner-bait winter rule; BIGGEST colorado blade you can get a way with and reeled in as slow as possible, but, how about tearin through the water as well, maybe instead of a colorado blade, substitute it for a willow leaf blade?

You can burn anything. It just means retrieving very fast. The art of burning a spinnerbait it just that, an art. Matching the right weight with the right size willow leaf blades in order to burn in just under the water without breaking the surface.

I was catching fish after fish last Friday burning a white spinnerbait.  Burning a spinnerbait is a great way to get a reaction strike, especially around or above grass beds.  I like to move it fast enough so that the blades break the surface just a bit, and it makes a little bit of a wake.

And by the way, there are no "rules" in bass fishing!  I certainly wouldn't follow the one you mention there.  I use a willow/colorado combo almost all the time, winter or summer.  

Smaller blades on the spinnerbait=easier burning.Larger blades lift more and can also cause the bait to roll if retrieved too fast.A single willow can be the fastest. Burning a spinnerbait can be done deep too.If you take a 3/4 to 1oz head with 2 small willows or one single then you can get the same effect.Crash it into things on the bottom and grind it over humps and ledges or deep wood.

A chatterbait is another good option. Burning a worm or craw such as a paca craw or rage tail is not unheard of either.Certain buzzbaits are better for fast retrieves too.A buzzer burned past a certain spot over and over has been known p iss a few bass off.

Good Luck 8-)

Burning a bait is just 1 option, it's our job as anglers to find as many option with a bait and use them until we find success everyday we go fishing.

Garnet

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Strike King now has a burner spinnerbait with smaller blades.

This is a technique I use for smallmouth in the spring.  It works best if its cloudy with a breeze.   I burn it just under the surface.  The smallies come from 15' and slam it, ripping the rod from my hands.

KVD recommended shortening the skirt to the hook, shortening the blade are 1/2 inch and downsize the blades so you can reel fast without the bait spinning.

This was before The Burner which addresses these issues.

On the subject of burning.....I saw KVD on TV a while back saying he HAD to burn his crank across a certain main lake point in order to trigger the fish into biting.  Now how many of us would have just moved on thinking there was nobody home???

I will burn a spinner-bait all day long, preferably a white skirt with a colorado/ willow leaf blade combination.

Have fun!

One of the best ways I have found to pick apart veggies and pads while prefishing to get on a cluster of fish REAL FAST is burning a frog. Just to see where they are or if in a team tourney having the guy in the back ready to follow it up with a senko or something.

Reaction strikes are a wonderful thing   8-)

You can burn anything. It just means retrieving very fast. The art of burning a spinnerbait it just that, an art. Matching the right weight with the right size willow leaf blades in order to burn in just under the water without breaking the surface.

This could easily spin off onto a different thread but sometimes it's actually useful to let the spinnerbait or inline spinner break the surface every now and again.  I believe the sudden..."change" can provoke a strike.  I've seen it happen numerous times.

On the subject of burning.....I saw KVD on TV a while back saying he HAD to burn his crank across a certain main lake point in order to trigger the fish into biting. Now how many of us would have just moved on thinking there was nobody home???

He 's KVD.  

Think of him as the Chuck Norris of bass fishing.

KVD had an article in bassmaster magazine about burning spinner baits in cold weather, he said that it caught bigger fish than a lipless crank.

This is something I've read about may times over but haven't done it in the winter/spring. Since I'm a little further north than most, what water temps do you look for to determine whether the conditions are right for burning any lure?

If it doesn't roll over and will stay running true, you can and should try burning it. Might just be what the fish are looking for or not expecting.