spinnerbaits vs. in-lines...

[stushsky]

hi red,
hopefully you and your clients had a great learningfull 2009. just curious about your and others thoughts on this subject...not sure if spinnerbaits fall into your category of baits that you utilize with any frequency but was wondering about thoughts concerning both.
ok, say a db whatever size blade in-line with two trebles vs a spinnerbait with two hook points...main with a trailer. i did very very well this past year with db's with 6 hook points and threw spinnerbaits 1/100 of the time with nothing followed / hooked but i beleive it may be because i just didn't have the confidence in them! i realize spinnerbaits can be better tools in some "cover" situations but then again the two hook points only scared me to the pint where i didn't make many casts with them! should i worry about hook-ups with two hook-point spinnerbaits vs six hook-point db's or not?
i know, i know, "dance with who brung ya" but we are all looking for something better!
thanks and a wonderfull muskyfull new year to all!

[ThreeRiversEsox]

Why worry about it if you aren't even using them?? If you did very very well last year why change anything?? If you have confidence in it, and you're catching fish, why over think it? It is just a fish you're trying to fool.

[Ivan]

I don't cast a whole lot, but we have had pretty good days on both in-line and safetypin bucktails. From my experience, it seems that the two are usually not good at the same time...we either get them on in-lines or spinnerbaits. Also, our best spinnerbaits have trebble hooks. I remember several years ago, on a local lake one Friday night, we put a 36, 47.5, and a 49.25" in the boat on spinnerbaits in about 2 hrs. They wouldn't touch anything else for us.

Maybe spend more time with your spinnerbaits when the in-lines aren't doing so well for you.

Adam A

[stushsky]

3riversesox...of course i over-think it...i fish 100% muskies...lol! if i didn't over think it i'd be fishing for musky bait type fish! i just don't want to be possibly "missing anything" because of my low confidence with only a two hook point bait.

adam...in your saying your "best" spinnerbaits are those with trebles do think it's because of the trebles you are getting "better" hook-ups / boated fish or is it the spinnerbait itself that gives a different "look" / "vibration" in the water that gives the spinnerbait the edge at times thus provoking strikes that you may not have gotten using in-lines?

[Ivan]

Most of the spinnerbaits we own have trebbles. I think we only have a couple muskie size spinnerbaits that are single hooks. I think we catch more on the trebble hooked ones because that's what we use most. I can't speak for the hooking ability of single hooked spinner baits. I only mentioned the trebble hooks to begin with because you seemed concerned about hooking ability of single hooks.

[stushsky]

thanks ivan as your reply is greatly appreciated,
just curious, how much of your time is spent yearly fishing western pa waters?

[Ivan]

I usually spend quite a bit of time on Pymatuning from March/April through June over the last 6 or 7 years. I used to fish Arthur some, but not much more than a day or two a yr now. I have also fished Conneaut, Edinboro, Woodcock, Wilhelm, Canadohta, Tamarack, Tionesta, Kinzua, Glendale, Keystone, Mahoning, and probably some others I'm forgetting.

I maybe spend about 1/3 or my season, at the most, in western PA and most of the time, anymore, that is Pyma.

[Red Childress]

I have not faired very well using blades here on the river but on other lakes they seem to perform pretty well. Some guys troll the heck out of the safety-pin models and catch big fish, especially on Georgian Bay.

I know a few old-timers who trolled them exclusively back when Kinzua was a pretty hot gig and they did well by contacting bottom/stumps without snagging too badly. As far as single hooks vs. trebles, I would use trebles unless pulling through dense weeds.

[Anzomcik]

This might help, might not. I have never landed a muskie on a inline, had follows and lost fish (5 fish) But i have landed fish on safty pin, even baits with one hook.

i might be partial to bass style vs. inlines, and it might explain why i catch more fish on them. I catch alot of pike during a year, I fish a lake that it super over loaded with pike and they hit just about anything. I do catch pike on lines there and bass style, personal i have a hair better hook up on the inline, but for the most part i land most every pike that hits on this body of water.

If you ask me, i would have at least one or two bass style baits in your box. I was never a big fan of bass style until this one day, it was tough fishin. The i had a small patch of clouds cover the sun. Ran to my best spot, secound cast with bass style, landed a big pike. 5 minutes later big muskie 48+ missed the bait, couple casts later missed again. As the clouds passed i had follow from a 40" class fish. It was the only bait i could use to put flash and thump in the water in this spot. this spot was chocked up with weeds and it slid though and moved fish.

[Muskiekid]

In my case I've caught fish in lakes with a ton of vegetation with spinnebaits, but never on inline spinners. Mainly, because they get a lot of hydrilla on them and continually get fouled up.

On Rivers I have used inline spinners, but never spinnerbaits. Usually not a problem with them getting hung up since the vegetation isn't as dense.

I believe it's a confidence thing.