Entry 82-1
Shaw Grigsby On Spinner Baits
One Of Shaw Grigsby's Favorite Strike King Lures - The Spinner Bait
Editor's Note: Shaw Grigsby of Gainesville, Florida, has a TV show titled "One More Cast" on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) that airs from January through December on Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. and then appears again two more times during the week. Shaw, a well-known professional angler, enjoys fishing all the Strike King baits, especially the spinner baits.
Grigsby: Strike King spinner baits are one of my favorite lures, because they are so extremely versatile and dependable. During a year of tournament fishing, I'll catch 50 percent of the bass I take on a Strike King spinner bait. Regardless of water color, wind condition or weather conditions, I believe I can always catch bass on a Strike King spinner bait. I know that if I can't take bass on any other lure, I still can catch them on spinner baits.
The spinner bait for me is both my primary bait (the one I'm most likely to fish first) and my fall back bait - the lure I'll be fishing when no other bait will produce bass for me. I've found that the spinner bait works best during the spring of the year when I'm fishing in stained water, and the bass are about a week or two away from going to their beds to spawn. Once the bass are spawning, I can still catch them on spinner baits. But I believe I catch the most bass on spinner baits the week or two just before the spawn. However, there's no time of the year and no water conditions when the spinner bait isn't appropriate and successful.
This year Strike King has some new spinner baits that have unique advantages. The new Silhouette, the Compact and the Bleeding Bait spinner baits from Strike King are almost identical, except for the head designs. One has a ball-style head, and the other has a fish-style head. The biggest advantage to these three spinner baits is that they are small yet bulky spinner baits. For instance, a 1/2-ounce spinner bait is a big, bulky spinner bait. But if you have that same 1/2-ounce spinner bait on a 3/16-ounce frame, the Compact and Silhouette baits will give you the advantage of being able to make some extremely-long casts and burn the spinner bait across the surface like fishermen enjoy doing in the fall. But the bait won't break the surface and will track true.
Also, this spinner bait will fall fast, and you can work it extremely slow across the bottom. Small frame, small blades and a heavy head characterize both the Silhouette and the Compact spinner baits. These lures also solve a major problem when you're fishing for smallmouth and spotted bass. Both these types of bass will hit small baits, but they also like spinner baits. So, these new Strike King lures give you the best of both worlds. They're also really effective in extremely clear lakes.
