I can't even begin to tell you the entire history of the spinnerbait. I'm guessing that they have been around for fifty years or more. I know that they have been around during my thirty-two year angling career.
Bass, Pike, Musky, and even Walleye will take them throughout the entire season. Down sized versions will even take Crappies and other panfish.
In general, they haven't changed much. But looking at their specific details they have changed. Blades are available in dozens of sizes, shapes, colors, and finishes. Skirts are available in hundreds of colors and varied materials giving them very lifelike appearances. And now even the lead-heads are given life with very detailed features that would make you swear they were alive. I guess the spinner bait hasn't changed, but it's certainly been refined.
That's where Do-Its new Ultra Spinnerbait molds take you. Refining the look of your homemade spinner baits to rival those hottest true-to-life baits you are seeing in all the tackle shops.
There's no doubt that the old bullet heads, banana heads, or even round heads will still catch fish. But in our hard fished, or clear waters, some times the littlest detail that makes a lure look more real can mean the difference between a looker and an eater. The Ultra Minnow spinnerbait molds give you that edge.
The ultra minnow molds are available in two sizes. The SJU-3-SA will mold three smaller sizes including a one-quarter, a three-eighths, and a one-half ounce head. Hook sizes will range from a 2/0 in the smallest to a 4/0 in the largest. These three sizes are perfect for both the largemouth and small mouth bass enthusiasts.
The second mold is the SJU-3-MA. This one creates a five-eighths, a three-quarter, and a one ounce bait. All three of these molds will accept either 4/0 or 5/0 hooks. These sizes are great for bigger Bass, Pike and even Musky. Or in other situations, where you need to fish a little faster or deeper.
All the molds will accept Do-Its prebent spinner jig wire forms made from 0.040 diameter wire. Or you can bend your own using 0.041 stainless wire.
The detail on these heads are truly incredible and my photos probably don't do them justice. The bodies have detailed scales, gill covers, mouths and eye sockets.
The eye sockets will accept either painted eyes, 2D stick-on eyes or even 3-D stick-on eyes. In my opinion, if you are going to put the effort into a highly detailed baitfish head of this type, spend the extra dime and go 3-D on the eyes. The bait really pops with the 3-D eyes.
Any type of paint you are currently using will work fine. The trick is to keep the coats to a minimum so you don't end up hiding all the detail with a thick build-up. I use one coat of primer (I use spray Zinnser Cover Stain) and then spray enamels. When your painting is complete, add your eyes.
Now is the finishing touch that really makes them come to life. Your final finish will be a topcoat of clear epoxy. It works great for lures, too. For smaller quantities, I like Devcon 2-TON (available at any Wal-Mart and many hardware stores). Both of these epoxy coatings are applied with a brush and hung or rotated till cured. The clear coat will not only make the finish come alive, but it will protect the finish through years of abuse from timber, rocks, and of course fish!
Skirts are an article in themselves. Pre-made skirts are available in hundreds of colors to imitate all kinds of baitfish and some old stand-by colors. Standard skirts come five and a half inches and work for most Bass baits. The silicone or Lumiflex skirts are awesome and you'd swear that some have actual fish scales.
I'm old fashion when it comes to skirt materials. I still make most of my baits using good old round rubber. It's not as fancy as the silicone, but I like the flexibility of using different lengths and mixing my own colors.
Round-rubber comes in strips about one-inch wide (about 44 strands). You cut off what you need and tie it to the collar. When it's tied in place you can pull it to separate the individual strands.
I prefer tying the rubber using size D thread and coating the thread with clear nail polish. Clear Sally Hansen “Hard As Nails” is great stuff. I like using thread better than the rubber collars because I think the thread can be tied tighter giving the rubber more spring.
Any spinnerbait hook will work in these molds. I really like the Eagle Claw L255 long shank hook. For me, it has nearly eliminated the constant need for trailer hooks.
Blades are a personal preference but here are a couple winners for me. For spring Bass try a one-quarter ounce head will a single #3 Colorado. For summer Bass and Pike I like a one-half or five-eighths head with tandem willow blades in sizes 3.5 and 4.5 . For Pike and Musky I like the three-quarters ounce or one ounce head coupled with tandem Colorados in sizes 4 and 6.
Here in Wisconsin where I fish, we have some excellent lakes that host great populations of Bass, Pike, Walleye, and Musky. On these lakes, you'd love to “fish for everything”. Well, to some extent you can. My favorite method on these multi-species lakes is to run-and-gun using a large single blade spinner bait like the one-ounce Ultra Minnow.
I pour this one-ouncer with 0.041 wire, a 6/0 Mustad #3407 hook and add a #6 Indiana blade. The skirt is two and one-half strips (approx. 100-110 strands) of round rubber. This skirt volume gives the bait a very robust look that appeals to all the larger game fish. The single #6 Indy blade offers the versatility to fish fast and shallow, slow and deep or anything in between. I've caught fish bulging it through shallow lilys and lift and dropping it along deep weedlines. You can literally work your way around a lake, encountering all kinds of depths or structure and never change lures. And catch Bass, Pike, Musky and even Walleye in the process. It's a great approach for kids or casual anglers because you are always catching something.
The new ultra-minnow spinner bait mold gives you the detail needed cope with the clear water and hard fished waters of this day and age. And as always, it's always more fun to catch a fish on a lure you made yourself!