Spinner baits make great search baits for smallmouth. Pike like them as well, what don't they like? I took a guy up to Kawnipi in the early 90s who pulled out a big Colorado bladed blue and white skirted spinner bait. I thought he was crazy, what was he doing throwing a big largemouth bass bait like that up there? I was younger then and knew a lot less about fishing up there, I had no idea what was going to happen that afternoon. He started slamming big smallmouth after big smallmouth. I didn't have any spinner baits. I had a severe case of lure envy. I don't think I even owned one back home in the tackle box. I was sold after seeing this spectacular fishing. I don't use Colorado bladed spinner baits, but I do have a double willow blade with me at all times up north.

Have you ever been on a trip with someone who had the winning lure of the day or trip and you didn't have one in your tackle box? If so, what lure was it? Do you take one along with you on your trips as a staple in your tackle box now?

My first trip one guy had an Arbogast Jitterbug in black. Twilight fishing the smallies were slamming it. I bring two sizes with me now.

It was a 4” long silver Rapala with a red plastic bill, and Red gills, and a 1/4” black dot about halfway down the lure. That thing was deadly on most every cast. Other Rapala’s were not even looked at.
Another was a #3 Hot Pink Mepps Spinner. My buddy was catching 20’ Brook Trout with this lure. No one in our group had one but him, Go figure.

One time, I had the lure. Our family was a strictly bait fishing group. Under bobbers or trolled with bottom bouncers or spinner rigs. For my 9th birthday, my buddy gave me an original shad rap in tan/brown. Used it the next time we went trolling and caught more walleyes than the other three people in the boat combined. There were more shad raps in the tackle box after that.

Years ago when my dad was younger and still tripping with me, he put a whoopin’ on me on more than one occasion catching smallmouths with a fly rod and small poppers, while they ignored my jitterbugs and hula poppers.

On a trip with my wife we were pike fishing. She was using a strange rainbow (not rainbow trout either) colored spoon. The pike were hammering it. I made fun of her when she bought it about how it won't catch any fish, so naturally I didn't have anything close in my box. She crushed me that day and I still hear about it from time to time.

My first trip up north with my dad, brother and brother-in-law I had the lure. It was a blue/chrome husky jerk. I was ripping and pausing it and the smallies loved it. No one else even had a HJ so that time I had the right lure. I bought them all one for Christmas that year.

The only other time I remember anything like that happening was when I was a kid. This time again I had the lure. It was parrot colored round head jig. I don't know why the walleye wanted that color that night. I was the only one that had it and I was out-fishing everyone 5:1.

I cant remember having lure envy but I sure have had "bait envy". The finicky Mutton snapper offshore are sometimes the most picky eaters of any fish I have ever seen. If you don't have what they want you just get to watch the other guy............. "Oh man, he's got another one".

Nothing worse than just standing there while somebody is reeling in big fish after big fish while you just stand there and watch..........and even worse is while your watching you FINALLY get a bite and miss it because your watching some other cat.

Of course its sort of fun to be the guy (once in a while) that is doing all the reeling in while others watch.

Heres a story
I had fished all night and early in wee hours of the morning i went to my bunk. I awoke about midmorning and went on deck to find that the sleepy heads who had slept most of the night away were finally all on deck. I asked if anybody was doing anything and to a man they all answered that it was very slow and they were hoping Yuri would wake up and pull anchor.

I noticed a good current running and I had an argument inside my head. Part of me wanted to drop a 3oz jig with a ballyhoo on the back of it.........the other part of me firmly stated that the current was running to hard and I would never hold bottom.........But, I could get 2 drops, one to the bottom, and after it kited up I could let out some more line and hit again before having to reel in...........So I picked up the jig rod, baited up, and out it went.

The very first drop i was nailed. I never even felt the bite but I knew something wasn't quite right and I set up really hard. After much grunting a 35lb black grouper hit the deck. Sometimes you just get lucky. Those guys were fit to be tied after having been at the rail for a few hours without so much as a sniff. Life isn't always fair ;-)

I've run into a few times.

One of my river spots the best way to fish it is to pitch jigs along a current seam. Not sure why but other guys will come through throwing every lure out there. Some will try to fish it with bobbers and some will try to fish off the bottom with lindy rig style set ups. They'll all spend a lot of time and a lot of casts to maybe get one fish.

Meanwhile, I'll be pitching jigs catching fish consistently. The best example was one afternoon I made 5 casts and caught 5 quality fish, guys on both sides of me were dumbfounded as they had been there for hours and couldn't catch anything. One was using a bobber that he couldn't keep in the strike zone and the other guy was casting various lures that he couldn't get in the strike zone at all.

Its beyond me why anyone would go fishing without a basic jig or 50. After my 5th fish in a row guys were asking if I had any jigs they could borrow. I had to leave shortly after so I was generous and gave them each a jig with most of the paint chipped off and a plastic swim bait that was on its last legs. I told them they were lucky, normally the price of lures (even old used lures) goes WAY up when you get on the water.

These guys didn't have lure envy because all they like to use was live bait, but I think after our second round of fishing that day they were thinking maybe I need to try a Zulu.

Here is a little excerpt of my Zulu Magic article......

While living in Ely I was able to fish with some local friends (former fishing guides) who primarily target walleyes with night crawlers and leeches. They gave me the opportunity to tag along one early spring Saturday to fish Pipestone Falls on Basswood Lake . I like to eat walleyes, but I’d rather catch smallmouth bass. So I started casting the Zulu after I wasn’t having much luck with the live bait. I accidentally caught 4 walleyes, keeping pace with Scott and Chuck who had caught 5 and 4 walleyes respectively on live bait that morning. After lunch I talked them into going back to the falls to see if they were still hitting. I caught the next 4 walleyes to their nil upon our return in a short time period. Scott said those had to be the “dumbest” walleye he had ever seen before. All I knew was that the Zulu caught more walleyes than live bait that day and dumb walleyes taste just as good as smart walleyes.

We were fishing below a small falls that emptied into a bay. 4 of us fishing it fairly hard for a bit. So so results for 3 of us except the guy throwing a big maroon cast glittery tube bait called smoky cracker. As soon as he passed his buddy one there were 2 landing fish on nearly every cast. Smallies and wallies too. He got off a couple more and we were all burning them up for awhile. Either venom or kalins,I forget. Another time in a similar spot it was a reddish deep diving craw hardbait by rebel.

This was on a Twin Cities lake fishing for muskies. My buddy in the back of my boat caught three on a bass-sized Straight Shooter buzzbait to my nil. Ouch. It was early June and the muskies were ignoring other topwater lures. I eventually managed one strike (which I whiffed) on a muskie-sized jitterbug. Yes, I own a straight shooter now, and I believe they are no longer made.

What time of year is best for the spinner bait? I have not had much luck with them in spring (early June) as the water seems to cold for bass to chase baits.

What are your thoughts on this? Is the spinner bait a warmer water bait?

2 times stick out at me, once when I was pretty young (maybe 8) Ipulled out a spoon that was light green with black spots and started catching pike after pike. My dad had one and wouldn't switch to it although he was getting outfished brutally. he finally relented and tied on his, fired a cast which landed high in a limb of a overhanging tree. DOH!
It was great..... outfishing your dad is awesome when your that age.
The next day he came home from work with 10 of them from town and we headed out again..... of course nothing wanted that particular pattern! I still have several of those in my box.
There was a full sheet of Styrofoam on the wall at the bait shop completely covered with assorted spoons and as I recall they were $1

a few years ago I got hammered by a buddy who was fishing with a white spoon printed with "Bruce and Linda, June 15, 2014" or something like that. I hope Bruce and Linda are doing as good as there spoon was that day.

Hopp: "What time of year is best for the spinner bait? I have not had much luck with them in spring (early June) as the water seems to cold for bass to chase baits.


What are your thoughts on this? Is the spinner bait a warmer water bait?"

If water temps are close to or above 50 degrees this lure works for me.

We where pike fishing on LOW up by Nestor falls couple years back. My two companions had tackle boxes full of pike and Muskie lures, between them they boated 4 pike. I had the good fortune to have the only Mepps black fury #5 in the boat. I forget the exact number but I boated close to twenty fish that day. My Buddy carries a nice selection of them now. Some days you win...

Spinnerbaits will be excellent for pike right from the opener. Cast across the top of a weed bed, let it flutter down into a pocket, and hang on!

rpike: "Spinnerbaits will be excellent for pike right from the opener. Cast across the top of a weed bed, let it flutter down into a pocket, and hang on!"

Hasn’t happened to me yet, though I’ve had others wish they’d have packed what I was using. :)

Here’s a lure some might envy.

Bronco: "We where pike fishing on LOW up by Nestor falls couple years back. My two companions had tackle boxes full of pike and Muskie lures, between them they boated 4 pike. I had the good fortune to have the only Mepps black fury #5 in the boat. I forget the exact number but I boated close to twenty fish that day. My Buddy carries a nice selection of them now. Some days you win..."

i've always have had good success with the mepps musky killers. easy lure to work when pike are shallow.

I think half of my tackle box is there from lure envy.....lol.

shock
My buddies had lots of spinners but were in light colors whites ,yellows and pinks - reds that day black and dark green (frog) colors was all they would hit with gusto.