Fish-Hawk.Net

It's with a big lump of pride in my throat that I ask for some guidance in the matter of spinnerbait fishing. I generally consider myself a pretty solid, well-rounded multi-species fisherman, but I can't catch a fish on the Ottawa River with a spinnerbait. I've tried many different colors, retrieves, locations, and still I have only caught one fish in probably something like 40 hours of spinnerbait fishing. I've seen at least half a dozen fish caught by other people in my boat on spinnerbaits. What am I doing wrong? I've tried burning, slow rolling, jerking, pausing, fluttering, white, chartreuse, green, black. The only thing I can really think of would be the fact that all the spinnerbaits I own are willowleaf and maybe in the dirty Ottawa a Colorado might be best?? But then again, my neighbor caught 3 fish one morning on the exact same boo-yah spinnerbait I had. Anyway, if anyone has any advice please help me out!! Thanks a bunch.
Tight lines everyone,
Yannick

p.s. After completing this post I realized that probably 95% of the replies to this post will be endorsements for Northam, so how do I catch fish on non-Northam spinnerbaits in the Ottawa?

boo-ya and strike king fan so no worries. ok well what i like to do is fish it right under the surface( if you get a little wake behind it its the best) fish are DUMB but not that dumb, they can tell if its fake, so if its not windy a fish swims up to get it and sees its a spinner bait but if its windy they look up and the choppy water throws it off and think its food, by making the wake on non windy days it hepls for that too. dont let anyone tell you spinnerbaits arnt weedless(THEY ARE) so i like to throw them in some cover(not a worm though so not to thick) but yes and a trailer hook is a must. and as you retrive as slow as possible while keeping it just under the surface pause just long enough to make the blades spin in a different direction (btw i throw spinnerbaits almost half the time im fishing so trust me on this one its good advice) oh yeah and use black and gold patterns, and white,chartruse,and red(strike king bleeding bait) good fishing

Yannick,

Sounds like you're really eager to get those spinners working for you....I think patience is all you need since it looks like you've got the persistance. Funny thing I find about spinners is, one day they're hot and next day they're not. I think if you catch the right day, you won't be able to keep em' off your line. The fall (yay) is coming up which means the feedbag will be on very soon so don't fret. Have you tried anything like varying your retrieve speeds, or jerking/jigging your rigs? Have you added trailers such as wigglers in the skirts or adding a little bit of flavor? These ideas produce favorable results for me.

As for putting in your time, I know where you're coming from. I've spent 3 seasons chasing browns on the fly with every insect in the Grand River System. I have managed to bag two little guys and have lost about 10 big ones. I know one day I'll get it down!

keep it reel,

Gangus_Spawn

Carmine13 wrote:boo-ya and strike king fan so no worries. ok well what i like to do is fish it right under the surface( if you get a little wake behind it its the best) fish are DUMB but not that dumb, they can tell if its fake, so if its not windy a fish swims up to get it and sees its a spinner bait but if its windy they look up and the choppy water throws it off and think its food, by making the wake on non windy days it hepls for that too. dont let anyone tell you spinnerbaits arnt weedless(THEY ARE) so i like to throw them in some cover(not a worm though so not to thick) but yes and a trailer hook is a must. and as you retrive as slow as possible while keeping it just under the surface pause just long enough to make the blades spin in a different direction (btw i throw spinnerbaits almost half the time im fishing so trust me on this one its good advice) oh yeah and use black and gold patterns, and white,chartruse,and red(strike king bleeding bait) good fishing

Good Advice .....

Except I would leave out the trailer hook .....

Don't worry i've been out fished 7 to 1 with a boo ya vs my white colorado northam spinner.....but in the long run, i caught up to him. 3: words "colorado-blade white spinner" over weed beds and on the weed lines.

p.s. boo ya spinners are just as good for catching fish, they just won't last as long as northam.

i odnt think leaving out a trailer hook would be a good idea, i used them starting this year and its put me up 4 fish i wouldnt have had, may not be much but it could be that big one that takes a hit and misses, it just ups you odds

Ever had to take a trailer hook out of the sandtrap of a 4lb bass ....

I do really well for bass on the Ottawa throwing spinnerbaits - surprised nobody mentioned Terminator baits yet... awesome baits with titanium wire.... no trailer, no stinger hook, just fish them plain most times.

short writeup posted at:

http://www.bountyfishing.com/story/let- ... mallmouths

cheers,
LK

a trailer hook!!!

i tried that once.

my line got cought in the trailler 2 out of 6 times.

the trailer hook is always on the flip side of what its supposed to be.....

i think trailler hooks are made for trolling...

even then....

do the musky guys use trailler hooks??????????

or are they just another probleme when trying to unhook a musky?

I started to use Northams this year. Over the years I tried a pile of spinnerbaits. Good ones & cheap ones, but for my dollar it's a Northam.

Gangus_Span wrote: Funny thing I find about spinners is, one day they're hot and next day they're not. I think if you catch the right day, you won't be able to keep em' off your line.

I found this quite true so far this year.

One thing I've noticed this year is I'm getting a lot of "bumps" on my spinnerbaits. This frustrated me to the point of even putting on a trailer hook on one outing, and I NEVER use a trailer on a spinnerbait.

This has been a wierd year for fishing so far with extended cold to cool water to deal with.

DropShot'r

I had the same problem last year and someone recommended adding grub and that made the difference for me

What type of rod are you using? That could be the issue.

Again...

One day fish will aggressively attack.......... the Very next day forget it

i like the dead-slow retrieve... Burning it has been very unproductive for bass (though a number of pike were produced)... dead-slow... trying to get it low, has worked...

BUT..

I think that was just cause i was finding where the fish were at... had they been suspended, it wouldn't have caught fish.. IMO.

Definately concur, hot one day, not the next...

White/Red combo has been by-far the most productive on clear-water... black/blue on the ottawa R. Blue = fish on the Ottawa more often than not (for me)... but confidence is 99% of fishing...

i like the dead-slow retrieve... Burning it has been very unproductive for bass (though a number of pike were produced)... dead-slow... trying to get it low, has worked...

BUT..

I think that was just cause i was finding where the fish were at... had they been suspended, it wouldn't have caught fish.. IMO.

Definately concur, hot one day, not the next...

White/Red combo has been by-far the most productive on clear-water... black/blue on the ottawa R. Blue = fish on the Ottawa more often than not (for me)... but confidence is 99% of fishing...