From Bassin' Magazine
Create Your Own Spinnerbait
Story & Photos By John Neporadny Jr.

Buying a good spinnerbait can be a bargain since it is a lure for all seasons. However, buying the perfect spinnerbait for each situation you encounter can be quite expensive. Since spinnerbaits come in a wide array of sizes, colors and blade configurations, you could go broke trying to buy one of each type.

The most cost-effective solution to this problem is to make your own spinnerbaits from scratch or buy some standard spinnerbaits and change the skirts and blade configurations.

- Advertisement -

“When you are out there fishing, you run into a lot of different situations, and you might not have the spinnerbait in your boat that fits the exact need of the day or the time and instance,” says Bassmaster Elite Series pro Edwin Evers. “I want something that is not just chartreuse and white or white or chartreuse, and that is what 90 percent of the spinnerbaits are.”
 Evers carries lots of spinnerbait components in his boat and customizes his blade baits on the water. The Oklahoma pro estimates he uses customized lures for 90 percent of his spinnerbait tactics.
Likewise, North Carolina pro Guy Eaker often relies on a hybrid spinnerbait to catch tournament bass. He combines a diamond-head body with No. 31⁄2 Colorado blades and No. 41⁄2 willow-leaf blades to make a spinnerbait that will roll over logs and limbs without snagging. The tournament veteran also adds his own skirt that he pulls down so it covers the hook point.
“I always use a little grub in either white or chartreuse to add a little action,” reveals Eaker. “It makes that thing look alive.”
Eaker now uses a Longshank spinnerbait that closely resembles his hybrid model.
However, you don’t have to be a pro to customize spinnerbaits. It’s actually an easy process. Even the novice angler can make blade baits similar to those used by the pros. All you need is the right stuff.

Spinnerbait Heads
If you want to build a spinnerbait from scratch, molds are available in a variety of sizes. Eaker recommends buying molds in 1⁄4- and 3⁄8-ounce weights, since those sizes are employed most often for spinnerbait techniques. He suggests adding a 1⁄2-ounce mold for special situations such as probing deep water. 
Mike Kane, owner of Tournament Force Tackle, began his business by building his own spinnerbaits for himself and friends. He suggests anglers can buy spinnerbait body molds from Do-It Corporation. His business also sells pre-made heads for blade baits in 1⁄8-, 1⁄4-, 3⁄8-, 3⁄4- and 11⁄2-ounce sizes.
“Most really good tournament fishermen just buy a generic spinnerbait and modify it,” advises Kane.

Wire Options
“A lighter-wire spinnerbait definitely gets more bites because it allows the blades to vibrate more and create vibration,” discloses Kane. “The downside though is that they are the least durable.”
Novice anglers often are tempted to buy .050-gauge wire for their spinnerbaits because it lasts forever. However, Kane warns these blade baits will catch one-third less fish. The tackle-store owner recommends using a thinner-gauge wire of .032 to .035.
The length and bend of the wire can also affect the performance of a spinnerbait. Eaker suggests you can make a spinnerbait with any size blades run straight if the length of the wire from the R-bend to the head is about 11⁄8 inches. He warns if the distance is any longer, the spinnerbait will start running on its side. He also prefers the top wire to be long enough so it bends down and barely misses the tip of the hook.
Kane claims there has to be a compromise in wire length.
“Spinnerbaits with longer wires roll less because the longer wire gives the weight of the head more leverage on the blade,” he says. “But the downside of a longer wire is that you get blade strikes (bass hitting at the blade rather than the body). It’s always best if you can keep that back blade as close as possible to the end of the hook without going too far past it.”
Bending the wire also prevents rollover.
“You can adjust the wire, and the more you open the distance between the head and the tip of the blade, the more grip the bait will have in the water, which means it will tend to roll over more,” Kane warns. “When you close the gap and bring the blades closer to the hook, it comes through the water smoother so the blades have less grip in the water, and it tends to roll less.”
This same trick allows you to adjust the retrieval speed of your blade bait.
“If you want to make the spinnerbait go faster to trigger more strikes, you squeeze the wire down so you can crank the spinnerbait faster,” Kane discloses.

Blades
Evers stocks his boat with a wide array of blade sizes and colors so he can match the forage he sees while on the water.
“Traveling the country like we do, we just run into all kinds of different instances where we see what the shad look like and wish that we had a spinnerbait that would match that a little better,” says Evers.
He feels more confident in throwing a spinnerbait that closely resembles the baitfish rather than relying on a basic white or chartreuse blade bait. The four-time B.A.S.S. winner carries mostly gold, silver and copper blades ranging in size up to No. 7. His assortment of blade styles includes Colorado, Indiana and willow-leaf versions, as well as a few Oklahoma models that look like a pregnant willow-leaf blade.
“You don’t want the blades to be overpowering or overbearing,” warns Evers. “If you get too big of a blade on the front, that back blade won’t even spin or won’t spin very fast.”
He recommends spacing the blades correctly by adding or removing beads to make the blades spin right. Eaker favors combining silver and gold blades for his customized spinnerbaits.
“My belief is when I bring a spinnerbait over a log, I see those two colors and it gets my attention (and also the fish’s),” he says. 
His favorite blade combination for fishing in cold water is a No. 2 or 3 Colorado blade with a No. 4 Colorado. If he thinks the bass are feeding on small minnows, he will install this blade combination on a 1⁄4-ounce spinnerbait. He believes this combo is ideal for beginners.
“You can catch more fish out of ponds with that one, and kids can catch fish on it,” Eaker advises. “It won’t always catch the big ones, but it will catch more fish.”
As the water warms up in spring, Eaker opts for a No. 3 or 31⁄2 Colorado blade combined with a No. 4 or 5 willow leaf. His choice for fishing muddy water or deep along bluffs is a single No. 6 Colorado blade.
Kane believes choosing the proper colors and blade combination is the most important factor in building your own spinnerbait.
“Some of the spinnerbaits in my box don’t have any paint on the head,” he says. “A lot of guys get hung up on the skirt color, but if the skirt color is white, there are 50 different shades of white that will work just fine. But choosing the right blade combination is going to be the difference between catching and not catching fish.”
Kane suggests buying hundreds of blades in a wide array of sizes, colors and types. The tackle-store owner has experimented in matching up various head and blade sizes to change the performance of his blade baits.
“It is a juggling act,” he says. “There are all kinds of uses for a spinnerbait. With small blades, you can make a spinnerbait go faster. With larger blades, you have to slow down the retrieve to keep the spinnerbait from rolling over.”

Components
Buying quality components costs more, but in the long run, you will save money.
“I would recommend that you buy the highest quality components overall that you can buy,” says Kane. “Otherwise, they tarnish when you put them away wet.”
Evers assembles his spinnerbaits with high-quality ball-bearing swivels to make sure his blades spin right. His spinnerbait parts supply includes thin-wire split rings that allow him to clip on blades easier, clasps for his front blades and round beads for spacers.
While some spinnerbaits are assembled with beads placed between the R-bend and the clevis for the front blade, Eaker places all of his beads behind the clevis.
“I put a No. 2 or 3 Colorado blade on that clevis and slide it down, and then put on two silver or two gold beads and then a larger red bead last,” he says. “I feel like I get more strikes with that red bead.”
When fishing a spinnerbait in vegetation, Eaker switches to a double willow-leaf combination and adds four regular beads and the larger red bead to his blade bait. He uses more beads for spacing to prevent the willow-leaf blades from hitting each other.

Skirts
All three spinnerbait builders prefer silicone skirts for their spinners.
“In some instances, such as muddy or dingy water, or if it is a tough bite and I need to flare that skirt, then I like a living rubber skirt,” says Evers. “A lot of times you can get that living rubber in a duller color like yellow rather than chartreuse, and I have found that it really works well.”
Kane uses 100-percent virgin silicone for his spinnerbait skirts.
“We have found that recycled silicone is much stiffer and doesn’t breathe in the water as well,” Kane adds.
Finding the right amount of strands for his spinnerbait skirt is a trial-and-error process for Evers. Kane recommends using about 50 to 60 strands per skirt for most spinnerbait tactics, while Eaker usually thins his skirts down to 30 strands.
“I want it more streamlined to look like a minnow running rather than a big, bulky thing,” Eaker says.
With a pair of needle-nose pliers and all the components, you can make a spinnerbait that matches the forage and conditions better and triggers more strikes than a store-bought model.

Want more great articles from Bassin' and Crappie World magazines?
Click here to download PDF articles just as they appeared in print.