|
By Stan Fagerstrom
Part 1
There is usually more than one way to do darn near anything.
Nowhere does that bit of profundity apply more distinctly than in fishing. Let’s narrow it down even more and point specifically to fishing spinnerbaits for bass. Are you somebody who simply throws your spinnerbait to the nearest cover and then reels it back in without varying either the speed of your retrieve or the depth at which the lure travels?
 |
Slow rolling a spinnerbait produced this dandy bass. Every now and then a slow retrieve with a lure like the Stan's Spin is the most productive way to use it.
|
If you are you have lots of company. Most of us are inclined to take that approach to spinnerbait fishing and oftentimes it’s not the best way to go. Never have I had that proven to me quite as clearly as on those relatively rare occasions when I’ve been successful in talking my wife into joining me on a bass fishing adventure.
My wife is never going to be a full-blown bass fishing fanatic. I held onto that hope in the early years of our marriage, but it soon became obvious it wasn’t going to happen. Today I accept the fact she will go now and then, but only if the air temperature is between 72 and 78º and the wind is out of the west and blowing less than five miles per hour. And I also have to be sure the boat is clean and that there’s a soft pillow on the stern seat.
I don’t have to ask Anita what lure she wants to throw on those times she does come along. Her choice is a ½-ounce Pro Model Stan’s Spin with a white skirt. There’s no need to ask her if she wants to throw anything else. She’s convinced that if they’ll hit anything they’ll smack her white-skirted Stan’s Spin.
Now I had a hand in helping the good folks at Mack’s Lure bring the Stan’s Spin to market in the first place. I know it’s a dandy bait, but over a lifetime of bass fishing I’ve also learned that no one lure is always going to be best each time out. Even so, it pains me a little bit to admit how many times my better half has proven that she’s right--- that her Stan’s Spin is indeed a cinch to catch fish. Sometimes she sits back there in theboat and nails fish while I’m shooting blanks up front.
 |
| Few bass lures are as dependable day in and day out as a spinnerbait. The Mack's Lure Stan's Spin pictured here can be fished fast or slow as well as shallow or deep. |
There’s really no mystery as to why it happens. Why? Because Anita’s not in that common rut many of us dig for ourselves where spinnerbait fishing is concerned. She often makes just one cast where I’ve made two or three. It would probably drive me bonkers to fish my Stan’s Spin as slowly as I’ve watched her do.
Sometimes, and again more often than I care to admit, those stupid bass don’t seem to realize they shouldn’t mess around with a spinnerbait fished as slowly as my wife is doing. They just go ahead and bite the dang thing anyhow. They don’t seem to care one bit that I’ve got a lifetime of bass fishing experience and my wife doesn’t know beans about it and won’t lose any sleep because she doesn’t.
The reason all this comes about, of course, is connected to what I said in the beginning. There’s more than one way to do darn near anything. Sometimes taking a new and different approach with a spinnerbait, any other lure for that matter, is the best way to put bass in the boat.
I’ll share additional thoughts on this subject in my next column. Watch for it beginning Nov. 1.
|