6. How to Make a Voluminous Spinnerbait
Voluminous Single Colorado Spinnerbait
I'm still trying to do it myself. The ease of casting varies from person to person, so please use it as a reference only. Try different amounts of skirts to suit your tackle and casting skills to find one that you feel comfortable with. I think it's a good idea to start by making a few at random and comparing the ease of casting.
Points to Note when doing this Tuning
Most spinnerbaits on the market stabilize their posture immediately after landing on the water, but lures with many skirts may not stabilize their posture. The following is a countermeasure.
Add a Sinker
By adding a split shot sinker to the hook shank to increase the weight, the lure's posture can be stabilized more quickly. The position and weight of the sinker also affect the lure's trajectory control, so consider these factors when adjusting.
It is also very important to tie it firmly with a fishing line so that the sinker does not fly when cast as shown in the picture above. This not only prevents accidents and injuries but also prevents the sinker from coming off when the lure hits a rock, etc.
Also, if posture stability is important, it is better to position the weight in the front, but it is also necessary to consider the ease of casting. To do that, need propulsion, and I sometimes intentionally place weights backwards to compensate for that propulsion.
Gather the Skirts to the Hook Point Side
On the left side of the picture is a spinnerbait with the skirts gathered to the hook point side. This tying is essential when the amount of skirts is large and the total weight of the lure is not very heavy. This tying improves the stability of the lure's posture after landing on the water.
The evenly tied one on the right side of the picture may swim upside down after the lure lands on the surface of the water.
Adding a heavy sinker to the hook shank will improve it, but if the total weight becomes too heavy, casting will be difficult. Also, if a lot of skirts gather on the hook point side, the skirt will guard the hook point and it will be difficult for the hook on the fish's mouth. Therefore, it is better to use one with a large hook depending on the amount of skirts. However, depending on one's perspective, this is also an advantage in that it is less likely to be caught by obstacles.
Use Lightweight Small Blades and Small Swivels
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| From left: No. 4, No. 3.5, No. 3, No. 2 |
For quick posture stability, it is preferable that the upper wire side is light. Therefore, it is better to use a light and small blade or swivel. Using them is also effective in reducing the sound when landing on the surface of the water. I often use No. 3 based on their ease of use.
Shorten the Upper Wire
A short upper wire is better for stabilizing the initial posture of a spinnerbait with a large amount of skirts, but if the upper wire is too short, it will not produce wiggling ripples that a drowning insect produces. The reason for this is that a large amount of skirts too close to the surface of the water will move the surface of the water and cancel out the small ripples produced by the blade.
However, since it depends on the length of the lower wire and the angle of the upper and lower wires, it is necessary to select and adjust a wire that can both produce small ripples caused by a small Colorado blade and stabilize the lure in a quick posture after landing on the water.
Volume Can be Slightly Reduced with the Same Number of Skirts
If a skirt is tied in large quantities in one division, the volume when swimming may seem large. In such cases, the volume when swimming can be reduced by dividing the skirt into two sections, upper and lower. For example, if there are 460 skirts, tie 160 skirts in the upper section and 300 skirts in the lower section, but the key is to make the upper section smaller than the lower section.
By doing so, this will slightly reduce the lure volume as it swims.
Also, tying many skirts in one section can cause the skirt to shift when a fish is caught or when casting. Therefore, I often use this technique when tying many skirts and try to tie them with thick monofilament lines to avoid damaging the skirt as much as possible. As for the skirt finish, there are two ways to align the skirt for a clean finish and another way to give it a rough finish. If you want to get a rough and uneven finish on purpose, it is better to tie a mixture of long and short ones.
Pros of Skirt One Section Tying
Tying a large amount of skirts in one section can result in too much volume when swimming, which can make it difficult to get bites from depending on the size of the bass. However, the larger volume has the advantage of allowing a slower retrieve speed.
Suitable Skirts
The thin, soft skirt on the left side of the picture moves well underwater, and I think some people prefer this type of skirt. But, when fishing for smart bass with this method, a stiff skirt that only slightly vibrates at the tip when swum is more suitable than a thin, soft skirt. Soft skirts are not suitable because the slightest movement of a rod tip is directly reflected in the skirt.
A smart bass can detect even the slightest unnatural movement of the lure.
When a smart bass is stuck right behind the lure, it is best to retrieve the lure at a constant speed without twitching or other actions. Also, a thin, flexible skirt is less likely to suppress the sound of the lure landing on the water than a normal skirt.
Suitable Wire
Bank fishing also involves casting from tight spaces. Therefore, it is necessary to cast sharply and compactly using a stiff and short rod that can suppress the bending width of the rod during casting. In such cases, I feel that it is easier to cast a lure with a hard wire that is hard to bend than a soft wire that is easy to bend. And even the slightest change in the wire opening affects the trajectory control of the flying lure in the air. This means that can also fine-tune the trajectory control of the lure by adjusting the opening of the wire. Therefore, a stiff wire that does not bend easily is suitable for this method, and it is also important to close the opening with thread to prevent the adjusted wire from spreading.
Lifeline
I often use this lure for sight fishing in open areas and rarely lose the lure if I use a thick line. Therefore, I sometimes use it until the wire breaks due to metal fatigue. So, it is a good idea to install a lifeline connecting the lower part of the head to the line eye so that the lure can be retrieved even if the wire breaks. In the past, when the wire broke during a fight with a bass, I caught that bass using only this lifeline.
How to Attach
Here I use two thick monofilament lines.
1, First, close the line eye.
2, Tie the other one under the head.
3, Cross it several times so that it wraps around the lower wire, bringing its ends closer to the line eye.
4, Tie it to the line eye closed in step 1.
Need to tie that mono line to the line eye on the upper wire side as well because in the past the lower wire has broken just below the closed line eye.
A thick monofilament line is used here, but a thin braided line will give a cleaner finish. Choose a line for your lifeline that will allow you to safely catch that bass even if the wire breaks during the fight with the bass.
Those are It Takes More Work than My Short Hair
If it gets wet and dries, the skirts will stick together. In that case, brush the skirt with a comb for dogs and cats that can be used for both coarse and fine hair.
If brush too hard with the narrow side, the skirt may be cut, so first use the wide side and brush lightly.
Over 500
When it gets to this point, I feel it's heavy and difficult to throw.
Find the volume and weight that you feel comfortable throwing.
