April 17, 2024
By Shane Beilue
Two of the very best shallow-water “power fishing” tools we have as anglers are the classic spinnerbait and the ever-popular bladed jig. These lures share many similarities, yet are also distinctly different, leading many anglers to wonder when to fish one over the other.
I’ve found that there is no cut-and-dry answer to this, but there are three situations I take into account that aid me in the selection process.
COVER TYPE
Living in Texas requires fishing a lot of shallow wood cover, and I often reach for a spinnerbait in those situations. The open-hook design of a bladed jig simply does not play well when crashed into shallow brush, as it is very prone to snagging. This isn’t to say I never fish a bladed jig around wood, yet its tendency to hang up requires me to fish it around the perimeter of the cover, whereas the spinnerbait can be fished aggressively into the cover, which draws a lot of strikes from the bass.
If the shallows have any type of vegetation, the bladed jig often gets the nod. Depending upon the type of shallow grass, the blades of a spinnerbait are prone to wrapping up or bogging down in the vegetation, whereas the bladed jig is easily ripped free from this cover type, eliciting strikes from bass in return.
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WEATHER AND WATER CONDITIONS
The flash of a spinnerbait has tremendous drawing power for attracting bass, yet on those bluebird days with calm winds, the flash from the blades become a detriment. The bright flash of the blade(s) in high skies has a mirror effect and looks unnatural, resulting in fewer bites. Excessively muddy water tends to mute the flash of the blades, keeping the spinnerbait effective in the bright sun when it’s muddy.
Since the bladed jig doesn’t offer the flash, it doesn’t offer any of these negative cues under bright skies and in clear water. Therefore, it’s a much better choice than the spinnerbait. If it’s muddy, both the bladed jig and spinnerbait can be effective.
When it’s windy, I impulsively lean on the spinnerbait, as the bass are often feeding aggressively along a windy shoreline or point, and the flash of a spinnerbait can draw bass from several yards away. Certainly, a bladed jig can also attract bites in the wind, but nothing beats the flash of a fast-moving spinnerbait in the wind.
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LURE RETRIEVE
When burning a lure just under the surface, the spinnerbait and bladed jig are often interchangeable. However, if I’m fishing a lure on the fall or drop, the spinnerbait is the clear winner. This is a killer technique in the winter months when bass suspend around a shallow object like a stump or along a steep shoreline. Reel a spinnerbait near the shallow object and kill the retrieve to allow the blades to fall vertically, which often triggers a reaction.
GENERAL APPLICATION
Certainly, one can find exceptions to any of the points made above, but what I believe this topic speaks to in the larger sense is the need to select a fishing lure, regardless of the type, based upon the conditions rather than simply out of habit. Too often, we reach for the lure that was tied on last weekend, when the better approach is to assess the cover type, consider the water clarity and cloud cover and then make the lure selection. This method of lure selection is always the better approach to putting more fish in the boat.
