Best rod for pulling spinners...

[Stick in Mud]

Hello all,

I popped off quite a few fish last year (espially the bigger ones), and I think it might have been b/c of the rod I was using--a 6'6'' m/h baitcaster that I usually use for bass.

I'm assuming I should go with a rod that's both longer and softer (that's what she said). Maybe 7'6 with just a medium action? I assume this would have the backbone necessary to hook the fish but the softer tip wouldn't pull the hooks out as frequently.

Am I right? What do y'all use???

Carmike

[headcheese]

i have always used a 6 or 6.5 ft medium rod. a different one might be better but i dont think it would catch me more fish.

but if i wanted a new one i would get a basspro walleye series rod. they have a few different trolling models. decently priced too.

[Seabass77]

You are on the right track. Ideally, you want a moderate action rod for spinners, not a fast action rod like most rods are. Longer rods also help balance the weight of the bait and fish.

Check out the new eyecon rods from St. Croix, otherwise any "crankbait' rod will also do the trick.

These are ideal rods, like you have experienced there are other rods that will work but you'll lose fish from time to time.

[tacklejunkie]

Sometimes if you're losing fish I've found dialing back on the drag helps.

I've used fast action rods with Fireline and it took some trial and error with the drag on the reels but it did work ok.

BTW...I've seen the BssPro walleye rods and they look prety decent. may have to add it to my list

[gregg52]

i pull alot of spinners and have for many yrs

and catch alot of fish on them

i use at least a good medium rod

i pay attention to what it suggested weight is cuz i will go as high as a 2oz weight

and that will put a good bend in your rod to start

so i use med heavy alot to i have mostly st croix rods goods bout 100-150$ in my opinion i like the stiffer longer 6.5-7ft(that what she says )than softer tips because i usallt travel at bout 1.4 or little better speed wise and the fish usally smack and set themselves so i dont want much give i want those hooks driving in..another thing to consider is hook sharpness and size .i personally usally use #4's on a 2 hook harness approx 5-6inches apart..my go to and set up i use 90%

of the time cuz it has proven it self over the yrs to out fish others consistently other colors is green faceted(more flash than smooth i think) beads with metal hammered gold..copper works to and most of the time i fish it on a 3 way with bout a 18inch dropper and 5-6ft snells

and of course crawlers big fat ones blow em up if you hafta

you will catch fish !!!!!!

oh i usally use bell type weights 1-11/2 once reason being is it keeps the rig closer to you and under you rather than being way out

so you know where you are i drop it to the bottom and reel it up bout a turn just so i can feel the bottom now and then i dont drag it on the bottom stirring up a bunch of sand or mud

[Stick in Mud]

Thanks, Gregg, for the info. I just started pulling spinners last year, and I loved it. But as a relative newbie, I'm always looking to hear about others' favorite tips/techniques.

I've also been curious about the quality of rod I should get. You recommend getting a good rod, but I'm a bit curious...it doesn't seem like I need to have that good of a sense of feel (tough to miss it when one's biting). So I was planning on getting a mid-range rod cuz I thought that'd be enough. Why do you prefer getting a nicer one?

And I do think that having bigger hooks on the harnesses would've helped a bit last year. I tried learning to tie my own snells last year, and I could get the crawler harness OK, but I couldn't do very well with the leech or minnow ones....they'd just spin in the water, which I assume isn't going to catch me any fish.

[hanson]

I bought a St Croix Tidemaster 7'-6" Medium Moderate about 4 years ago for pulling crankbaits in the fall. This rod is turning into quite the little workhorse for a variety of presentations and I'm really liking it for bottom bouncers and harnesses (spinners) as well.

My approach to spinners, slow death, etc is more of a trolling approach so the rods are in rod holders, and wait for them to bend over. Thats where the length and moderate action come into play. The fish hooks himself. I just have to run the boat and watch the rods.

[JohnMickish]

I use the St. Croix Legend Tournament Walleye bottom bouncer rods for my spinner rigs. I have a medium moderate and a medium heavy moderate action. I use the medium up to about 2oz. I don't see a reason to use another rod but for a beginer, a spinner rig (bottom bouncer) you don't really need the best top of the line rod on the market, but a good rod will last longer than a $20 Walmart special. Match it with a good baitcaster with a flippin switch for fast depth adjustments and you will find it's easy fish with.

Don't be afraid to add some speed and weight once in awhile. There is a reason they make 4oz bottom bouncer weights. Also, don't be afraid to just put it in the rod holder and just concentrate on driving the boat. Pete Harsh (FLW tournament and angler of the year winner) once told me "rod holders don't make mistakes", try it, you will be surprised to find that sometimes dead sticks will catch more than a hand held rod.

[tacklejunkie]

Also, don't be afraid to just put it in the rod holder and just concentrate on driving the boat. Pete Harsh (FLW tournament and angler of the year winner) once told me "rod holders don't make mistakes", try it, you will be surprised to find that sometimes dead sticks will catch more than a hand held rod.

+1.

I've seen friends in my boat set the hook when trolling spinners like they would do when jig fishing and wonder why the fish got off.

The trolling itself will set the hook.

As far as spinners go, I replace them every year

[tacklejunkie]

Speaking of spinners, how fast do you guys like to troll them?

I troll mine at 1-1.5 GPS but even with trolling bags I can only get my outboard down to 2.3 the lowest so I use my electric troller to troll spinners.

[JohnMickish]

I pull my spinners anywhere from 0.8 up to about 2.2 MPH. I use Colorado blades for the slow stuff, then Indianas and then to Willow blades for the faster speeds. That is a guide not an absolute rule. A willow won't spin right when going slow and a colorado likes to ride high when going fast so it takes some weight to keep it down.

I tend to take my spinner fishing to the extreme at times, but for the most part I would try to keep my speeds under 1.5 on the GPS. Don't forget to play with the size of the spinner too. Start your collection with some #3,4 and 5 blades in chartruse, gold, hammered bronze and silver, that should get you on the right path.

[Sportland_Bait]

Mostly depends how heavy your sinkers are. I like a 6'6" to 7 foot MH for pulling spinners with a heavy bouncer like 1 1/2-2 ounces. Some of the rods that are labeled for bottom bouncing seemed a little too whippy in my opinion. But they are probably good for pulling lighter sinkers. Even with the MH I don't seem to lose many fish, but every rod is a little different too.

Jason Erlandson

[Stick in Mud]

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I just started experimenting with them last year, so I'm pretty new to it.

Does anyone pull them on braid? Or is mono the way to go? I only ask b/c I just got a nice baitcaster reel that's already spooled with 30# braid, and I would prefer to just keep it on there (so the rod can double as a flipping stick) instead of taking it off.

[JohnMickish]

If the rod you are going to use is soft enough I would probably try it with the braid. I use 14lb mono for my main line but that dosen't mean it's right either. Spinners are fun, it's a great way to cover water especially when you have a few people in the boat and can get them spread out.

[goose89]

I haven't used it yet, but I'm excited to try my St. Croix Wild River 10 1/2 foot, medium action (WC106MMF2) rod for spinners this year. Got it from good authority that this is a great rod holder rod (although handles are cork) fishing with hard lines.

Also got a Fenwich Elite Tech (EWC70M-M) Bottom Bouncer rod this winter as well.

I missed to many fish fishing with too heavy and fast of tips (old St. Croix Avid rods for bass), and like pulling spinners. Hope they justify the $$.

[JohnMickish]

I have used that Wild River rod and it is indeen an awsome deadstick rod. The hookup percentage will incredible. It is fun to watch the rodtip of these rods when a fish hits it. The tips are engineered that the fish dosen't feel anything until it gets into the backbone and then it's lights out!

I have even used that rod for longlining cranks with superline on the river, works great there too.

[DREZLER]

Car Mike-

One of the greatest spots to pull spinners is in the gravel, rocks, or scatterd rocks.

I strongly reccomend braidedline with a good rod because you well feel every single boulder, rock,and you will be able to distinguish bottom type. (as long as you are holding the rod)

The information you can gain by feeling the bottom will be very very useful because you will have less hang-ups, develope patterens very quickly, and will be able to run your bait just ticking off the rocks if that is where it needs to be.

As long as your rod is long with a decent bend, braid will be great.

[gregg52]

ya i didnt mean you had to buy spendie rods those are just the rods i like and they do have fairly good feel and i think at times on lite

biting days you can sometimes feed it to them just a little I personally not real big on setting it in a rod holder but thats just

my opinion I use to fish against Pete Harish in tourements and we use to talk alot bout spinners Pete was very good with them but if you

ever watch pete that rod was in the holder sitting right in front of

him probably take him a secound to grab it

As for line i use 8lb xt green..snells to..i dont use bottom bouncers to often they create alittle more drag and tend to run further behind

you unless you really use a heavy one I fish winnie mostly and on the humps the breaks vary from 19 to bout 25 ft so you arent real deep

i try to use a 1 ounce bell type three way keeps the bait closer and better feel and you know where it is

i try to go 1.4 seems to be the best but i think 1 to bout 2 is a good speed depending on the bite i dont use leeches on spinners just dont look real to me spinng all the time I will use minnows but then i'll keep that speed down to 1.2--1.4 max or that minnow will spin as fall rolls around you can go to a bigger minnow and faster speeds

as someone else said you can cover so much water fast and numerous times i've been on winnie and just follow the break around till you find some fish and usally out some where all by myself

to me its fun way to fish and its very productive done right

[Stick in Mud]

Thanks for all the tips, guys. I do about 97% of my walleye fishing on the northwest side of Mille Lacs, where there's mud, sand, weeds, and rocks. I only tried pulling spinners on the mud last year, but I assume it would work on the sand, too? On the deep rocks? I've never heard of anyone trying them on the shallow rocks, but who knows...?

I had lots of problems with my minnow spinning on me....I must've been going too fast. Ah, now to buy a drift sock or two. Who said fishing was cheap?!?

[JohnMickish]

One thing that is an absolute must with spinners is a good quality ball bearing swivel. Not those cheap brass ones but ball bearing swivels. This will be the first step in reducing line twist. Now on that note with minnows it seems to be pretty easy to get it to spin if it's not hooked straight.

[fishinfey8]

Sorry don't have any intentions on jacking your thread carmike, but I just had one question myself. That is, for those of you that tie your own snells/spinners, what kind of line do you use?

[Stick in Mud]

Dude, you TOTALLY jacked my thread! Just kidding.

Not that I know anything about this, but I've been told to use (and therefore did use) 12 lb. XT. Maybe that was another of my problems....

[gregg52]

carmike

if you going to troll shalloww stuff like rocks then go with bottom bouncers

if you are out on the mud i would go with the 3 way maybe 1 1/2--2ounce

just so you know where you are down there..bell sinkers work the best less resistance you want to keep that line at bout 45degree angle

drop in down and bring it back up a reel or 2 on the mud you DO NOT

want that dragging in the mud

theres is a trick to hooking a minnow so it wont spin

you need an aberdeen hook...and then you run in in the mouth out the gill and threw the back its not easy to do you just the right size minnow

that why using a minnow...i will actually put it in the water and see how fast i need to go to turn the spinner and keep the minnow staight bigger minnow are the key there

and hammer gold will out fish most others on mille lacs w/ green beads

just use ebough to beads to keep the bottom of the spinner with the top of the hook

i use xt green for snells either 6 or 8 on mille lacs

i 8 on winnie cuz theres more chances of northens up theres

[tacklejunkie]

I see some like having the rods in rod holders and I do to but, for me, if the rod is a faster action I prefer to hand hold it.

No particular reason. Just one of those things I do

[Stick in Mud]

Yup, I work on a launch boat in the summertime up there, so I've learned how to hook the minnow properly. It still spun, though, so maybe I should try bigger minnows this year.

I assume with the bottom bouncer that I don't want it actually bouncing on the bottom?