When you talk about the most versatile lures, the first one a lot of people point out is the Senko. Right along with the Senko, though, are spinnerbaits. There is a spinnerbait for each water clarity, and they can fished in all seasons and at all depths. Of course, while they are good at a lot of differing depths, common sense says that it's not practical to fish them past a certain depth. Each angler can determine that depth for their own use. For me, I won't fish a spinnerbait below 35 ft. There are more effective ways of fishing that deep, such as a jigging spoon, etc.
However, these are some tips that will make your spinnerbait fishing a lot more effective and efficient. Hope that you are able to use them to catch more bass on your local basshole.
First off, spinnerbaits are one of the most used baits when fishing for bass. Over time, they will become used to and will learn the various vibration patterns of spinnerbaits. This, in turn, causes manufacturers to develop new spinnerbaits, different arms, etc. However, there are ways of changing the vibration pattern of your spinnerbaits that you currently have now, so that they will catch bass who have become accustomed to spinnerbaits.
First off, if any of the spinnerbaits you have consist of a willow-leaf blades, you can take the tip of the blade and make a 90* bend in it. The bend should not be so large that it interrupts the action of the spinnerbait. Normally, it's done with the 1/8" tip of the blade. It will give a different vibrational pattern, but will not cause the spinnerbait to run incorrectly.
Also, another thing that you can do to cause bass to pay more attention to your spinnerbaits is to color them. I know that it seems to be repeated, but keeping a set of Sharpies or dye in your boat and tackle box is recommended. You can take any color Sharpie and color up the skirts of the spinnerbaits, effectively making a custom color. You can also take the skirt of the spinnerbait and dip it into Spike-It dye, and color the end of the skirt.
Another thing that you can do is to trim the skirt. A lot of the time if the bass are short striking the spinnerbait, you can trim the skirt, and it will give the illusion of a smaller bait. Also, adding a stinger hook is a great way to catch the bass that are short striking your spinnerbaits. I prefer a red hook, which gives another point of focus for the bass.
Another more obvious way of changing up the spinnerbait is to interchange blades to create a unique set of blades that fit the situation that you are fishing.
Hopefully these hints and tips will help you maximize your spinnerbait fishing.
