by Dan Hanon » Thu Feb 03, 2011 7:47 pm
Stephan,
I have caught loads of smallmouth bass in Canadian Shield lakes using Mepps #3 and 4 inline spinners with the hairless (bare) hooks. In my experience, spinners can work in rough, windy conditions when the water clarity decreases. They can also work in calm, sunny days! For instance, I was fishing Rainy Lake, Ontario in late June and a cold front moved through. The water became choppy and it was very windy. More subtle baits such as grubs, tubes, and even jerkbaits were not productive. The minute I switched to an inline spinner, I started catching fish. When I lost all of my Mepps, I switched to larger hairpin spinnerbaits normally used for largemouth bass. I tore them up and caught many fish and some in the 4lb class. We were casting towards rocky cover near the shore in very windy, choppy water. I have subsequently used this technique under these conditions with good success. Not to say other baits don't work, but I think you have to abandon subtle lures under those conditions and use larger, more vibratory ones.
Regards,
Dan