Spinners

[Kelkay]

I started tying up a few treble hooks for a dressed spinner. I find it time consuming, and boring. (I like tying regular flies though) I am just wondering if the people here who make spinners really notice a difference with a dressed or undressed spinner? The dressed ones LOOK better, but ARE THEY NOTICEABLY BETTER? Your thoughts would be appreciated. I still plan to make some more dressed ones, but the undressed are so much easier!!!

[Lance]

Like so many other lures in fishing the in-line spinner is made to catch fishermen first and then the fish. If I had to bet it makes little difference to the fish one way or the other. The biggest difference in the two is you can probably cast an undressed spinner a little bit farther and easier because the dressed treble can create a little bit of wind resistance, especially if casting into the wind. That was always my biggest objection to a mepps in-line. They dress their trebles with sqirrel hair which seeems to make the smaller models a little hard to cast. That being said; do I dress most of my in-lines... yes I do, but I consider dressing the treble as part of the fun of it and it does make a prettier bait. I usually use bucktail. You may want to try this trick... take a hollow "panfish" size tube grub and cut the tip of the head of it off then slide it over the shank of your treble... wa la instant dressed treble!

[Kelkay]

Thank you Lance for your opinion on this. I liked the trick you mentioned about the grub too. The only thing is in the summer it is hot enough here to melt my plastics. So my spinners are fine in the heat. I did not tie any spinners today with dressing, but I will do some more WITH dressing and see if the fish have any preference. I think I made some pretty cool spinners today. I went to the bead store and got some nice beads to go on my spinners. I really like the look, but wish I had more selection in beads. Guess I better look around more. If anyone has pictures they would like to share, that would be great too.

[BBK]

Thank you Lance for your opinion on this. I liked the trick you mentioned about the grub too. The only thing is in the summer it is hot enough here to melt my plastics. So my spinners are fine in the heat. I did not tie any spinners today with dressing, but I will do some more WITH dressing and see if the fish have any preference. I think I made some pretty cool spinners today. I went to the bead store and got some nice beads to go on my spinners. I really like the look, but wish I had more selection in beads. Guess I better look around more. If anyone has pictures they would like to share, that would be great too.

hot enough to melt your plastics? so its 320 degrees out?

[Kelkay]

I mean like plastic worms, plastic jigs, grubs...that kind of thing. It doesn't have to be as hot as you think. My son had a box of plastic jigs and worms on our porch in the shade. He had a few in a plastic lure box, inside the tackle box. They melted badly, and it even left an impression on the lure box where it melted. It gets over a hundred here, with a heat index of 115 in the summer at times. We have very humid summers too, and that makes it tough. If you left your tackle box in your truck locked up, it would not be a good thing after an hour or two. I used to leave my tackle box in the garage, but that was before I started using plastics some. Now my tackle all has to go in the house, I don't want to take any chances at all. I mainly fly fish these days, but the conventional tackle calls out to me now and then...

[rickman]

I'm on the fence regarding dressed vs undressed hooks on inline spinners. I do like the look of the dressed ones but that doesn't mean that fish prefer them over an undressed hook. I think it's more for changing the look of the lure to the fish. Does it make a difference? I don't know. In my experience it seems that I've caught more trout on dressed models but then again I fish more with the dressed ones. I will have to try a year using undressed ones and see if my catch increases or decreases. I have the same results when using them for bass as well.

I live in Arizona and can definitely relate to how the heat, even indirect heat, ruins plastics. I've lost quite a bit of $ on plastics leaving them in the shed outside during the summer, in my truck. Mine stay in the house now (along with my rods & reels). 112+ degree days and inside a closed outdoor shed is way too hot for plastics.

Keep us posted on your results with the dressed and undressed lures.

[Kelkay]

Thank you very much for your thoughts Rickman. I have caught fish on dressed and undressed lures. That is why I wanted to ask here, have you all really noticed a difference...lol. This goes for bass, and stocked trout.

I keep my rods and reels inside now too. I learned the hard way on that. The heat will make your mono weak for one thing.

Kelly

[rickman]

Simple chenille dressed hooks. I find this much easier, faster and cheaper than tying large fly with a treble. (I have some red feather left over). I'll probably go this route to dress my hooks from now on. I don't think the fish know that it's a Royal Coachman, piece of yarn or a bug.

Alternatives for something more fancy. I removed the fly/hooks off some store bought spinners that I didn't like and will use some of them on my homemades. These have small treble hooks behind the single hook as trailers.

Or...Sportsmen's Warehouse sells pre-tied flies for 99¢. Cheaper than making them myself. Just have to get the right size for your wire shaft or use really small split rings.

[Kelkay]

Thanks for your thoughts. I guess I have been doing more like the dressing on a Mepps or Rooster Tail. I wanted to find bodies close to a Mepps XD in silver. I have not found that yet. As far as the tail...to get it to look right, it takes tying in 2-3 different areas on one hook, with small space. I am a fly tyer, so I can do something a little fancier on the treble hook if I want. I just don't like the crowded space you have to work with. So I take it you find hooks that are dressed to be in most cases than non-dressed hooks?

[rickman]

Thanks for your thoughts. I guess I have been doing more like the dressing on a Mepps or Rooster Tail. I wanted to find bodies close to a Mepps XD in silver. I have not found that yet. As far as the tail...to get it to look right, it takes tying in 2-3 different areas on one hook, with small space. I am a fly tyer, so I can do something a little fancier on the treble hook if I want. I just don't like the crowded space you have to work with. So I take it you find hooks that are dressed to be in most cases than non-dressed hooks?

I honestly cannot prove whether or not a dressed hook outfishes a non-dressed hook. But the majority of my store bought spinners are dressed. My homemade spinners are whatever hits me when I'm making them. I think they just look too plain without something on the hook. But again... I don't know that the fish know the difference (but I do). I like a little bit of color on the hook for them to home in on, even just a little.

[kelly]

I started tying up a few treble hooks for a dressed spinner. I find it time consuming, and boring. (I like tying regular flies though) I am just wondering if the people here who make spinners really notice a difference with a dressed or undressed spinner? The dressed ones LOOK better, but ARE THEY NOTICEABLY BETTER? Your thoughts would be appreciated. I still plan to make some more dressed ones, but the undressed are so much easier!!!

In my opinion a dressed hook fishes better. Not just because there is more color for the fish to see or reflective quality's attracting them or it looks like a swimming tail. The reason I dress my hooks is to get them to travel behind the spinner and add Resistance. But the main thing is. I like hackle on the dressing making it a little more snag resistant. It helps it bump the logs rocks and weeds to a point. Most that use jigs to fish with know that a lure bumped off some thing will trigger a strike. Like a weed bed that has grown one foot shy of the top of the water. perfect for a spinner that is dressed. Less time pulling off weeds more time in the strike zone.

[Kelkay]

I am enjoying everyone's thoughts on this. I just got through making several dressed hooks, and I came over here and read this. I used bucktail before, but this time I thought I would try calf tail instead. I like the look, and I did not stack it, and I think it looks fine. I think the dressed hooks look better too, but I cannot tell that the fish like them better. I have a ton of spinners that I've used in the past, all store bought. Some times the fish wanted a dressed hook, sometimes they went for one without. That is why I asked. I will continue to make both. But, after reading these replies, I think I will lean heavier towards the dressed hooks, even though they are time consuming to tie up. Once I get that order in from Lure Parts Online...I will make up several more spinners, then take them out for some testing. I hope they do well. Thanks for the experiences and thoughts on this subject!!

[diemai]

Over here in Germany dressed inline spinners seemingly do not have a great tradition like they have in the USA , though nowadays there are a few models available ,..........still most likely they come undressed .

Some spinner models have simple red plastic tubing pushed over the hookshank , some tinkerers make their own with a 3" to 6" plastc squid(octopus) attached ,the weight and the treble hook are located inside of the squid's head , ......these are said to be great pike lures(hooked a real big one on such lure years ago but lost it on light tackle) , .......meantime at least one local manufacturer has taken up this idea marketing such "octopus"-spinners , ........they are a bit similiar to the quite well-known "Flying Condom" spinner .

greetz , diemai

[Kelkay]

For all the ones I do not put bucktail on, or something similar, I always use the tubing for the shank of the hook. I had never heard of either spinner you mentioned, so I looked them up. They look like fish getters to me.

Over here in Germany dressed inline spinners seemingly do not have a great tradition like they have in the USA , though nowadays there are a few models available ,..........still most likely they come undressed .

Some spinner models have simple red plastic tubing pushed over the hookshank , some tinkerers make their own with a 3" to 6" plastc squid(octopus) attached ,the weight and the treble hook are located inside of the squid's head , ......these are said to be great pike lures(hooked a real big one on such lure years ago but lost it on light tackle) , .......meantime at least one local manufacturer has taken up this idea marketing such "octopus"-spinners , ........they are a bit similiar to the quite well-known "Flying Condom" spinner .

greetz , diemai

[Kelkay]

Anyone here put split rings on their treble hooks before tying off the wire at the end?

For all the ones I do not put bucktail on, or something similar, I always use the tubing for the shank of the hook. I had never heard of either spinner you mentioned, so I looked them up. They look like fish getters to me.