Put predators into a spin – Dan Brackley

Spinners are the easiest lure to fish but also the least used. Sufix and VMC-backed Dan Brackley wants you to put that right that...

IF MY life depended upon catching a fish using a lure, a spinner would be at the top of my list. The really great thing about spinners is that you don’t have to think about how you use them. The action and mechanics of the lure itself do it all for you. Simply cast and retrieve and the blade does all the work as it imparts its own action. The vibration, flash and movement of a spinner makes predators of all species practically suicidal! This is one of the reasons why I love them, because they are idiot-proof. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way, only that they are the simplest of lures you can use. Compared to other lures, which may require rods of a certain casting weight or specific action to get the most from them, you just clip on a spinner, cast and within seconds you could be playing a fish. This is probably why spinners were the first type of lure anglers tended to use. Since the soft plastic revolution of recent times, this is now not the case, and I find that a real shame. They have become somewhat neglected these days, but they are no less effective to use as they were all those years ago. That is why their design has remained virtually unchanged over decades.

Fishing spinners

Using spinners generally weighing less than 10g is classed as ultra-light lure fishing. That said, you don’t need specialist equipment to go spinning. Any rod that costs a couple of pounds through to a couple of hundred will do. Spinners do all the work for you, so you don’t need to worry about rod specifications. One item that is essential, though, is a high quality braid. I use Sufix 832, either 0.10mm or 0.13mm diameter. It is bombproof, and a product I’ve used for years. Another good braid is Sufix Pro-8. This braid has a perfectly round profile, so it won’t twist like cheaper flat-profiled braids. It is this twist that dramatically reduces a braid’s lifespan and causes wind knots. You must also use a wire trace. Spinners will attract all predators, and the risk of a pike is too great to use fluorocarbon leaders. A 10lb or 15lb pre-tied wire trace is perfect for most situations. To fish a spinner, simply cast it out, let it sink, then retrieve. This is all you need to do to catch your fish. As your confidence and experience build, you can alter the speed, flick the rod-tip; just experiment – there are no rules in lure fishing. What works well one day will not be as effective the next, but that’s predators for you! The beauty of spinner fishing is you can’t get it wrong so buy yourself a few and enjoy your fishing.

Carry a selection of different coloured spinners and experiment to see which works best