Spybait recommendations

[djkimmel]

One thing I haven't tried yet is casting the Spinbait 80 G-Fix on casting tackle. Duo says they created the G-Fix for tournament anglers using casting tackle. I have some smooth casting reels but not sure how well I can cast this smaller lure on them. Maybe that is another thing I need to try. But I'm getting quite a few bites on the 90s so it's hard to put them down.

[Rangerman]

Guys hate to say it but the Cabelas has VERY limited bass fishing tackle Small store for them, lots of there brand name baits and very limited other brand names.  But a great place to stop for you guys that don't have GREAT TACKLE PLACES  near buy   Nothing wrong but very limited tackle for local lakes. 

[cameraguy]

Guys hate to say it but the Cabelas has VERY limited bass fishing tackle Small store for them, lots of there brand name baits and very limited other brand names.  But a great place to stop for you guys that don't have GREAT TACKLE PLACES  near buy   Nothing wrong but very limited tackle for local lakes. 

You don't have to hate to say it. The last time I was in there the fluorocarbon line section was almost empty. It looked they were going out of business. Also, they should have a lot more bass gear since they are so close to LSC.
There is a Bass Pro Shops store not too far away. There are also smaller stores in the area that cater to bass anglers.

[Hollada]

Sportsmen's Direct just north of the gas station at 16 and Jefferson caters to LSC fisherman.  Don't bother with cabelas.

[Revtro]

Yep, that's where I just picked up a few Spybaits.  Caught one on 3rd or 4th cast the other day with it.

[djkimmel]

That's pretty good! There's a definite learning curve to get spybaiting down well. I stop by Sportsmen's Direct fairly often myself since they usually have the particular thing I'm looking for - bobber stops for my Texas rigs the other day! I expect as their traffic grows so will their selection.

I think I've been in a Cabelas in Michigan in total maybe 5 times ever. Three of those times was because of a meeting there. They just don't have a huge selection of the stuff I use. I do sometimes order things from them such as rain gear, reels, etc. when they have a sale on them. Many, many years ago I bought online from them more often before they even had retail outlets all over.

I stop at Bass Pro Shops a lot more because they do have some of the line and terminal stuff I need. A fair amount of my shopping trips there are also because I'm there for a meeting anyways.

Love D & R Sports Center. Wish they were closer. We don't have any good fishing tackle sources in Lansing. Don't know what it is about Lansing that we can't keep a good tackle shop or boat dealer open? Probably saves me money though that I can't hop over to a loaded tackle shop whenever I feel like it!

[raisinrat]

Not sure when I'll have 4 hours available to watch that video...?? I shared a video on this forum somewhere (should be easy to find if you search) that David Swenseid made for Duo Realis spybaiting. David is Duo's U.S. promoter/tester/face basically. I've talked to him a lot about the nuances of spybaiting. (I also sold spybaiting.com to Duo Realis as I originally bought it to do a mini-website about the new technique and they asked nice at a moment when I felt generous. )

I am using mostly the 90 size Spinbaits on casting tackle as they cast better and run better for me on slightly heavier line (because the pike and muskies LOVE Spinbaits). I have mostly 90s because David said those would be easier to cast longer on the Great Lakes especially if we were going to be determined to use heavier line.

I only have 1 other spybait type lure than the original Duo Realis lures I have - I think it is a Megabass I got somewhere from a sale bin. It's much larger than the Spinbait 90 even with huge blades compared to Duo Realis Spinbaits. I haven't tried it yet.

For some reason, when I use some of my 80 G-Fix size the whole bait seems to spin. Not sure if it is my line size or my retrieve speed still too fast?? I have just a few 80 and 80 G-Fix. I do throw them on spinning tackle but I just feel more comfortable throwing the 90s on casting tackle. I've been throwing them on light braid top-shotting with a 25-30 foot leader of 12 pound test Fluorocarbon line lately, and like that the most so far. I pulled out a really old 'crankbait' casting reel from retirement lately as well. It has a 4.8:1 ratio and that seems to help with my retrieve speed.

I have tried 5 pound test line on spinning and casting tackle for a time. Hated it. I threw off a few lures just on the cast. They are very dense and cast well. If your line gets any damage that you don't notice you can snap them off. They sail very far and sink away into another negative profit entry in your fishing expense column...

Didn't enjoy that as I have enough problems losing tackle to all the pike I seem to catch now on everything I throw at so many lakes. I've been using spinbaits at quite a few different lakes especially this year, and getting lots of bites at times.

The last time at St. Clair I tried throwing the Spinbait 80 G-Fix on a long spinning rod with light braid and a long 10 pound test leader. That is when I tried a couple different lures and they kept wanting to spin on my. At first, I thought maybe I had overtightened the hook/line tie eyes the blades are on. Scott Dobson showed me how to take them off, superglue the screw eye and put them back on because, at least the first few years, sometimes the blades would spin the screw eye right out of the lure.

The blades appear to still turn freely, but the 80 G-Fixes keep wanting to spin on me?? In the end, I'm still wondering if I'm reeling too fast with all these modern, fast spinning reels? I'm wondering if I can dig out an older reel that has a lower retrieve ratio? Not sure I have any left anywhere. The Spinbait 90 are very well balanced and work exactly as they should.

I guess next I will need to try the few original 80 size Spinbaits on spinning rods and see if they spin on me or not? Maybe it is something to do with the balancing of the G-Fix? I may have to give David Swenseid a call risking I will be the only person having this problem... that happens to me...

I know I'm leery about throwing them on line lighter than 10 pound test because of the throw off issue I had, and especially because the pike like them so much... Guess you can call me chicken.

Dan,

I have never had a Spinbait do what you are talking about even when reeling them in fast. I got a feeling something went wrong when you glued the eyes back in. 80 GFix is these best model day in and day out on the lake. It will out fish the 90 most of the time. The 90 really shines best when its a bit rougher out.

[djkimmel]

That's good to hear. I have throw the G-Fix off and on without really accomplishing anything. I'm doing better all the time on the 90s as I seem to have found the right line, rod, reel and hooks for me anyways. I love that I can cast them a long, long ways on casting tackle as well.

I'll have to take a closer look at my G-Fix and 80s. I did the same thing to all of them for keeping the back hook eye in and the 90s are working fine. I haven't throw all of my G-Fix and 80s so maybe it is just a couple of them that are messed up? The spinners seem to be spinning very free so it didn't seem like that was the problem but they are fine-tuned so the smaller ones maybe are more sensitive.

[djkimmel]

In some of your video you seem to be reeling pretty fast compared to what I would expect. Was that because you were demonstrating in shallow water?

I also noticed in your underwater video that the blades didn't appear to be spinning? Maybe I'm not seeing that right or maybe because you were pulling it really slow to get it on video?

Are you using the stock hooks? I seem to be having problems hooking and landing fish still more than I should be so I've been experimenting with hooks. Lately, I've just gone to my favorite crankbait hooks - the Mustad Ultrapoint Triple Grip extra short shank and it seems like I'm doing much better now with hooking and landing.

Interesting that you recommended more of a crankbait hookset? That seems to be the best idea though David Swenseid told me to 'pancake' ("fold that rod over double" i.e. the Bassmaster hookset!) those bass even with the 5 lbs test line that I used once and quit on... snapped a couple Spinbaits off on the cast with that. I'm still messing around with the hookset. It almost seems like a different hookset is necessary on different days when bass are in different moods.

When they hit on the drop or way out early in the cast I set the hook much harder but try to just sweep and tighten especially when those tricky smallies hit right when the lure makes its turn towards the surface near the boat. I get a lot of bites when that occurs from followers. I often see them ghosting a ways back, to the side or underneath and then they shoot up at the last minute to attack. Part of the reason for not giving them the 'Bassmaster' hookset then is so I don't get too excited and set the hook to soon. Not easy for me to do when a big smallie is racing in for the kill in sight!!

[raisinrat]

I have found the space between the bait, blade, and eye as to be just right to get the bait to run right. For your setup with them I just made the switch back to an ML rod from a MED. For a few reasons. It was working fine for me up until this year so back to what I started with when I started spybaiting. 

[raisinrat]

In some of your video you seem to be reeling pretty fast compared to what I would expect. Was that because you were demonstrating in shallow water?

Yes I was in very shallow water I was trying to keep it up out of the weeds there.Here is a good video to see how I fish it out deep.In the video I am using a 5.5:1 gear ratio. At the start I reel a bit faster to pick up the slack from the cast then I slow right down.


I also noticed in your underwater video that the blades didn't appear to be spinning? Maybe I'm not seeing that right or maybe because you were pulling it really slow to get it on video?
They are for sure spinning.

Are you using the stock hooks? I seem to be having problems hooking and landing fish still more than I should be so I've been experimenting with hooks. Lately, I've just gone to my favorite crankbait hooks - the Mustad Ultrapoint Triple Grip extra short shank and it seems like I'm doing much better now with hooking and landing.
I have bascially only used the stock hooks until they break.

Interesting that you recommended more of a crankbait hookset? That seems to be the best idea though David Swenseid told me to 'pancake' ("fold that rod over double" i.e. the Bassmaster hookset!) those bass even with the 5 lbs test line that I used once and quit on... snapped a couple Spinbaits off on the cast with that. I'm still messing around with the hookset. It almost seems like a different hookset is necessary on different days when bass are in different moods.
I think you may have misunderstood what he meant by pancake.

When they hit on the drop or way out early in the cast I set the hook much harder but try to just sweep and tighten especially when those tricky smallies hit right when the lure makes its turn towards the surface near the boat. I get a lot of bites when that occurs from followers. I often see them ghosting a ways back, to the side or underneath and then they shoot up at the last minute to attack. Part of the reason for not giving them the 'Bassmaster' hookset then is so I don't get too excited and set the hook to soon. Not easy for me to do when a big smallie is racing in for the kill in sight!!


When you set the hook make sure you are reel also when you do it on those long hooksets that helps with them a lot. Pick up line with the rod and reel on the hookset.

[Rangerman]

No spybait pro, but you can NOT wind toooooooooooooooooo slow, fish at 90 degree angle and when rod loads just wind and gentle swipe rod.  Took me a long time to learn to slooooooow down crank speed. My catch doubled when I went from 10 Fluro Segar to 7 lb Sunline. Think it was just the smaller line. Both are great line. I do not like fishing fluro but the the fish sure like it

[Rangerman]

Dan the meat is throw on 8 lb or less, and crank so slow you can not stand it, with proper set drag for light line. That's it in a nut shell, short and sweet. Never too slow or too light a line

[djkimmel]

When I was talking to Swenseid he explained 'pancake' pretty clear. He said not to be afraid to really put it to them even with the really light line. He also said 'pancake' because you fold the rod over double?!? (I don't usually do that with my pancakes... To each his own.    )