Spinnerbait Lures

Understanding Blades

Blade shape changes what the lure does underwater, so it is worth understanding rather than leaving it to chance. A Colorado blade is rounder and catches more water, so it spins on a wider arc, gives off a heavier thump of vibration and creates lift, which suits murky water and low light, where fish find the lure by feel and pressure as much as sight. A willow blade is longer and narrower, spins tighter and faster, produces more flash than vibration and runs with less lift, which suits clearer water and a faster retrieve. Our Dekoi Closed Eye Spinnerbaits combine steel Colorado and willow blades on the one lure, so you get a little of each, and they are fitted with brass rolling swivels, hand tied skirts and 3/0 O’Shaughnessy style hooks. They are available in 15g, 17g, 18g and 20g weights across a range of colours, and the Kaiju Monsoon Spinner at 14g offers a stainless wire frame with hand tied skirts and BKK double assist hooks. Compare weights and colours on the product pages to match the water you fish.

Chatterbaits and Bladed Swim Jigs

A chatterbait, sometimes called a bladed swim jig, uses a single angled blade attached to the front of a jig head, which creates a tight, rapid vibration as it is retrieved. Our Dekoi Bladed Swim Jigs come in 7g and 14g head weights, sold as a twin pack. Chatterbaits are fished for bass, golden perch and Murray cod in freshwater, and some anglers also use them for barramundi. Because the blade sits ahead of a compact jig head, many anglers find they come through light weed and around snags more easily than a spinnerbait, although no lure is snag-proof. They work well slow-rolled along the bottom or retrieved at a steady pace through the middle of the water column. A spare skirt is a cheap way to change the look of a lure, and we stock Dekoi chatterbait skirts in a wide range of colours so you can match the water and the light.

Small Spinners and Spinner Vibes

Smaller spinners suit lighter fishing. The Austackle Beetlespin can be attached to a jig head or a hard bodied lure, where the blade adds flash and vibration and slows the sink rate, and the Ebining Mini Spin is a compact option for finesse work. Our Afishlure Spinner Vibes, at 19.5g and 23g, are rotating metal lures that sink quickly and flutter back down on the drop, which is useful for covering deeper water. If you want to build your own lure, a weedless skirted jig head helps you present a soft plastic through cover, and our jig heads range has more options.

Retrieves That Work

Retrieve speed is the other lever worth working. A slow-roll, where the lure is wound just fast enough to keep the blades turning as it bumps through timber, accounts for plenty of fish, especially in cooler water when fish are less willing to chase. Burning the lure back quickly near the surface, sometimes so the blade just breaks the surface film, can trigger reaction strikes from aggressive fish in warmer months, particularly around dawn and dusk. Pauses are also worth using, letting the lure flutter or helicopter on the drop, since many strikes come as the lure falls. Spinnerbaits in the 15 to 20g range, like our Dekoi models, are heavier than the quarter-ounce lures many anglers think of first, so they suit deeper water, faster current and bigger fish, while the lighter 7g chatterbaits suit shallow creeks and snags.

Tackle for Fishing Cover

Because this is structure fishing, the line and leader need to be up to the job. A rod with enough backbone to turn a fish away from a snag, and a mainline of braid with a strong leader, are a sensible starting point around bass and golden perch country, stepping up to heavier line again in Murray cod water where you need to bully a fish’s head away from the timber early in the fight. A baitcast outfit suits casting heavier spinnerbaits accurately, though a quality spinning outfit also works for lighter lures.

Where and When to Fish

Timing and location matter as much as the lure. Australian bass are found in coastal rivers and dams along the east coast, and many anglers find them most active through the warmer months. Murray cod respond best through spring, summer and into autumn in impoundments and rivers across the Murray-Darling system, but closed seasons apply and they differ by state. In NSW, cod cannot be taken from 1 September to 30 November, with Copeton and Blowering dams exempt. Victoria has the same dates but a much broader list of exempt waters, including waters south of the Great Dividing Range (except the Yarra River) and lakes such as Eildon and Eppalock. In the Queensland part of the Murray-Darling drainage the closure runs from 1 August to 31 October, with Beardmore, Connolly, Cooby, Coolmunda, Glenlyon, Leslie and Storm King dams exempt. Check your state’s current rules and the specific water before you go. Yellowbelly or golden perch fish in similar waters and often take a lure slow-rolled around timber and edges. Saratoga are a northern species, found in rivers, lagoons and billabongs in parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory. Seasons and rules vary by state and by water, so check locally before you go.

The Most Common Mistake

The mistake we see most often is burning a spinnerbait straight through good cover at one constant speed, which gives a fish sitting deep in timber almost no time to react before the lure is gone. Slowing down, working the blades with occasional pauses and letting the lure bump into structure rather than avoiding it will usually out-fish a fast, straight retrieve when fish are holding tight. The other common error is running a willow blade in dirty, post-flood water, when a Colorado blade’s extra vibration is what those fish need to find the lure. Match the blade to the water clarity and slow the retrieve down before you change anything else. The same read of the water carries across if you swap to soft plastics on the same stretch of timber.