Thread: The almighty Beetle Spin! - questions

I won't be using curl tails with the B. Spin but instead experiment with short sticks, stubby grubs and flat, thin straight tail grubs like in the last photo. Those lures always work great and might do even better with the spin. It will be interesting to see the action of each in the water close range affected by the blade.

1/32 oz may be a bit too light where I'm fishing the spin and lure size. When I make another spin using the 26g floral wire, I will try a larger blade and 1/16 oz jig.

Beetle Spin’s been in my tackle box for years — one of my all-time favorites for a quick search bait. I usually go short-arm for bottom hopping and long-arm for steady retrieves. As for lures: sometimes curl tail, sometimes no tail — depends on the bite that day. I do like smaller blades for clearer water, and 1/16 oz is kind of my sweet spot. Curious what setups y’all are having the most success with lately?

Welcome Codex, appreciate the input. We all have a different take on things.

That's it! Beetle Spin is now a must in my tackle box!

I got into small schools of yellow perch and they slammed it! This one was a jumbo and unusual for the lake I fished:

I even caught one nice size crappie on it plus smaller crappie and a few sunfish:


Jig size was 1/24 oz with a small blade.

Hey Spoon, don’t throw out the curl tails yet. With the blade turning and the curl tail doin work you can slow down a lot if you need to. Helps me stay above the weeds sometimes.

I grew up using the beetle spins in the 60's. If I was bluegill fishing I used a black with yellow stripes. Bass and crappie I used a white with a red spot. Not much in colors back then but these produced really well then. Also used a doll fly attached to the spinner in pink/white color and was a crappie killer. Hand ties work very well with the beetle spin baits so I would carry a few of those besides the plastics.

Experimenting with various lures is the main reason I fish as well as learning the waters I usually fish.
I still have to try the no-tail body (above left) with the b.spin. The thin, straight tail on the right did the trick!

A similar one (below) started the day catching 8 perch and a sunfish in 3'. It is a hybrid of two grub bodies joined together using heat.



In the afternoon, I switched to the pearl color, hand-poured, curl tail minus the tail:

Note: I rigged the grub from the back where the tail was before was after it was cut it off. It caught approx. 15 fish. Total caught was 35. It cast far in shallow water rigged on a light jig and I could work it very slowly using a twitch/wind/pause - retrieve, never a steady retrieve unlike the b.spin.
Use a grub body minus the tail Try it. You'll be shocked how many fish it catches!

I don't routinely use the beetle spin, but if I'm in a boat and can't locate bluegill on the flats I will slow troll a 1/32oz stock black and yellow beetle spin with the electric trolling motor until I find them. After locating them, I prefer to drop to a 1/64oz beetle or trout magnet, but the spinner allows for slower trolling and works great for searching. My dad was very fond of using what were once called Super Beetles in purple for bass fishing.