Dressed Inline Spinners

This fall I tried some Inline spinners I have laying around for years. I targeted white bass and they seemed pretty effective, so I tried for walleye at night and that worked there as well, anyone use them for crappie?

I was reading an article where the author said he used them as his go to lure 30 years ago. Apparently everyone favored them for wide variety of fish where he fished as a kid in Minnesota. His claim was that over time they became ineffective. Seems to me if what he says is true, big if, then better lures came along, fish learn to avoid certain lures, fish feeding habits have changed, or something I can't think of.

People are always saying how stupid fish are but they do learn. We have a goldfish pond and my wife feeds them by hand but they wouldn't come near me. Wife told me to start feeding them and over time I would be able to hand feed them, sure enough she was right. Now I'm not an ethologist and I recognize that my antidote does not qualify as a scientific study. What seems obvious to me however is that it is only common sense to not underestimate your prey.

It is pretty common wisdom to look at what works for other people and imitate it. The most successful people however are the ones that do something different of course the same is true of the least successful. If you could fish everyday experimentation would be practical but for most of that is not an option. Imitation becomes about the best most of us can do. The problem is there are so many successful fishing methods available today. My experience has been that different methods worth best on specific lakes. One of the reasons I suspect is fishing pressure.

I read a study years ago that the same bass are caught over and over. Some bass were never caught. It seems that not only are fish "smarter" than we thought they also have "personality". We don't catch fish by just appealing to their senses, they are not machines they have brains. How do you think like a fish to reduce the amount of experimentation you have to engage in? Especially to catch the fish other people are not catching.

In the 70's I used the Evans Shyster a lot with very good success. The fish didn't change, I did. I started throwing heavier bait with a baitcasting reel and they were to light and "old school" for the times. Snagless Sally was a larger inline that also worked well, same story. So I believe that if you make the presentation that the fish will respond. Flash and vibration is present in today's lures as it was then. If they didn't work then there wouldn't be a Worden's rooster tail ever sold, and I've seen rack after rack of them in some stores, and the knockoffs right next to them.
Reducing the learning curve is relative to the time invested. Though you may not spend the time with a pole in your hand there is homework that can be done. For years I spent lots of time reading everything I could get my hands on. Some didn't apply, some I couldn't afford, and some were thinly veiled advertisements. Over time I began to see the same info repeated and looked for different sources. Bassmaster came along and all of a sudden there was a better source of info from guys on the cutting edge. That was all fine but these new magic lures were a spin on the old lures. But the technique and equipment to make the presentation evolved rather quickly. Point is that with the internet and most of all, this site, there are no dumb or unanswered questions. Ask a bass guy about his technique and he'll tell you how to change your oil. Ask anything here and you'll get an answer, and sometimes an even more educated answer. The best teacher is time on the water, no argument. Knowing what to look for and being able to understand what you see will shorten the learning curve in a big way. Remember also that what may work in Minnesota might no work in Alabama, so don't get caught up in looking for the magic bullet.

Started making my own in High School and still make them today. It's a lure I've always trusted and always will - you never know what will hit them, I've even caught perch on them.

The Inline Spinner is one of if not the best lure's ever designed.It is a reaction bait.Like rolling a ball in front of a cat "reaction"bite catches every fish that swim's. The feathered/bucktail treble is expensive to buy and only a hand full of jig/fly tier's can tie with consistently with perfection.Hard to copy.On our home lake the tried and true fishermen have one tied on especially during spring..
Thanks enjoyed the thread.