Trout Spinners

Trout Spinners
In many spring-fed streams, spinning tackle is the most popular equipment used for rainbow trout fishing. The spinning blade on the wire flash pumps and pushes through the water and mimics the flashes made by darting creek chubs in these streams. In-line spinners are the fish bait of choice when fishing for rainbow trout on spinning tackle. Two very popular brands of trout spinners are Mepps and Panther Martin.

Inline spinners
Inline spinners are the typical type of trout spinner. The metal blade rotates around the center wire of the lure. Behind the spinner blade, a trout spinner has beads, metal weights or other multicolored material. Inline spinners use a willowleaf blade.

Willowleaf blades are long and narrow shaped blades reminiscent of the willow tree. Unlike other types of spinners used when fishing for largemouth bass or northern pike fishing, willowleaf blades produce almost no vibrations in the water and are used only for their flash. The clear water in streams and mountain lakes where rainbow trout are found are great places to use these kinds of trout lures.

A Rooster Tail spinner is an inline spinner with a feather skirt around a treble hook at the base of the lure. The original Rooster Tail was developed by Howard Warden in the late 1950’s. Like most inline spinners, a Rooster Tail uses a willowleaf blade.

Trout Spinner Techniques
The rotation of the spinner blade can cause the line to twist and lead to bird’s nests so use a swivel to counter act the rotation. Trout spinners are easy to fish. It’s as simple as casting the spinner out and reeling it back in fast enough to cause the blade to spin. A more effective technique is to pause your retrieval and give the lure a quick jerk to give the illusion of a dying minnow. This is usually a great way to trigger a strike