Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » Metal Blade Spinners - An Introduction
Metal Blade Spinners - An Introduction
By Adrian Webb
Spinning for trout using metal blade spinners (inline spinners) started way back, well before I was born in 1946 and I have no idea what the first blade spinner must have looked like either. I have tried to track down a photo of an early blade spinner, but the only one I could come up with is a Mepps model called a 'Shimmy' spinner, which I think was manufactured back in 1951.
I started off using metal blade spinners on my very first trip to the Finnis River near Yundi, South Australia back in 1964, where I caught my first ever brown trout. From that day on I have always been spin fishing rivers for trout using the 'Mepps' metal blade spinners, during my 54 years of trout fishing rivers. Even today I'm still using the Mepps metal blade spinners for over 90 percent of the time as I've found them to be one of the best lures for catching trout. I now live and fish the rivers in Tasmania and have done so since March 2000.
Metal blade spinners, boy they have changed over the years! Nowadays there has to be hundreds of different brands, designs and varieties of metal blade spinners on the market. Yes, the majority of them have their place in the trout fishing world too, but there are also a lot that don't do the job they were made for and this is because they are not well manufactured products. It's like most things nowadays, you get what you pay for, so be wary as there are a lot of cheap copies on the market... just another reason to use the Mepps lures as they are a quality product.
There are many methods for catching trout in rivers and streams including the use of trout flies, hard body lures, soft plastics, bait and metal blade spinners. In this series of articles I will focus on the use of the Mepps metal blade spinners that I use and how and where to use them to catch that elusive trout.
You can check Mepps out on the following site: http://www.tackletactics.com.au/
Metal blade spinners come in various makes and models and most brands are made in Asian countries nowadays, but I still use the Mepps brand and these are still produced in France, where they have been since 1938. Every Mepps blade spinner is still assembled by hand. Spinners come with a variety of different coloured metal blades, with the most common being gold, copper, silver and black. Some are plain whereas others will have patterns and several different colours painted on the face of the blade for use in clear, clouded or tannin waters.
Spinners also come in many different sizes and weights such as the following for example. Mepps #00 is a very small spinner and only weighs 1.5g. It is ideal for small to medium size rivers as are the #0 (2.5g) and #1 (3.5g) sizes. Sizes #2 (4.5g) and #3 (6.5g) are more suited to large deep river and lake fishing.
With me being a river and stream spin fisher I use 1-3 kg spin rods in 6' and 6'6'' lengths, paired with 1000 & 1500 model spinning reels, filled with 4lb clear mono line. The reason I use this equipment is because I never fish large, deep rivers or lakes and I love fishing with light tackle. I just stick to the shallower waters that I can get in and wade with ease, in light weight breathable waders and felt sole wading boots. The lures I use on most rivers are the Mepps #00 (1.5g) and #0 (2.5g), with every now and then a #1 (3.5g) size. Models are the Black Fury, Aglia, Comet and Bug spinners.
A blade spinner is an attractor and the main purpose is to get a fish to attack it when it's being retrieved through the water. The spinning blade sends out a vibrating sound that the trout will pick up on and that, combined with the rotating flash of the blade, entices the trout to strike the spinner. Just because you flick a spinner out and retrieve it, doesn't mean to say a trout is going to attack that lure at all, because they don't always.
It often comes down to the weather on the day, or could be the water clarity and also the depth of the river you fish. A lot of people think that spin fishing with a metal blade spinner is simple and easy and fish will just attack them whenever one is cast into a stretch of river. Well I can tell you now it doesn't work like that at all, because there is a lot of skill and knowledge that is required if you want to catch trout. For instance, do you know how to read a river to find and catch trout, because if you don't then you are going home without a fish, unless you fluke one. The more often you go spin fishing the more you will learn and the better you will get at it.
In the coming week's we will look at colour selection, reading a river and tips for fishing your spinners effectively.
Cheers,
Adrian (meppstas)