slow rolling???

[fishing man]

i was wondering what is slow rolling a spinnerbait? im allways hearing about it but dont know what it is.

[senko]

It's when you reel in a spinnerbait just fast enough to keep the blades moving. It's a great cold water technique.

[carolina-rig-01]

can be deadly when night fishing too!

[BigBassin144]

I caught my first spinnerbait bass this sumer slow rolling. It worked pretty good for me.

BB

[Bob Smith]

Truthfully speaking, that is probably the best method going, for stained or dingy water (low visibility). It works best with a Colorado/Willow leaf combo, single or double Colorado, or single or double Indiana blade. Some folks get real scientific with the colors and metals on the blades, but day in and day out for me is a combination of one gold blade and one blade in Nickel. On occasion I have been known to throw painted blades (and will do so more here in Georgia for the spotted bass too). In the stained or low water conditions I typically thread on a white 4" curl tail grub ("curl" up normally). This helps displace even more water and gives out more vibration at lower speeds, plus it offers a very tempting "visual" for the fish.
In clear water, I go with smaller willow leaf blades, subdued colors, a heavier body and I fish the bait very fast. You do not want a bass looking for too long in clear water, they will reject it most of the time.

[Fish2win]

I think slow rolling has to do with the type bank and or cover you are fishing and how the fish are relating to that cover or structure..It can be in clear or stained water. I like to keep the bait at or below the light penetration zone. If you are fishing shallow cover or clear water cover burn the bait but if the fish are on sloping banks using rocks or stumps as cover slow roll.It also has to do with how big the strike zone in on a given day. If the strike zone is small and the fish a little slow to react slow rolling is definately the way to present the bait. Fish2win

[JB]

The heavier the weight of the spinnerbait, like 3/4 or 1 ounce, makes it easier to
move much slower once your get it going.
I carry a few big ones that I've had for years, in a brown/yellow/red skirt with gold willow n silver colorado blades.works great if you can find vegetation tops and bust through them, giving the bass just a glimpse at it, and trigger a strike.

[basskicker]

slow rolling works really well when the fish are starting to spawn. the fish see it come by with the blades making just enough flash to cause them to strike. if you reel it in to fast you wont get to the bottom where the fish are at. if you want to retrieve faster go to a heavier size. this technique usually works, you just have to find the right size and speed the fish are wanting.

[Rebbasser]

If you need more weight on a spinnerbait remove the rubber part of a rubber core sinker and crimp it on the shaft below the line tie. It won't interfere with the bait but will give you the extra weight to keep the bait down in the water column.

[BigBassin144]

Reb, that's a great idea! Slow rolling is harder with lighter baits, and I only have 1 spinnerbait above 1/2oz. I'll have to try that.

BB

[Fish2win]

Hey Bigbass,Invest in some 3/4 oz tandems. They will catch big fish in the summer and fall. Fish2win

[BigBassin144]

Thanks, I'll have to look into some. The only one I have over 1/2 oz is a 3/4oz BOOYAH Night Talker.

BB

[flfireman]

I slow roll a lot, I tend to keep it high w/ the blades just rippling the surface. Have had some tremendous strikes this way.

[toneyoutdoors.com]

Slow rollin really works well for me anywhere around rocks. In the summer at night i have won many tournaments slow rollin rocks at dark with a black spinnerbait with a big colorado blade.

[ROBZILLA]

If you're seriously interested in knowing about Spinnerbait, you need to think beyond the basics. This informative article takes a closer look at one technique you need to know about Spinnerbaits.
This technique is primarily used to fish deeper water areas usually between 10 – 20 feet deep. A lot of times you will be fishing some type of structure, weeds, moss, stumps, or rocks. The premise is to keep the bait deep just bumping the stumps or rocks and just “ticking” the grass or moss. Ticking, being a good red neck techie term, meaning just keeping in contact or brushing the structure. It is most important in this presentation to keep contact with the structure you are fishing.
This technique requires the larger spinnerbaits, ¾ - 1-ounce baits with large willow leaf or Colorado blades. You cast the bait out over the target area and allow the bait to settle to the desired depth or the bottom. When the bait reaches the desired depth or bottom, give it a little jerk to get the blades turning and retrieve as slowly as possible to keep the blades turning. You should be able to feel a steady thump, thump, thump as the blades turn. You also want to be able to feel the bait bumping into rocks or stumps or just “ticking” moss or grass as you retrieve the bait. If, at any point, you do not feel the thump of the blades turning, set the hook. It does not cost you anything and it probably will be a fish. Most strikes will be subtle like that and not the “jerk the rod out of my hand” type strikes.
This technique can produce several fish off an area. Several years ago I was fishing in a Mr. Bass of Arkansas tournament with David Ashcraft from Bismark, Arkansas on Lake Degray. David had a reputation for being an expert spinnerbait fisherman and a Lake Degray legend having won many tournaments on the lake. We pulled up on one of the many submerged ridges in the lake and he promptly pulled out a 1-ounce white spinnerbait with large willow leaf blades and began fishing. He informed me that this particular ridge had a small rock pile and some coon-tail moss growing on it. Well, like a dummy, I thought this would be ideal for my worm so I began worm fishing. Ten minutes later David had put 4 keepers in the live well and I was still waiting for a bite. I may be hard headed, according to my wife, but I am not stupid. I tied on a spinnerbait and began slow rolling like him.
Within one hour we had caught 9 keeper fish, David had 6 and I had 3. We tried worms, jigs and deep diving crankbaits but to no avail. We left that ridge and headed for another one. Same type of set up but this ridge only had moss on it, no rocks. We managed to catch 4 fish on this ridge with the spinnerbaits. Now David had a limit, 7 fish, and I had 6 fish. The next place we tried was a moss bed considerably shallower than the ridges we had been fishing. We were both looking for a “kicker” fish and the second cast I made produced a 4 pound 14 ounce bass. I was just pleased as punch. We fished the rest of the day and managed to cull a few fish. At the weigh in, David beat my weight by 3 ounces and took first place while I took second place and big bass. That is how I was taught by an expert and learned to slow roll a spinnerbait properly.
The interesting thing in the above scenario was the fact that the ridges we fished were in the 18 – 20 feet deep range while the moss bed we fished was only 3 – 5 foot deep. Both circumstances produced fish with the same bait. That is how versatile the slow rolling technique can be.
You can see that there's practical value in learning more about spinnerbait. Can you think of ways to apply what's been covered so far?

[ROBZILLA]

What style spinnerbait do you like the best for slow rolling?

Remember that 'slow-rolling' means you re fishing the lure in a finesse manner, letting it gently bump the bottom or whatever cover may be down there. That means you need some drag from the blades to provide the control and 'feel' you need. One might think that fishing deep with a spinnerbait would be best done with a willowleaf blade arrangement (i.e., as little blade resistance/drag as possible). But, you really must have some lure resistance to the retrieve. What I find best is a short arm spinnerbait with a #4 to #5 blade (beware that the short arm bait gets hung more than a long arm). The actual weight of the bait depends on the depth to be fished. In general, a one-ounce bait will cover a lot of ranges. But, with all this said, each angler must select his own styles and sizes that feel the best to him/her. Always remember that slow-rolling is a finesse approach and the object is to stay very lightly in contact with whatever is on the bottom.