Basic spinnerbait tips for bass fishing will include the Lure, weight of the lure, color or combinations of colors, blades on the lure, and presentations of the lure.

When I use this lure I am trying to represent a baitfish or a small school of baitfish. The lure itself is a sideways V formation with a lead head at the bottom to make it balanced. Depending on the size of the lure you will have different wire size. Some have described this as a safety pin shape. Where the line tie is the lure has several different shapes. Lures could have a wrap around circle, several twist of the wire, and what lure producers call an R bend. There does not seem to be a favorite for one design as each can be found on the smallest lure to the largest.

The weights of these lures can very from one-eighth of an ounce all the way up to two and one-half ounces.

These sizes seem to catch the smallest of the bass to the largest of the bass. The material that make up the head of these lures are lead or tungsten. The lead head being more large than the tungsten head, making the tungsten head less likely to get hung up when fishing close to cover. Depending on where you are fishing a lot of states are abolishing the use of lead for environmental purposes.

When choosing a color combination for my spinnerbait I go with what I have been taught. Clear water go with natural colors. Translucence, greens, watermelons, browns should be used for this. Stained water I would go with combinations of whites, chartreuses, greens, oranges, browns, blues, reds, and yellows. Muddy water I would go to both ends of the spectrum and use solid white, chartreuse, dark blues, purple, and black.

Water color is not the only factor to determine the color of your lure. On bright days use a lighter color of lure and on cloudy use a more dark color lure. These combinations will help hide the lure so the bass can not get a clear visual of it, and you will get a lot more reaction strikes. Also, remember that a light chop on the water surface will help with "hiding" the shape of your lure, making for a better reaction bite.

There are basically three types of blades to use:

1. Willow blade - A skinny long blade like the willow leaf. Use this blade in clear to stain water. I try to match the blade size with the size of the bait fish. 2. Indiana blade - This blade is shaped like a long oval. Use this blade in stained water. This blade will provide more vibration than the willow and help the bass focus on a combination of site and sound. 3. Colorado blade - A round blade. Use this blade in stained to muddy water. The Colorado blade will provide the most vibration and help bass pinpoint the lure in this type of water.

The blades come in a variety of colors. Nickel, Gold, Brass, Copper, and painted blades. Use the previous order of colors for water clear to muddy.

There are different number of spinnerbait blade combinations that can be used. Singles, doubles, triples, and quads can be used. Remember that the faster you reel in this lure the more lift it has. Willow blades have the least resistance and the Colorado has the most.

As far as presentations go you can do just about anything with a spinnerbait. You can flip it, pitch it, burn it, slow roll it, vary the return speed, jig it, or just about any other way you can think.

This is probably the most versatile lure of all that you will ever use.

One last tip, always use a trailer hook because some bass like to nip on the skirt of the lure and this will help your hook up percentage.