Spinnerbaits have long been a favorite among bass anglers, and with good reason. They can be retrieved quickly or slowly, they come in dozens of colors, shapes, and blades, and most importantly, they catch fish. However, like many lures, sometimes they don’t run true, or become tangled in themselves. More often than not, this is due to external factors, such as the wind, a line knot, or some sort of underwater obstruction. Sometimes, though, it can be due to a design flaw or even a component of the bait itself that just isn’t working properly. Either way, you’ll need to figure the problem out and fix it, and today we have a few ways to do this that may help you decipher just what is causing your spinnerbait to tangle.
Typically, your spinnerbait gets tangled because the wind causes it to twirl during the cast and land awkwardly. When this happens, you can usually just untangle it and cast again. However, if it’s not the wind and you’re still having problems, first try to retrieve it at a slower speed and see if that fixes it.
A trick I learned a while back is to close the bail by hand and start the retrieve just before the spinnerbait hits the water. I’ve found that this ensures that the whole lure is in line when I start the retrieve.
There are times when the problem is the lure itself, which means you may have to make a few on-the-spot repairs of modifications to solve the issue. If the blades seem to be the problem, you can use a pair of needle-nose pliers and tune the blades by bending them a bit at the tip, or on one side. Another popular adjustment is opening the bait up a bit more by bending the frame and creating a wider V shape.
As amazing as they are, spinnerbaits can still tangle themselves up and cause wasted retrieves. It happens. Be sure to not buy poor quality lures and keep an eye on the lure itself during your cast, and you should be in good shape.