Fall Tailspinner Patterns & Techniques

When you've found the school or a likely area, a tailspinner will get bit even in the midst of a plethora of bait. Tailspinners are nothing new, but are experiencing a quiet resurgence among some of the most accomplished offshore anglers.

A graphite or composite rod in the 7’ to 7’6” range with a medium to medium heavy action and a moderate to moderate-fast bend is a great option. A more moderate action helps keep fish pinned on the tailspinner’s treble hook, and since you’re usually not fishing them in any heavy cover, you don’t need a ton of power.

Usually a casting reel with a gear ratio in the 7:1 to 8:1 range is going to be what you want. A 7:1 will work most of the time, but a little extra speed never hurts, especially since a lot the time fish will hit this bait on the fall as you yo-yo it off the bottom, and you’ll need to pick up the slack. You also want a reel with decent line capacity, something in the 100- to 200- range since you’ll sometimes fish them fairly deep.

Flourcarbon in the 10lb-16lb range is what you want. The sensitivity and sink rate, as well as, the minimal stretch of fluorocarbon all lend themselves well to this technique. This is a lighter line technique but be careful going much below 12lb test.

A lot tailspinners come with pretty small treble hooks due to the smaller size of the bait. If you’re having trouble keeping fish pinned or missing bites, try upsizing your treble one or two sizes and using a heavier gauge hook.

Just like a lipless crankbait, vary your retrieve. Sometimes the fish will want a lift-and-slide, sometimes they’ll want it stroked very aggressively, or other times just a standard hop off the bottom and a slow flutter down. Tailspinners are also a bait you’ll usually want to use after you’ve found some actively schooling fish.

Chrome and shad patterns are the go-to colors for this technique. Generally you’ll want to use a little more chrome in low light or more stained water conditions, and in clearer waters a more natural shad pattern.

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