TackleTour

I have been wanting to try some inline spinners and today picked up 1/8 rooster tail.
When do you guys throw them and on what setup? What brand is better as I saw some blue fox, mepps and bps ( the bps were like $1.99 far less them them all ) but I went for starters with the original rooster but want to try to super rooster tail out as well. When do you select one type of inline over the other and are you tossing them for bass?

They work well if fish are in an active mood and willing to chase them down. 1/8 is pretty light and would serve you best in shallow water (6 feet or less). I would go up to 1/2 oz or larger if you want to fish them deeper. Rooster tails sometimes don't spin for me when I retrieve them, but I've found that the trick is to give a small jerk/twitch before beginning the retrieve. This starts the blade spinning and you should be fine afterwards.

General consensus is that colorado blades give off more vibrations and better in stained water. Gold blades also seem to provide better flash in stained water and thus are more effective. For clear water, silver blades and willow shape seem to be the go-to. But honestly, there's not much you can do to fish them wrong so feel free to use silver/willow blades in stained water if you don't want to buy numerous version, they'll probably still work.

goldrod wrote:I have been wanting to try some inline spinners and today picked up 1/8 rooster tail.
When do you guys throw them and on what setup? What brand is better as I saw some blue fox, mepps and bps ( the bps were like $1.99 far less them them all ) but I went for starters with the original rooster but want to try to super rooster tail out as well. When do you select one type of inline over the other and are you tossing them for bass?

If you're pond fishing, you can get away with 6# mono, a light or medium power rod, and a #1 or #2 Blue Fox, depending on which rod you're using. I've caught bass before on Rooster Tails down to 1/16oz, but never any consistent size. I've thrown bigger spinners, like the big willow blade Mepps Aglia, and I've gotten fish to slap at them, but never commit. Possible overkill for the pond I was fishing, I guess.

A #3 Mepps Aglia or Blue Fox Vibrax with a dressed treble catch will catch large and smallmouth…pike too. I have from size 00 for panfish to size 6 for pike. I prefer dressed trebles and mainly just use silver or gold. I use them in rivers or lakes with equal success.

I try and stay way from the Rooster Tails in the smaller sizes because the narrow blade doesn't always spin at slow speeds. I've had to lightly bend the blades so they grab more water…had this problem with some Bass Pro Shops XPS spinners my kids use.

Most of these baits can cause plenty of line twist…spinning or casting…I've use small swivels when it's an issue.

I use an Aglia for shallower water because the blade shape keeps it up…a Mepps Comet for mid depth…heavier Rooster Tail shape blade for deeper…I have trouble keeping any spinners deep though…they all seem to rise on me.

I've tried a Blue Fox Vibrax that comes with a single hook and rigged it weedless with a grub…works good for going through lilly pads…Terminator makes a few too. Hit a pocket of slime or stringy weeds with it (or any spinner) and it gets old real fast picking that stuff out of the clevis holding the blade so it'll spin.

I've had a lot of success with inline spinners especially for river smallmouth. In my experience the best size is a #4 blue fox in silver and I replace the hook with a slightly larger better quality treble hook. I prefer to fish them on spinning gear because the line seems to twist a lot on casting gear. Don't just do a straight retrieve back to the boat either, pause it, pop it, burn it, and youll have a lot more success. Most of the strikes I get come when I give it a couple good jerks because it seems like you get a lot of follows with this bait and the pop drives them nuts. The bait will work year round but it works best IMO during the fall season. Hope this helps.

I got away from using them until last summer, we had a day that just wasn't going too well and my buddy pulls out a white #3 Mepps Aglia and proceeds to begin catching fish, including a 4lb 12oz beast smallmouth, that changed my mind in a hurry. Now I make my own, I pour and paint the rooster tail bodies, then I cut and bend .028 wire for the 1/4oz with a #3 French blade and then I tie hackle to the bottom wire like the Rooster Tail. I love the Rooster Tail but the French blade seems to work at slower speed which is important when fish aren't active. What I found out later is that the fish weren't in active the day we got them on the in-line, it was a day they were keying in on small bait fish. A guide that I know told me they managed a small fish on a 2.75" tube and when he got in in the boat it spit up these little silver side darter minnows, and if they are eating those the best bait to throw is an In-line spinner as it mimics the size and flash of that type of forage perfectly.

Often overlooked, but are proven fish catcher. It like to lazy fish and inline spinners lets me do just that.

I always have a couple dressed treble Mepps Black Fury #2 and #3. Yellow blade/Squirrel tail and White blade/White tail
They seem to catch all season, all temps.

Although I bought a 1/2 oz spinner with the intention of fishing it for bass I don't think I ever used it. They are my go-to for trout & panfish though. I always have one tied on one of my UL setups. My favorite are white, black & yellow Rooster Tails in 1/16 or 1/8 sizes but I have all brands and colors. The setup I throw them on the most is 6 lb. Super Natural main line to a size 10 Spro power swivel to 12-15" of 4 lb. P-Line Floroclear.

The Blue Fox Vibrax minnow spins are also good. It's basically a de-lipped Rapala CountDown with a blade.

I love the Blue Fox Vibrax Spinners. Started with Rooster tail but they sometimes wouldn't spin like mentioned. A buddy told me you can just bend the shaft a little and it'll fix the problem but I already switched to Blue Fox by then. I hear great things about the Mepps Black Fury but I mainly use inlines for white bass and smallies so I like the color options from Blue Fox.