The flashy, new bait was catching so many bass - and such big ones - anglers began worrying fish populations might suffer.

Umbrella rig? Nope, spinnerbait!

Yep, the bass lure you likely take for granted now was once thought almost too effective!

“It was kind of the same kind of craze back in the day that the Umbrella Rig was recently,” says Terminator Pro Ott DeFoe, recalling a story a longtime fellow Bassmaster pro shared. “He said it was unbelievable the way fish bit them and the size of them, and a lot of people were worried about spinnerbaits damaging the fishery.”

Of course, DeFoe, 28, “was probably not even born then,” he says, laughing. “Spinnerbaits were always a staple for me, growing up.” And they still are.

In a Bassmaster tournament on Texas’ Lake Falcon this year, DeFoe caught his biggest five-bass limit ever - 30 pounds, 15 ounces! - on a 1/2 oz. Terminator T-1 Original Titanium Spinnerbait With Power Pulse Quickskirts. That was in the spring. DeFoe also throws spinnerbaits in the fall.

“Those are the times of year when fish are more than likely going to be moving shallow, near some type of cover,” he explains. “That’s why a spinnerbait is a good tool for the job then. In spring and fall, I’m always going to have a T-1 tied on.”

Spinnerbaits produce well in the fall because they imitate baitfish and work best in shallow water. In the fall, that’s where the bait is, DeFoe explains.

“Typically, the baitfish are schooled up again then, running around in flats and around cover and points,” he says. “And you can fish a spinnerbait effectively in those places.”

Stained water is better for spinnerbaits, but they work also in gin-clear water if you fish them very fast, called “burning” them. In stained to cloudy water, DeFoe targets wood and rock with his Terminator T-1.

“I like to throw it beyond the laydown or rock, but I don’t want to throw it more than ten feet past it,” he advises.” I want it to be close enough to where the fish does hear it land, but it’s not on it’s head. So throw two to three foot beyond the cover and then bring it right by.”

In the fall, DeFoe power fishes with the T-1, using his trolling motor to move brisky along the bank, targeting wood and rock.

“I usually like to make one or two casts to a piece of cover and then go on to the next one,” he says. “I may kind of tick the cover with it, but I don’t like to really run it into the cover the way I would a squarebill crankbait.”

Rather, he retrieves his spinnerbait over the top of cover, “pretty quick, most of the time.” A fast retrieve, he explains, gives fish less time to scrutinize a bait as it passes.

“If it’s moving through there really quick, she’s got to either bite it or get it out of the way,” he explains. “And a lot of times you can trigger those fish into biting by doing that.”

In the fall, Defoe will often throw a 1/2- to 3/4-oz. Terminator T-1 with tandem willow blades. “In the fall, burning a double-willow is the only way to go,” he says, because the slender blades can be reeled faster than larger Colorado blades, which create more drag in the water. His “go-to,” anytime-anyplace spinnerbait, however, is a tandem-blade 1/2-oz. Terminator T-1, which features a single willow blade trailing a small Colorado blade.

“I can fish that bait pretty effectively without having to really crawl it along,” he says. “That three to five-foot range for me is where a 1/2 oz. is pretty much what I’m always going to pick up.”

Really cold or muddy water calls for a double-Colorado blade. The dual cupped blades create “maximum vibration and water resistance,” to help fish find and bite it your bait.

Power Pulse Quickskirt T-1’s come in 10 color patterns: Bluegill, Crappie, Emerald Shiner, Gold Shiner, Perch, Silver Shiner, Sunfish, Yellow Perch, Hot Shad and Pumpkinseed.

DeFoe decides which color to throw based on water clarity and the color of the baitfish he’s trying to imitate. Yellow Perch is his “number one” color pattern, he says, especially in stained water. Silver Shad is his “number two” color. It’s better in clear water.

Several stops on the recently released 2014 Bassmaster Elite Series schedule look to be good spinnerbait fisheries, DeFoe said. They include: Table Rock in April and Toledo Bend and Dardenelle in May. “Any time in May is a good possibility for a shad spawn,” he explains. A spinnerbait could play also in an August Delaware River tournament. “That being a tidal-water fishery, more than likely the water’s going to be colored, so there could definitely be a chance to get some fish on a spinnerbait there.”

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