rooster tails, vibrax, or panther martins?

[wormwigglr]

i have never use panther martins or vibrax but have had a lot of success with rooster tails but now i want to hear what everyone else prefers

[bigredfishing]

what about mepps?

i use rooster tails and mepps, and have done well with both, its just that rooster tail's blades don't always start turning immediately.

[wormwigglr]

yeah i forgot about mepps and remebered it after i posted this. nice pick red. i usually give a little sweep of the rod to get the rooster tails going, sometime they need a little kick in their arse just as we all do sometimes.

[RogueAngler]

Good spinner question here.
rooster tails always were a favorite over the years, with the only problem at times trying to get the blade spinning after a cast. A couple good yanks and you were good to go. bows always had a sweet tooth for them.

Does anyone remember the old CP Swing? lol !
Another oldie but goodie in the spinner category, same problems as the roostertail at times getting started, brass beads and a silver or brass blade, no frills, like the Roostertails with their variety of colors. both are great lures and have there applications.
Now for the Panther Martins! I was in my early teens when they first came out and they revolutuionized my trout lure arsenal! the blade spun as soon as it hit the water, no yankin and tugging. In the smaller brush choked deep running spring creeks I grew up on, the holes were deep and incredibly short, so spin time on a blade was a priority, and boy did those brown trout love them! Brass blade with a black/yellow spotted body, darn lure was magic, and I'll bet still are on those creeks.
Those Vibrax have their days too, and I'm a firm believer that the vibrations make a huge difference wih the trout and salmon that have fallen for them.
Nowadays I build my own, and dare to say there as good as the factory models and custom to what I believe I need in certain situations.

You'll very soon be seeing Mepps  re-vamping their entire line of spinners and the packaging. With their sales dropping in the past 6,7 years [except in the big-game fishing series and sizes] they have gone to the drawing board and are updating the design to be more competitive in the market that they originally created way back before anyone was selling a spinner.

Rogue

[PERCH INC.]

I have been using the mepps spinner fly with a small piece of worm!! Works very well.

[devil-man]

Another "oldie but goodie" was the Shyster spinner. I forget who made it, but they are very hard to find now. My dad gets a woody when he sees one. 

I use Panther Martins for trout. They have always produced for me.
An occasional Vibrax might be tossed out in the current.

Onyunn found some really cool spinners that had a fly on them. The trout eat them like candy. He gave me a few, but I lost the last one on the E Koy earlier this Spring. They wouldn't be too hard to make.

[Pasquatch]

Another "oldie but goodie" was the Shyster spinner. I forget who made it, but they are very hard to find now. My dad gets a woody when he sees one. 

I use Panther Martins for trout. They have always produced for me.
An occasional Vibrax might be tossed out in the current.

Onyunn found some really cool spinners that had a fly on them. The trout eat them like candy. He gave me a few, but I lost the last one on the E Koy earlier this Spring. They wouldn't be too hard to make.

Mepps SpinFlies

Shyster Spinner

[wormwigglr]

i think the spinner flies are wither joe's or clearwater. i should make a few since i tie but i have to find some time.

[Bobman]

Rooster tails are my current favorite spinner, used to be Mepps.  I have one lure box that is nothing but rooster tails, unfortunately with all the different colors I have of them there is only a couple that seem to work with any regularity.  I also have a lot of luck with a large white rooster that has red on the top of the body portion (silver blade) for smallmouths in the Niagara River.  Always seems to catch bass.

The only place that Panther Martins work for me is in trout streams like Clear and Ishua.  Basically I have luck with the black/gold blade or the yellow/silver blade.

Does anyone remember the old CP Swing? lol !
Another oldie but goodie in the spinner category, same problems as the roostertail at times getting started, brass beads and a silver or brass blade, no frills, like the Roostertails with their variety of colors. both are great lures and have there applications.
Rogue

I have a few of these in the lure box, never really worked for me though.

Has anyone ever used the Hildebrandt Colorado Spinners or Flicker Spinners?
http://www.hildebrandt.net/products/flicker.php
http://www.hildebrandt.net/products/colorado.php
These are great for small streams where you don't have a lot of room to retrieve a regular spinner.  Both of these can be twitched along to get immediate flash.  I've also tipped them with pieces of worm or minnow when things were really tough.

[TroutFishingBear]

I use mostly panther martins if I use spinners. Panther martins behave much better in the deep, swift waters of my local rivers for trout. They work really well in lakes too. Just remember to fish spinners DEEP! If you don't get snagged up, your not where the fish are. Use bigger sizes of spinners than you would think, In a decent sized river you want at least a #6, and in a small creek a #4 suffices. There is never a need for a smaller one IMO, at least I haven't faced it, and I have fished TINY creeks. Hope this helps...

[Bigfish57]

try spinners from this small company. Doubble loon nice stuff and works great. I reccomend the singer hook models for boutom bouncing!

good stuff

[devil-man]

Use bigger sizes of spinners than you would think...

That is a very good point, TFB.
The larger spinners are easier to cast and have better action.

[PGKris]

what about mepps?

its just that rooster tail's blades don't always start turning immediately.

That's my only problem with rooster tails. I usually don't fish them in rivers.....only on lakes or trolled because the blades dont spin reliably and when you're fishing rivers you need that reaction time instead of worrying about what the hell you're blade's doing.
What about Bolos? I suppose that can fall under the "oldie but goodie" category too....but I never stopped using it
Mepps are my all time favourite unless its the wedding band. The wedding band is my standby for new water. Around here if a wedding band and a worm isn't working.....well it always works.
Blue foxes are always a force in my box as well. I even use them in silver and gold in #4 and #5 for chinooks. Blue is my fav for trout though.
Good topic
KRIS

[Mackdaddy21]

None of the others compare to the panther martin. Panther martins run deeper, spin easier, and have more flash and color.
Only thing about panther martins is they do tend to bend easy and the color often comes off the blades with repeated use. The best sizes for decent sized rivers are #6 - #9. Even #15 will work for aggressive and big browns. My favorite colors are chartreuse blade, orange blade, gold blade, rainbow blade, black blade, and silver too.
No other spinner comes close. Mepps is a very, very distant second.

Tyler

[wormwigglr]

mack, it sounds like you like them all.