Entry 82-3
Shaw Grigsby On Spinner Baits
Strike King's New Bleeding Spinner Baits
Editor's Note: Shaw Grigsby of Gainesville, Florida, has a TV show titled "One More Cast" on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) that airs from January through December on Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. and then appears again two more times during the week. Shaw, a well-known professional angler, enjoys fishing all the Strike King baits, especially the spinner baits.
Grigsby: The major difference in the new Bleeding Bait spinner bait and other Strike King spinner baits is that this new Bleeding Bait spinner bait has several red strands in the skirt and an extremely bright-red hook, which blend together when the bait swims through the water to give the appearance that the bait is bleeding. When you first look at this bait, you may say, "Well, Strike King is just trying to gimmick up their baits to get fishermen to buy them." However, years ago, I would take my crankbaits and paint the throats of them red or put a red stripe on their bellies. I got more strikes when I had that red color on my crankbaits than I did when I didn't have the red on the baits.
Also, think for just a minute how deadly-effective red shad and Tequila Sunrise worms are in catching bass. Also, think about the fire tiger color, and how deadly it can be. I know that red is a key ingredient to get a bass to bite when the fish may not normally bite because when the bass sees red on a lure, the bass assumes that that baitfish is wounded or injured and is bleeding. The bass thinks the baitfish will offer an easy meal that the bass won't have to expend much energy to catch and eat.
Now, instead of having to paint my lures to get that red color on them, I can use these Bleeding Baits developed by Strike King that incorporates the color of red. Strike King has a spinner bait in the Bleeding Bait Series as well as a buzzbait, a crankbait, the Diamond Shad and just about every lure category that Strike King. Like you, when I first started fishing this spinner bait, I asked myself, "I really wonder if the bass really can tell the difference in a lure that has red on it and one that doesn't?" But when we were filming my TV show, "One More Cast" that airs on OLN in Kissimmee, Florida, I only had two gold-colored Bleeding Baits spinner baits, because these were still prototype lures at that time.
My partner and I were catching tons of bass on those two lures. I lost mine and put on another spinner bait. While my partner continued to catch tons of bass, I only caught one bass every now and then. When he caught an 8-pound bass fishing behind me using a Bleeding Bait spinner bait, I became absolutely convinced that the red in the skirt and the red hook made a difference in whether or not the bass would bite. Strike King has even come out with red trailer hooks this year that you can add to your spinner bait, that give the bait even more of a bleeding look. I've absolutely caught more bass using red hooks in public waters than I do when I don't use red hooks.
