The Great Spinnerbait Comeback: Where Did They Go and Why Are They Winning Tournaments Again?

Inspired by such fishing greats, I embraced the spinnerbait myself. Early in my competitive years, as I learned the maze of backwaters on the Mississippi River, I’m sure I caught a majority of my bass on a spinnerbait. And I wasn’t alone. A lot of guys caught bass on spinnerbaits.

How the Spinnerbait Lost Its Spotlight

But just about 20 years ago, an alternative bait hit the scene. Bolstered by a 2006 FLW tournament win by Bryan Thrift, the ChatterBait, or bladed-jig, grabbed the spotlight and only picked up steam from there. It shared about half the components of a spinnerbait, and could be fished in a lot of the same cover and situations. But it had a unique hunting action the spinnerbait didn’t have. While the vibrating jig is an incredible, fish-catching bait in its own right, it soon became as if bass had never eaten spinnerbaits at all.

Then, starting a couple years ago, finesse baits that could be fished throughout the water column and monitored on forward facing sonar. Once again, a lot of anglers were convinced this was the only way to catch a bass. The spinnerbait got even less attention.

Why Spinnerbaits Are Making a Big Comeback

But now, it feels like the spinnerbait has had a bit of a comeback. Obviously, the bass still eat it, but what convinced the general public to give it a try?

One factor seems to be the decision by the National Professional Fishing League to ban the use of forward-facing sonar in their tournaments. When big fish wandering all parts of the water column over deep water are no longer a viable option, targeting the more predictable, shallow water bites is a smart move. And if you’re looking for a proven bite-getter that can do everything from covering vast flats to picking apart specific targets, the spinnerbait makes a lot of sense.

Pro Anglers Leading the Spinnerbait Revival

In fact, in the six tournaments the NPFL has completed in 2025, three times the winners have credited spinnerbaits as one of the main baits that contributed to their victory. It started at the first event of the year on Santee Cooper in early March. Jason Christie slow-rolled a 1/2-ounce Booyah spinnerbait around shallow cypress trees to set a new NPFL three-day weight record of 82 pounds, 12 ounces, including two 30-pound days.

Then Scott Canterbury won the Douglas Lake NPFL event in May. Canterbury said he started each day catching shad spawn fish on a spinnerbait. And in June, Chad Marler won the Eufaula event, rotating between two spinnerbaits.

But before you conclude it's just the lack of forward-facing sonar that deserves the credit, consider these stats. In the 2025 Bassmaster Open Series, where competitors were allowed to use sonar, a few of those tournaments featured spinnerbait use among the Top 10 finishers. In April, Casey Scanlon won an Open on Norfolk Lake with a 1/2-ounce Trophy Bass Company spinnerbait. In fact, the top four finishers in that event all had spinnerbaits in their lineup.

Then at the Chesapeake Bay Open in July, Dillon Falardeau stuck to three key baits including a 3/8-ounce Jackall Super Eruption spinnerbait. And like the other event, he was not the only Top 10 finisher to mention the spinnerbait.

Why Spinnerbaits Still Catch Bass Everywhere

The unique thing about a spinnerbait is that it works well, even if you don’t really know how to fish it. In the hands of an amateur, just trying to get started in their pursuit of catching bass with artificial lures, a spinnerbait will get the job done, at least done well enough. Cast it and reel it back in. Even if it’s not the best choice that day, it’s a reasonable bet that you’ll catch something. Those small wins keep anglers coming back, eager to learn more.

And in the hands of an accomplished pro, it’s an incredibly versatile bait that bass eat. It’s not always the best choice every day for someone who understands all the complexities of bass behavior, but it’s almost never a terrible choice. If you were stranded on a desert island in the middle of a giant bass lake and only had a fishing rod and a spinnerbait, you probably wouldn’t starve.

The Return of a Classic

Fishing goes through trends and fads, but the recent resurgence of the spinnerbait shows that the proven classics never really go away. In a tournament world where most anglers focus on technology, the bass couldn’t care less. If a bait had the triggering qualities to draw strikes last year, it still has them today, and it’ll likely catch bass tomorrow. Whether you’re just learning or a bass pro cashing big checks on the sport’s biggest tours, the spinnerbait always did, and always should, find a place in your tackle collection.

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