I guess I'm in the minority but I've done alright on spinners for winter steelhead, both in Washington and in Michigan.

I think they are very effective for getting fish out of cover, as pointed out by someone above. I especially like to probe the wood with spinners. Cast across or slightly upstream and retrieve only as fast as it takes to get the blade spinning. In low clear water it is key to have a well-designed spinner. . .the kind you can't buy from many places. . .so making your own with good clevis/ball bearings, etc. can pay off, both financially and with fish. The key in clear water is to get the blade spinning immediately upon entry splash, and actually have it spinning as the lure is dropping, swinging and entering the fishes zone of awareness. They will absolutely crush it if they're in the right mood. If you let it sink like a turd prior to jerking on it and getting it to spin in low clear water and they can see that and will ignore you. Size 4 homemade spinners with good heavy stamped french blades are my usual weapon of choice in winter. I'm not sure winter fish care what the body looks like, so I go with the cheapest possible body which properly weights the thing and a big ol Siwash hook. I've tried lots of combinations of colored tape and no tape on the back of the blade, but I'm not sure it's mattered much looking at my notes over the years, so now I just fish em natural. Works for me. I'm not saying it's my number one method of winter steelheading, but it's in the top 4 anyhow, and always in my vest.

I must say I've never done well on brats with them, but the nates certainly are intrigued by the strobe of the metal. I've never done worth a darn with the pitch across / down and across swing akin to spoon or streamer presentations. For some reason the fish I've encountered don't like that in the winter. Keep at it, and the next time you see some logs and cover on the other side, and can't effectively present with your current gear, pitch the ol spinner upriver and spin it down into the zone and let em have it,

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