Inline spinners are a classic trout fishing lure and can catch trout wherever they are found. We have listed 6 of the best spinners for trout fishing
Best Spinners for Trout Fishing
- Yakima Bait Worden’s Original Rooster Tail
- Panther Martin Inline Spinner
- Mepps Aglia Inline Spinner
- Thomas E.P. Spinn
- Bluefox Vibrax Inline Spinners
- Southbend Inline Spinners
Best Inline Spinners for Trout
There are tons of inline spinners out in the fishing world. Well known brands, affordable brands, secret regional brands, and the classics. The key to a good inline spinner is great flash, vibration, and action in the water. The lures we have selected below are great lures that will catch trout in almost any body of water. Doesn’t matter if you’re catching wild brookies in a secluded stream, stocker rainbow trout, or shiny palomino trout, inline spinners are a great tool to have in your arsenal of trout jigs and lures.
Yakima Bait Worden’s Original Rooster Tail
Yakima Bait Original Rooster Tail Inline Spinner
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.We’ve talked about the Original Rooster Tail before. It’s a classic name in the inline spinner world and can be found in any big box store or small tackle shop. Our favorite thing about this lure is that it is the best bang for buck trout spinner on the market. Different sizes, colors, blade colors, hook sizes – you name it. It’s a quality inline spinner that wont break the bank. If you don’t believe us, order one for yourself to try it out.
Pros
- Can be found anywhere
- Huge variety of colors and sizes
- Very affordable
Cons
- Paint on some colors can fade after some use
Panther Martin Inline Spinner
Panther Martin Pro Guide Anywhere 6 Pack
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.Panther Martin is a staple inline spinner brand. Whether you have been fishing for a few months or a few years, you have probably heard of Panther Martin. The Pro Guide pack is our favorite because it comes with not only a variety of color options, but it even includes two trout spinners with dressed treble hooks.
While they can be on the more expensive side (prices can range from $20-30), it is a solid pack of quality inline spinners. Our favorite to throw on bright sunny days is the silver blade with yellow body. The flash off these spinners are amazing and the tapered body makes it cut through the water with ease.
Pros
- Vibrant color options
- Unique shapes and designs
Cons
- Can be pricey
Mepps Aglia Inline Spinner
Mepps Aglia
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.Mepps is another classic brand in the fishing world. A very simple design with amazing action, the Mepps Aglia is a trout catching machine. The blades are durable and move easily around the wire making it easy to retrieve. Our favorite thing about the Mepps Aglia is how easy it is to tell the sizes between your different inline spinners. Whether you need a size 1 to give a smaller flash or a size 4 to cause a huge disturbance in the water, you will know exactly which size and weight you are throwing.
Pros
- Great quality spinning blades
- Durable design
- Quality hooks
Cons
- On the more expensive side
Thomas E.P. Spinn
Thomas E.P. Spinn
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.This is one of those secret brands that we might get in trouble for talking about, but we are going to spill the beans anyway. Thomas Lures has been putting out amazing fishing lures for 70 years. This is one of the best kept secrets of the East coast. The quality of these spinners are amazing and the action matches. Simple design, but effective in the water and will catch the attention of any trout. Give these a try and you’ll see why we like them so much.
Pros
- Unique beaded design
- Quality materials and hooks
Cons
- Can be hard to find through the U.S.
Bluefox Vibrax Inline Spinners
Blue Fox Super Vibrax
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.Bluefox is a great affordable kit to help you build your inline spinner collection. They have amazing action in the water and provide 3 distinct color variation that will work in any conditions. The bullet head shaped design makes it cut in the water easily and the blades spin quickly in the water. These lures are incredible for the price.
Pros
- Good flash in the water
- Great color options
- Good hooks
Cons
- Colors can fade quickly
Southbend Inline Spinners
South Bend Spinner Assortment 6-piece
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.6 inline spinners for less than $10 is one heck of a deal and Southbend is going to give it to you. These are one of the most affordable trout spinners on the market that wont fall apart when you start throwing them around. We like these for beginners who might not have a lot of money to invest in trout spinners, but want a good variety to test out. You can find these in most big box stores and will enjoy tossing out different colors to see which ones work best in your local trout streams.
Pros
- Great price
- Great color variety pack
- Can be found in big box stores
Cons
- Hooks can bend out after heavy use.
Signup for my monthly newsletter to get content and gear recommendations every month. I'll send you stuff I like, I will never spam you.
Best Inline Spinner Colors for Trout
Choosing the best color of trout spinner depends on a few things. The weather conditions, the water conditions, the local forage, and any combination of these factors.
If you’re dealing with overcast or low light skies and dark or stained water with limited visibility, you’re going to want to use colors that are easily seen like super bright chartreuse or something that cast a good shadow like black. Our sleeper pick is a gold blade in low light conditions with a black spinner body. It gives off a good bit of flash from the gold blade and the black body cast a great silhouette.
If you’re fishing in a bright sunny day with clear water you can use a standard silver spinner to give off flash and a pattern that is more natural looking. Try to match the natural forage in the area. If you know the body of water you are fishing has tons of silvery shiners, stick to white or silver bodies and blades.
How to Catch Trout with An Inline Spinner
You might be thinking to yourself that fishing an inline spinner is pretty straight forward and simple, some might even say boring. You’d be wrong. There are so many ways to fish this lure and we have listed some of our favorites below.
Straight Retrieve
This is the most common way to fish a trout spinner and it’s pretty simple. Cast our your lure and retrieve it at a smooth and steady pace. This is usually our first move whenever we start fishing an inline spinner.
Fast Retrieve
If you haven’t gotten a bite giving a steady retrieve, it’s time to speed it up. This is the same as the first method, except you’re going to give it a little gas. Fish it fast, but not too fast that it comes out of the water. This will take some practice, but it will illicit a reaction strike for trout that don’t have enough time to really take a look at what just flashed past them.
Slow Retrieve
This is the opposite of the fast retrieve, you’re going to slow things way down for this one. Now one step that you have to take is to let this bad boy sink to the water once you’ve casted it. Count down until you think the spinner has hit bottom and then twitch it up and retrieve it as slow as possible. We like to keep it at the bottom of the water column and reel it in as slow as possible so that the lure is still spinning.
Varied Retrieve
This is when things start to get fun. You can mix it up when you start reeling it in. Give it a “fast-fast-sloooow” retrieve to give the trout spinner even more erratic action and flash. We have had some great success doing this after struggling to get a bite.
Retrieve, Twitch, Retrieve
This one is fun too. Cast it out and start your retrieve and every now and again give your rod a very light twitch to make your inline spinner dart forward. Keep retrieving after the twitch and continue this retrieve, twitch, retrieve method all the way to the bank or until you get a bite.
Retrieve, Pause, Retrieve
Now this one is the sleeper pick. An inline spinners greatest strength is the movement of the blade when you’re reeling it in, but did you know it also spins when it sinks? When things are real hard and we can’t seem to get a bite, we hit them with the old “retrieve, pause, retrieve”
It’s pretty simple, you cast your trout spinner out and start your retrieve. Whenever you’re ready you stop reeling for a second or two allowing that lure to sink into the water a little bit and then you start retrieving again. This mimics the dying action of fish on it’s way our. For bigger trout looking for a meal they will key in on this action and head for it.
Best Inline Spinners for Trout Fishing
We hope you have found some helpful information from this post. Go ahead and grab your inline spinners and start heading to your favorite trout fishing honey hole and start catching a few!
