Can anyone tell me why some of the time my spinners dont seem to spin?

I can tell when im reeling in that they arent spinning, but when i check it doesnt seem to be impaired in anyway. Nothing around the trebles, no weed on the line, blade seems to be able to move freely. It's baffling me :confused:

have you tried running them infront of you where you can see them?

How can you tell that they arent spinning? Sometimes I think that mine arent but they are, what kind of setup are you using?

Biggest single reason that spinners dont spin is that they are poorly made cheapies from the far east sold in bulk. They look good but don't always work since the blade is often the wrong size or is badly balanced. Second reason is that you sometimes need to wind quickly to make 'em spin. Few spinners work at slow speed in spite of what it says on the box so if you want a slow speed spinner you need to buy a few different makes/models and see which actually work for you. you could of course make your own using a proper clevis (absent on cheapy spinners) and decent blades. Andy who posts on here makes superb spinners and I'm sure will offer some sound advice later.
If you want to buy decent spinners stick with ABU and Ondex. The latter were out of production but keep popping up on the Harris Angling website.

[ 11. October 2005, 12:55 PM: Message edited by: argyll ]

Jbee - When a spinner isn't rotating, there is no pull on the tip.
Sluk - I'll hazard a safe guess and say it's probably the clevis. Nine times out of 10, failure to rotate is down to the poor clevis.
The clevises I use are the same shape as those found on Mepps and they rarely fail. If they do, it's a problem with the Blade size Vs Weight ratio and that's another matter.
Check the clevis on the Mepps and Ilba spinners. That's the shape you want.

Thanks for your help lads. They were fairly cheap spinners so it could be that they're just badly constructed or arent the correct shape like you say. I'd say 70% of the time i can feel that they are working but other times i dont feel any resistance and as it comes to the bank i can see the blade is static.

If you feel the blade stop, rather than cranking faster or pulling the tip round sharply to get the blade going, flick the rod tip towards the lure and then carry on as normal. That's the best way to get the blade going again and it also means the lure hasn't left the 'hit zone'.
If the blade still wont turn, there's a good chance the clevis is squashed. The normal cheapy clevis is a flat bar of metal or a little pipe with flattened ends. Both have holes drilled in each end. This type works but it has a tendency to grip the wire, if the spinner has been pulled through weeds or something. If the ends of clevis have been squeezed closer together, pull them apart slightly. Wiggle the lure and see if the blade rotates more freely.

Check the construction. I've had Mepps spinners that were missing the brass ball below the clevis and refused to spin.
Check that the shaft isn't bent.
Start your retrieve with a little kick off the rod tip to get the blade moving. Some spinners need a little extra umph to get the blade moving and you can then slow them down a bit.
If they still don't work, chuck em.

If you cannot tell for sure and pretty easily when the spinner is turning, you are using the wrong gear for the lure size/style. Probably rod and/or line that is too heavy or a rod that isn't sensitive enough. It's also much easier to feel things when you use braid than with mono.

As an added note, since many 'takes' can be quite subtle, you are probably also missing quite a few fish that hit your lure. Sudden stoppage of the spinner in the absence of weed is often a sign you've had a take and need to strike.

Back to the 'clevis' discussion - in case you aren't completely clear on what these things are, here is a picture of the two most usual sorts. If they are made of good brass (top ones) or nickle-plated brass (bottom ones) they usually do fine but since brass isn't the cheapest available material, they often aren't.



If you are rigging a spinner on your line in front of bait or lure or making your own lures, you might want to consider this plastic variety. I love them and it's one application where tough plastic out-performs metal IMO since they aren't prone to bending or snagging.