Fished correctly, big spinnerbaits with large blades can be deadly on big bass relating to deep water cover. When bass anglers hear the word “spinnerbait”, most will inevitably picture a rugged-looking shoreline that’s cluttered with laydowns, bushes and stumps. Others may envision a mainlake point, ridge or hump that’s laced with some sort of aquatic vegetation such as hydrilla, milfoil, elodea or coontail.

Make no mistake about it. All of these shallow water locales are great places to catch bass on a spinnerbait. But by no means is water 0-8 feet in depth the only place where the trusty blade will shine.

Given the right set of conditions, spinnerbaits also will produce bass when “slow-rolled” in deep water. On the mountainous, clear water lakes across the Midwestern portion of the country, I’ll often look to the spinnerbait to probe submerged stumps or cedars situated on points or steep, rocky banks in 15-20 feet of water. Farther south, I’ll sometimes use it to fish around submerged vegetation.

Unlike conventional spinnerbaiting, which at times involves nothing more than casting to a visible target and then retrieving the lure at a steady pace, slow-rolling in deep water is not a tactic beginning anglers should try and tackle. It can be a very difficult technique to master. That’s mainly because the angler must make a deliberate attempt to keep the bait moving very slowly at a prescribed depth so as to keep it in the strike zone for the longest period of time. To do this, he or she must be patient, confident and display the utmost concentration.

Naturally, one of the most important ingredients required to perform the slow-rolling technique correctly is the spinnerbait itself. Needless to say, not just any ol’ spinnerbait will do.

A fairly heavy bait is a must. The heavier bait gets into the strike zone quicker than a light one. Plus, it will stay there with less effort. I like a 3/4 or 1-ounce Bulldog spinnerbait with tandem willowleaf blades.

The lure will have a No. 3 blade on the inside and a No. 5 or No. 7 on the outside, both of which will be attached to ball-bearing swivels. Quality made swivels are essential, because they allow the blades to “free wheel” or turn easily. This, in turn, plays a key role in the angler’s ability to feel the lure “thumping” along as it passes over submerged grass or through stumps or old tree tops.

Trailer hooks are optional with the slow-rolling technique. I’ve seen times when having the hook extension paid high dividends, others when it didn’t appear to make any different at all.

I’ll usually base my decision to use a trailer hook on how aggressively the bass are taking the bait. If they’re inhaling it, a trailer hook isn’t necessary. But if they are just swatting or rolling at the bait, adding a trailer hook might result in some hook-ups you otherwise might not get.

Spinnerbait trailers, on the other hand, are not optional. I always use a split-tail eel pork trailer or Zoom soft plastic trailer when slow-rolling in deep water. The trailer gives the bait buoyancy, which in turn allows me to retrieve the bait at an even slower pace.

Choosing the proper rod and line is important, too. I like a 6 1/2 foot All-Star rod with a medium-heavy action. The tip on this rod is limber enough to help promote long casts, yet it is sensitive enough to keep me in “touch” with the bait.

As for line, never make the mistake of spooling up with anything lighter than 14 pound test, particularly if you’re slow-rolling on a lake like Fork, Rayburn, Toledo Bend or Richland Chambers. Chances of encountering some large fish on these impoundments are better than average, so you’ll need a stout string to get the job done. My personal favorite is 14-17 pound test Trilene XT.

Now that the technicalities are out of the way, let’s briefly discuss how to go about performing the technique.

Long casts are essential with slow-rolling. Once a cast is made, it’s a good idea to feed line with your left hand so the bait will fall vertically to the desired depth. The correct depth could be anywhere between the surface and the bottom, depending on the type of cover being fished and, more importantly, where the bass are holding amongst that cover.

To wit:

Let’s say you’re fishing a mainlake point with a group of submerged stumps that stick up about 3-4 feet off the bottom in 18 feet of water and the bass are holding tight to those stumps. Cast to the point and allow the spinnerbait to fall to the bottom, then begin a slow, pumping retrieve by raising your rod tip from the 7 o’clock to 10 o’clock position. Use your reel to take up slack along the way.

The idea here is to “crawl” the bait over and through the stumps and limbs. Let the spinner fall if it hits a stump or climbs over a limb. But you’ll need to stay on guard. Probably 95 percent of the strikes you’ll get in this situation will occur on the fall.

Slow-rolling over weeds is slightly different than above or through wood cover. I’ll still allow the bait to go to bottom, but my retrieve is usually slow and steady. Plus, I prefer to keep my rod tip low. This allows me to jerk the bait free if it snags and it keeps me position to stick a fish when it strikes.

As mentioned earlier, some of the very best grassbeds for slow-rolling often can be found smack in the middle of the lake. The better grassbeds are almost always submerged beneath the surface, usually in water that’s 12 feet deep or deeper. Generally speaking, those grassbeds situated in relation to some sort of change in contour like a point, ridge, pond dam, hump, creek, river, etc… will hold the most fish.

I’ll use my flasher, not my LCR, to pinpoint such locations. Flashers don’t get confused by grass like LCRs, thus resulting in a much more accurate reading of what’s below the surface.

But this is not the tool I use to identify potential honey holes. Post-spawn bass will often be grouped up in a relatively small area. That’s why I always keep a marker buoy handy on the deck of my bass boat. When I catch a couple of bass out of a small area, the marker immediately goes overboard. This way, I won’t inadvertently lose track of the sweet spot while I’m unhooking a sprightly largemouth that’s been suckered by the trusty blade.