A spinnerbait is a spinnerbait. Probably so for most accounts. It’s probably easier to pick out what is wrong with a bad spinnerbait than it is to tell you what is good about a good a spinnerbait. But for me there are a lot of variables that make one spinnerbait better than the next. I never believe in fishing tackle that I have to have one certain crankbait, spinnerbait or worm. Most will catch fish, some better than others and, in the right hands, some will catch a lot.
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I recently got a couple KVD Finesse Spinnerbaits from my friends at Strike King Lure Company. They often send me tackle to test but never send me tackle expecting a review for every bait they send me. They know I will go through, fish them all and write about the ones I know will be good investments for folks.
That is the case with the new KVD Finesse Spinnerbait. Here are 4 reasons why I think if you’re going to buy a spinnerbait for $6, you’ll get your money’s worth with this one.
- The head is made for cover
- Interesting colors in a well made skirt
- Hook and arm work well together
- Compact but casts well
Head made for cover
It seems to me that most spinnerbaits on the market are designed for fishing around grass. Narrow and flat sided minnow shaped heads sort of took over the spinnerbait scene about 10 years ago. But I’ve never really liked that design in a spinnerbait head. I’m sure it helps it slice through grass easier. However, when I’m fishing hard cover, which is most of the time when I fish spinnerbaits, I want a more bulbous head.
A rounder blunt head I think helps take a cover up and over cover. The head on the KVD Finesse spinnerbait is rounded on the bottom and sides and flat on the top. The shape seemed to really lend itself well to fishing my absolute favorite place to reel a big spinnerbait around — big stumps. I was able to crawl it over and bump big stumps the last month or two and even managed to find a 7-pounder off a big stump with this bait. It bumps and jumps over cover like I want and had very little problem with snagging.
Representation right for pressured bass
The Perfect Skirt on the KVD Finesse spinnerbait has been redesigned. It’s thinned out and a bit smaller and that makes it flare really well on the pause (something you should do with a spinnerbait). The skirt pulses and breaths on a steady retrieve giving it a lively appeal.
I tested the Tennessee Shad color. Green and chartreuse are proven colors on Kentucky Lake so it was a good option for here. It’s also different enough that it doesn’t look like every spinnerbait the bass have already seen. I like that. A bit smaller profile, a bit different color and good movement give this bait more appeal for me as an angler for catching pressured bass.
It has a good arm
Probably the most critical element of a spinnerbait besides the spinner blades is the arm and hook combination. The angle, length and bend in the arm of a spinnerbait have a dramatic impact on the baits performance as does the gauge of wire you use in the bait. If you use too small a diameter of wire the bait will have good vibration but be hard to tune after a fish catch because it will bend so much. If you use too stiff a wire, the bait won’t vibrate as well and will have a much more limited action and lift.
I think they did a good job with the wire on the bait. The angle out of the package is good. And after catching some large bass on the bait, I was able to get the arm bent back into place and working correctly in no time. As you pull on the R-bend of the arm with a big fish on the hook. You don’t want a spinnerbait to open up too much. You want it to hold its shape through the fight but a little flex I feel helps with keeping the bait in the fish’s mouth on jumps and head shakes. They did a good job with the arm.
Castable and compact
One thing you don’t want with a compact spinnerbait is a lot of “helicoptering.” Most of the times a compact spinnerbait is made to have a small profile and to be able to cast a little better than their larger wider counterparts. So it’s important to design the bait where it’s not only compact on the retrieve but also on the cast. I thought this bait cast real well in tight quarters and on long bombing casts. I could roll cast it nicely into tight targets and I could rare back and two-hand it out there to cover a lot of water quickly.
I fished the 3/8 ounce model but they also make it in the 1/2 ounce size. I’m sure you can really bomb a 1/2-ounce KVD Finesse spinnerbait.
I like the finesse spinnerbait approach to bass fishing. Prespawn I will throw a big spinnerbait with big blades, but pretty much the rest of the time I’m reaching for one with a more compact profile that I can fish fast or slow, deep or shallow and put it in a lot of different places with ease.
I feel like at $5.99, you’re getting your money’s worth with the KVD Finesse. Check them out at these online retail partners:
