So if you don't know by now, lure making will become a large part of my YouTube fishing channel and of course this fishing forum, as well as modifying a variety of different fishing lures that are already on the market. I think it's important to make a better effecient fishing lure that is capable of catching fish, right? Whether this consists of making or modifying, and like the point I make in this video... One of the biggest reasons I decided to make my own Beetle Spin is to make this spinnerbait bulletproof, more resilient. Because even though the legendary cult classic lure has caught me hundreds of bass throughout the decades, ever since I was a kid, I also lost some monster bass and huge esox due to having weak parts on this spinnerbait.

I mean one of the beneficial things of the Beetle Spin is it's one of the most economical fishing lures on the market. You can head over to Lakeside Fishing Shop and pick one of these spinnerbaits for nothing, it's the cheapest spinnerbait on the market that catches the most fish in my opinion. This can be a pro as well as a con, as using cheaper terminal tackle parts for mass production can weaken the catching capability of this incredible fishing lure.

I've caught my PB largemouth bass on the Beetle Spin, which was around 8 pounds from the gravel pit ponds at the old Four Bears theme park, but I've also lost a few 4-5 pound bass using this spinnerbait at Lake St. Clair because the wire has broken numerous times. So finally, after losing a monster bass back in the spring of 2018, I finally decided to take it upon myself to purchase a Hagens wire former and make my own custom Beetle Spin.

Now while I used a Hagens wire former previously when making my custom Beetle Spins, I show you anglers how to use a very cheap pair of Knipex Round Nose Pliers, to easily bend the beefy .040 wire on eBay to make the loops and the snap that allows you to change out different size jig heads instantly, which makes the Beetle Spin a very versatile fishing lure.

You can go from super shallow water using a 1/8 jig head, to a 1/4 oz or 3/8 oz jig head fishing 5-8 feet of water or using a 1/2 oz jig head fishing for smallmouth in 8-12 feet of water. Now I will say for the most part, that the Beetle Spin is best used on largemouth bass, however, it will still work on smallmouth bass in deeper water.

I have three different Kinpex round nose pliers on hand, as I show you in the video they are good for all different forms of making this spinnerbait. The largest size Knipex Round Nose Pliers 22 160, the medium size Knipex Round Nose Pliers 37 41 125, and the smallest size the Knipex Round Nose Pliers 35 31 115. I also have a traditional needle nose Knipex pliers on hand for flattening the wire and making other bends as well. If you don't know by now, Knipex a German company, makes basically the best round nose pliers in the world. If you go on any of the lure making forums like TackleUnderground.com or even the musky forums like Muskie.OutdoorsFirst.com, this is what all the fishermen recommend!

.040 is the preferred wire I use, .051 is too big, you lose too much vibration and I think going a size lower is with .035 is too thin, more prone to breaking. I think .040 is the sweet spot! Even going titanium may be a good idea, but seeing how you can purchase a 100 pack of stainless steel wire on eBay for pretty cheap, that's what I went with and I'm pretty happy.

The Beetle Spin on it's own is quite an effective spinnerbait for catching bass, I've caught up to 50 bass on it over in the St. Clair Shores marinas at Lake St. Clair, but big bass? Well, lets say you want want to target more of the pigs and less of the dinks. What can you do to make this a more efficient pig catching machine? Easy, change out the small cheap colorado blade, replace it with a heavy duty gold plated #6 Hildebrandt willow blade. And as you can see in this photo, this willow blade glows, Hildebrandt which is now owned by Yakima Bait, uses the best plated material for a premium finish gold glow. The problem is, the cheap crane swivel that Johnson uses will be way to under-powered for this bigger blade, so that's where VMC comes into play with their #1 beefy ball bearing swivel. And since I like using a swivel that has solid rings, instead of split rings, I attach a #2 Hyper Wire split ring at the end to attach the Hildebrandt willow blade. That way with this heavier duty split ring that snaps back into place, doesn't seperate like the cheaper split rings, the willow blade never comes off when casting or if a bigger fish comes and hits it too.

Now personally I like using the 3/8 oz jig heads made by Bass Pro, they're reasonably priced and come with Gamakatsu hooks. But if you like something better, nothing wrong with that. And last but not least is the importance of using the Betts Spin split tail body grub. I don't know why, but the black stripes down the middle of the split tail grub seems to be more attracting than the red rot with white body of the traditional Beetle Spin. Johnson used to use the black striped white bodies, but stopped making them for whatever reason. An I prefer the shape and size of the Betts Spin soft plastic body anyways, it's longer and thicker, giving the bass more soft body to chew on.

At one point I did think about putting a trailer hook on or a stinger, because the one thing I do get is a lot of hits and misses with this spinnerbait. But I haven't got around to doing that yet! I think a lot of times the bass are actually attacking the big willow blade and not the white body, so the hook doesn't always get swallowed. So maybe someone can recommend a trailer hook of some sort, I'd very much appreciate it.

Now showing how to work this spinnerbait, in the spring time I like skimming the lure right off of the bottom. The more close I can keep this spinnerbait to the bottom, the better. As you'll see when I cast it out, I always let it free fall to the bottom, I always do this. Later in the video you'll see how two bass hit it on freefall. After watching my line sink to the bottom, then all of a sudden stop on the surface, that's when I slowly work and reel this spinnerbait. Since we're using a much larger willow blade, the blade tends to move up in the water column very fast, so you're going to want to stop when it starts to do that so it sinks back to the bottom. This stop and go method will also trigger strikes, but for the most part, during the spring the largemouth bass are all lurking at the bottom so that's where you're gonna want to keep it. And the closer you can cast the Beetle Spin next to poles, any structure or underneath docks where there's a shadow will be a plus, remember bass don't like sun light. I like casting the Beetle Spin diagonally across a single boat well, reaching somewhat to the other side of the next dock, for whatever reason this always picks up bass, big ones too.

With the bigger willow blade, you're probably going to want to use a 3/8 oz jig head in the spring time. As there really isn't many weeds, sure you'll pick up some muck every so often, but since you're using a beefier wire, you can easily remove this muck off by slapping the bulletproof Beetle Spin against the water. And another plus of using the 3/8 oz jig head as it will penetrate the wind better, with the larger #6 willow blade, the size of the blade catches the wind, and you're more prone to snagging the dock or other things, such as a boat once they start moving in.

I'm telling you, this spinnerbait works! I've not only caught a 8 pound largemouth bass with the Beetle Spin, but countless 4-5 pound largemouth bass too. Maybe when I get around to it this summer, I'll try using the Beetle Spin in deeper water with a 1/2 oz jig head. Again, for the most part I think the largemouth bass seem to respond to the Beetle Spin the best, but occasionally I will hook into a wolf pack of smallies that seem to like this awesome spinnerbait as well.

There's so much to say about the Beetle Spin... Anytime there's open water, not structure to cast upon, that's when I'll result to fan casting, which consists of no more than 2 casts in the same spot. Remember you're gonna want to cover as much ground as you can with this spinnerbait, which will result in more fish. The Beetle Spin is without a doubt right up there with the Z-man chatterbait as my top 5 best lures for bass fishing. Again, Johnson's version works good too, but I highly recommend making your own so you can turn this into a great spinnerbait, a potent fishing catching magnet for big largemouth bass.