Illex Water Monitor: the compact spinnerbait for clear water

The spinnerbait has a reputation as a crude lure, and on clear, heavily fished water that reputation is sometimes deserved. A big bulky skirt, two wide blades, an arm standing thirteen centimetres tall: on water where the fish can see three metres, the object looks like nothing it knows and it gets refused at eighty centimetres, every time.

The reflex is then to abandon the whole family and go back to a shad or a jerkbait. That is a shame, because you also give up everything that makes a spinnerbait valuable: the weedlessness, the ground it covers, and the ability to be burned back without ever blowing out.

The Water Monitor exists to keep those advantages while removing the main drawback. It is short and slim, with a sparse skirt and a small-diameter arm — a spinnerbait a clear-water fish will look at without backing off.

What compactness actually changes

Shrinking a spinnerbait is not just a matter of making it smaller. Three parameters move at once, and it is their combination that produces a different lure.

• The small-diameter arm transmits more. A thin wire vibrates instead of absorbing: you feel the blade in the rod constantly, which lets you detect a stall or a contact with weed immediately.
• The short skirt does not brake. That is what allows the fast retrieve: on a model with a long, dense skirt, the drag makes the lure roll onto its flank as soon as you speed up.
• The reduced silhouette matches real prey. An eleven-centimetre package suggests a roach or a bleak, not an unidentified object.

The trade-off is logical: less bulk means less water displaced, so a signal that carries less far. This lure is aimed at fish that can see, not at fish that can only hear in coloured water.

Three retrieves, one of which most spinnerbaits refuse

1. The fast subsurface retrieve. Cast, hold the rod at forty-five degrees and wind quickly, fast enough to see the blades wrinkle the surface. Clear-water fish react on reflex, not on inspection.
2. The slow roll along a drop-off. Count the fall, then retrieve at the threshold of blade rotation, following the slope. That is the register common to every spinnerbait, and it works here too.
3. The helicopter fall. Bring the lure hard against a vertical structure — a jetty piling, a quay wall, a stump — cut the retrieve and let it drop on a semi-tight line. The blades spin flat during the descent and the lure falls almost vertically, flashing all the way.

The third is the model's real speciality. A bulky spinnerbait tips, sets off sideways and drifts well away from the structure as it falls. A compact, balanced profile drops on line, thirty centimetres off the piling, which is exactly where the fish is sitting.

On the water: on a helicopter fall, the bite is not felt — it is seen. Watch your line during the descent. If it stops earlier than expected or moves off sideways, strike immediately. Almost every bite on the fall comes in the first two seconds and shows only as a line that stops going down.

Weights and conditions

The choice is made first on the wind, then on the depth. In chop, the 3/8 rides too high and you lose the tracking; the 1/2 stays in its layer and feels better.

The adjustment almost nobody makes

The arm on a slim spinnerbait bends out of true — after a good fish, a snag, or simply ten passes through dead wood. When the blade axis is no longer aligned with the hook point, the lure runs off to one side on a fast retrieve and it stops hooking properly.

The check takes five seconds: hold the lure at eye level, head on. The blade, the bend of the arm and the hook point must all sit in the same plane. If they do not, bend it gently back by hand. On a thin-armed model, that should become a reflex every ten or fifteen fish.

Add a stinger hook when you start stringing together bites that do not stick — common with pike, which often attack the back of the skirt.

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Where it is out of place

• Very murky water or after a flood: its signal is too discreet, you will miss fish a big-bladed model would have found.
• Very dense weed: its thin arm protects the hook less well than a thick semi-rigid one.
• Specifically hunting big pike: at an eleven-centimetre silhouette, you are sorting downwards.
• Very slow fishing in cold water: it gives its best at speed, not on a prolonged crawl.

Water Monitor, Covert or Double Colorado

The Booyah Covert Spinnerbait is a modular system: you pick the blade and the weight to suit the situation, and it covers a very wide range of conditions. It is the rational choice if you are only going to own one.

The War Eagle Double Colorado is the exact opposite of the Water Monitor: two round blades, maximum vibration, a strong arm, built for coloured water and heavy cover. Where it shines, the Water Monitor is too discreet; where the Water Monitor shines — clear water, educated fish, fast retrieve, a fall down the side of a jetty — the Double Colorado gets refused.

Our guide to choosing a pike lure places the spinnerbait against the rest of the box. And if you are unsure which weight to tie on when you reach a margin, CarnaFish analyses a photo of the spot and answers.

Key takeaways

• Short silhouette and slim skirt: a spinnerbait a clear-water fish will agree to look at.
• The small-diameter arm transmits the vibration into the rod and makes the lure very readable.
• Its speciality is the helicopter fall down a vertical structure, on a semi-tight line.
• Check the blade-to-hook alignment regularly: a thin arm bends out of true quickly.
• Unsuited to murky water, very dense weed and the hunt for big pike.

FAQ

Does a spinnerbait work in clear water?

Yes, provided you reduce the bulk. Models with a big skirt and wide blades get refused in clear water by educated fish, whereas a compact spinnerbait burned back draws reflex attacks.

What is the helicopter fall?

It is a vertical descent, retrieve cut, down a structure such as a jetty piling or a wall. The blades keep spinning flat and the lure flashes as it drops. It is one of the most effective presentations on a fish holding against a vertical.

How fast should you retrieve?

Faster than most anglers dare, as soon as the water is clear. A retrieve quick enough to see the blades wrinkle the surface triggers the reflex attack. Save the slow roll for drop-offs and cold water.

Should you add a stinger hook?

Only if you are stringing together bites that do not stick, which happens often with pike attacking the back of the skirt. The stinger improves hooking but increases snagging in vegetation.

What leader for pike?

A supple wire leader or very heavy fluorocarbon. A spinnerbait gets attacked across the body, and the line regularly ends up against the teeth while the fish turns.

Why does my spinnerbait run off to one side?

Nine times out of ten, the arm is out of alignment. Look at the lure head on at eye level: the blade, the bend of the arm and the hook point must sit in the same plane. Straighten it gently by hand.