Daylight Savings Time ? Well, no; despite the title and time of year I'm about to discuss a very productive variation for working the 1/32 oz. Fish-N-Spin™ rather than a clock change. However , it seems this procedure does come into its own just after Easter and will last through June, so it does coincide with our extra hour of daylight! Just as long as trout, bass, and panfish haunt the shallows and become increasingly more active with warming water, it's a winner.

    Actually, I accidentally stumbled upon the Spring /Fall technique when working a very hard fished urban lake for trout .Fishing had been off due to recent heavy rains which gave us high, muddy water. It was also windy and bright -not the best time to be fishing an already tough body of water. Naturally under such conditions on went the little Fish-N-Spin™!But to make matters worse I discovered the spinning reel I had along was high gear (and didn't cooperate real well on slow steady retrieves) and quite fast, rather than the slower ratio preferred for carefully crawling the tiny lure.

    OK, I thought, a nice day for a bit of casting practice ,enjoy the ever greening hillsides around me, and explore how the new high speed reel would cause the Fish-N-Spin™ to function! Since I spotted what appeared to be small crappies breaking the surface I zipped the lure for about 2 cranks then would pause for a second or two to allow a fall, another quick couple of cranks (or "Spring Ahead"), a brief fall, etc.. I was a bit surprised that the ultralight spin bait didn't fly out of the water, and even more surprised when an eager trout gulped it down during a dropping phase of the second cast !

    So it went for the few hours out that first morning -a fast retrieve for several feet followed by, after a while, of ANTICIPATING an expected strike during the short drop (or "Fall Back") . Best of all, since I never allowed the Fish-N-Spin™ to sink very far down, my fast retrieve to lift it back near the surface often resulted in me automatically hooking the fish! I actually gave up on feeling for a hit and simply let the method of retrieving implant the small sharp hook for me! (I had many misses when "waiting" to feel a hit-if I felt the tick it was often TOO LATE- but when I let the rapid reel gearing work for me I ended up with 8 trout, 2 bass, and a bunch of bluegills).

    Watching the nature of the bait when in close to shore I became aware of just why the fish were so turned on (at least if I were a fish!!). Maybe it was the buzzing of the fast turning willow leaf spinner, or its flash, or its appearance of a rapidly escaping tiny baitfish that drew initial attention, but the DROP really gave a prime, easy to gobble enticement. The Fish-N-Spin™ flutters down with an unusual off-keel motion of the spinner and a gliding, searching swim of the tube body. Who can say what a fish really thinks (or, more to the point, reacts to) ,but they really enjoyed the little package.

    Other trips showed that my Spring ahead/Fall back retrieve was superb over shallow, emerging weedbeds, submerged fallen tree branches, and rocks. If I was lucky, many times I could SEE the fish come up to inhale the bait since it was never allowed to go down very deep. Often I would watch the Fish-N-Spin™ during its short dropping phase and witness it "vanish"-time to retrieve FAST to set the hook! Of course, I rarely snagged since the lure was not often near bottom.

    Work the water quickly and concentrate on the frequent falls (keep 'em short-only a foot or so) for your strikes. But don't worry too much about not feeling the initial, often delicate, take of wary fish-the fast pickup of your reel will surprise the predator , and YOU!!