Spinnerbaits are not all one thing, regardless of what anybody says. In addition to flash and vibration characteristics, things to consider include color (natural, opaque, fluorescent), wireform diameter and material, along with friction involving such things as blade size and cup, upright balance/head weight.
Yet, we have no real means to measure their relative value, so basically we’re stuck trying associate bites or fish caught with color, blade configuration, retrieve speed or something we feel is constant.
In clear water, the rules for success include the ability of a bait to run true (upright) at a fast retrieve. Ball bearing swivels, smaller blades, thin wire forms and translucent skirts all contribute to drawing reaction strikes, without the fish getting a good look.
On the other hand, in murky water, regardless of the cover, the strike zone shrinks, and a lower vibration frequency probably trumps flash, since lower light penetration means less light is reflected. Once fish home in on that vibration/sound combination, (or that lure closely approaches the fish’s position) a bass reacts first to the lure’s presence then at the last instant it “turns” when it finds/sees the skirted jig portion of the bait.
This explanation makes the most sense. And it has been confirmed to me (and lots of other veteran spinnerbait tossers) who have caught fish with the spinnerbait either “upside down” in the lower jaw or even stranger, with the hook point going from the outside of the mouth in, rather than inside out. These could only occur with a violent–and last second recognition of the true baitfish portion of the lure–or secondarily, by the same violent water movement causing a strike sensation where the angler reacts and sets the hook and in effect, hooks the fish on the outside of the mouth.
Either way, it is clear the fish are not trailing behind the bait for an easy kill, they are striking with abandon.
But as important as any element in spinnerbait fishing is the level it is fished. Many don’t like the Bill Siemantel terminology of “Top, Middle, Bottom” but the levels exist in 3 feet of water as much as they do in 20 to 60 feet. It’s particularly evident in shallow murky water, where distances are short, yet fish normally don’t move much up or down to strike.
Where Havasu or Lake Mead bass strike fast movers in the top of the water column over grass or along 6 inch slivers of shade along walls, in the dingy water the fish are more reticent. Secure at two or three feet below the surface in barely three or four feet, the fish don’t or won’t move much. A spinnerbait needs to “stay down” so a heavier lure or one with less blade surface area (tandem willow as opposed to double willow) better accommodates the fish behavior.
And only the fisherman can make this happen.