There was also a time back in the early 70's when my "go-to" bait was a "Hubert Woods" spinner bait. This was a very large spinner bait with a HUGE single blade. I caught a lot of big bass on it, and most would hit on the fall, not the retrieve. Mainly fished it around logs in the more open water in places like Reelfoot Lake, or anywhere the visible end of a log was seen protruding from the water.
I think it was a Dr. Richardson from Hickman, KY who had locally developed the technique on Reelfoot.