Blade baits

[Irish21080]

Just won a tournament on the Six Span stretch of the river with them yesterday. They are deadly during this time of year. The smallies were chewing them up.

I'm jealous that you're already fishing open water bass tournaments!?!

I have a friend who is deadly in cold springs in any paper tournament in Michigan using blade baits. I have to stop talking about the now says bigjc...

It was great to get out for sure. Chilly and snowed for the first three hours of the tournament but being it had been since November since I was out I really didn't care!

[thedude]

I didn't say they were bad in the spring, just better in the fall

What i have found is that once the water temp hits a certain point, its basically the only bait i even bother with in the fall. They eat it until the lakes is frozen (and also after the lake is frozen).  In the spring, i think the fishing is much more volatile in that the fish are itching to get out of the deep water and can move or stage up in a bunch of different ways.  I routinely go out fishing in november and december with only 1 rod and its rocking a blade. On the other hand, i NEVER go fishing in march/april/may with just a buddy - i definitely try it, but there is lot of ways to catch them on a warming trend in the spring time.

[red68prostreet]

Anyone heard of the ( Steel Shad ) ? It's a great bait and much more versatile than a Silver Buddy. It's a bit longer than a Silver Buddy or the other imitations. The hooks suck and need to be swapped out when you get the bait. I use mostly Gold when it's cloudy and Silver with the sun. I was introduced to this bait while fishing on Kentucky Lake with guide Randy Kuhens. You can bend this bait and make it go sideways, change the position of the attach point on the top, yo-yo retrieve, burn it, etc. Last fall we dragged the bait on the bottom like a carolina rig and cleaned up on bass, catfish, white bass and even a few 25 lb aisian bighead carp. The darn thing catches everything. The only problem with dragging is we lost about 6 of them.
If you google Steel Shad you can read about it, watch some video's and order some from Capt. Steve. He lives in Florida but the baits are made off shore hence the cheap hooks. I can't wait to try the new red crayfish color this yr. 4 wks from this fri I will be in Kentucky for a wk on my annual spring trip. I have a dozen in my box and am ready to rock.

[Skulley]

I still use the Silver Buddy.  I have others but the silver when there's clouds and gold when it's bright.  Slam them pretty good.  Very versatile bait.  I do have others made by other companies but I'll give the Silver Buddy the nod when I absolutely have to catch a fish.



BD                           

[JBASS]

I still use silver buddies and have a bunch of the old ones that I have had for 25 years or so as I bought a deal out of stock..
When it is the correct time of year I have had some very big sacks of fish as I do not catch a lot but size in most cases are better...

I use the lead color and silver and gold.....One I use when sunny and one I use cloudy and the other times I let the fish tell me what one to use...

[djkimmel]

Spring transition opens up lots of possibilities though I like to lean towards the blade bait early until the other stuff is working better. The type of waters you fish can make a blade bait seem more or less productive too. I like to fish them when the water's real cold and the bass aren't real shallow regardless of the actual season. I do hope I'll get more opportunity to throw them more often in the spring soon without leaving my state to do so.

[djkimmel]

Anyone heard of the ( Steel Shad ) ? It's a great bait and much more versatile than a Silver Buddy. It's a bit longer than a Silver Buddy or the other imitations.

Don't think I've heard of the Steel Shad? My first thought was WWE... but shad doesn't quite fit. I can see good possibilities for that name with Bill McElroy and his Scales and Tales cartoons. If I ever bump into you on the lake you'll have to show me how they look and work.

I know any of the types I've tried on places like Kentucky Lake are also killer on BIG sheepshead and catfish too! Wear you out! Of course, the BIG sheepy's on Lake Erie usually do the same to me. I've caught some nice catfish on them late in the year even in downtown Lansing on the Grand River in the holes. Luckily, I catch a few smallmouth bass too which is a 'bonus.'

[red68prostreet]

Dan,
        Take a moment and google www.steelshad.com. It will show what they look like and also see video's on how they work.
         Mark

[djkimmel]

I'll check it out when I get a chance and need a 'fishing' break for a few minutes. A little careful around this time of year to keep from getting to keyed up about being on the water with the catch-and-release bass opener still almost a month away...!

[21XDC]

Your welcome... 

[dartag]

Got my Heddon Sonics last night.  They look good.   Now I need open water

[21XDC]

I hope you meant "Sonar" and not "Sonic"

[dartag]

Yep Sonar..


.  Sonic is a car I test. 

[21XDC]

They do make a sonic...

[Jefferson]

Fishing 411 on WFN did a whole show on blade baits last night. They were in northern Michigan somewhere the weekend after thanksgiving. Snow all over the place, 30 degrees and they still killed the smallmouth. All gold, fished off the bottom.

[djkimmel]

They do make a sonic...

I had one of those. Not sure what happened to it... it wasn't one of my favorites. I could have probably learned some stuff earlier if I had figured out how to use it and get confidence in it. I bet most of us have a half a ton of baits like that gathering dust somewhere...

[djkimmel]

Fishing 411 on WFN did a whole show on blade baits last night. They were in northern Michigan somewhere the weekend after thanksgiving. Snow all over the place, 30 degrees and they still killed the smallmouth. All gold, fished off the bottom.

That's interesting. I don't have cable so maybe someone will have it saved and I can watch it one of these days. That's a nice break out for Mark Romanack. He does try to cover a variety and I enjoyed the show when I could watch it.

[Fishmael]

After this whole discussion, I figured I have to try them out.  I found they sell the silver buddy at the Dick's in Grandville.  So I bought two of them.  Do you typically throw them on 10 or 12 lb test?  Something different?

[djkimmel]

I lean a little heavier with blade baits. Depends upon how deep I'm fishing and how snaggy sometimes but I use a range between 12 at the lowest (less often) to 17 lbs test - 14 to 17 most often. It's partly because I often use the same rod and reel for other techniques that I used the heavier line on.

I'm thinking of trying 12 lbs. test more often this year if I do it a little more as long as I'm on more open lakes with less snags. Blade baits can flip around a fair amount with line twist or even catching the line sometimes so I don't want to go too light. I like Fluorocarbon for blade baiting.

I will have to ask the list of people I know who blade bait a lot and are really good at it what pound test line they use most often. I can't remember if I've asked all of them before? That can be one of my projects for this year.

[21XDC]

For all interested, I provide some links. 

http://www.bassmaster.com/node/99411

http://www.wired2fish.com/fishing-feature-blade-bait-basics/

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/fishing-articles/tips-and-techniques/145319/blade-runnin-smallmouths/#.U0BF0cJOXIX