Newest large blade baits... 1/2oz, 3/4oz and 1oz

[djkimmel]

Shoot... I couldn't even draw your attention away long enough Saturday to slide some away along the table when you stopped by to say hi!

Good to see you again! You really do have some talent there!

[21XDC]

  You were the one too busy for me.... I wanted to hang around, But you told me you were busy with work. I took the hint and left you alone. 

It's OK 

[djkimmel]

My brain was too scattered to be giving hints... don't try to read my mind. You could get hurt

You're always welcome to visit and stay as long as you like no matter was blather is coming out of my mouth!

[djkimmel]

Yeah... never go by what I say when I'm sleep deprived (which is much of the time). Sometimes I'm just repeating the things everyone else is saying just to say something... bad habit I need to break. The best part of being at the shows during cabin fever season is talking to other anglers.

I'm well aware of the concept of 'free' as websites are 'free' right? Maybe unless you run software the cheap hosts won't let you run and you need to BUY something with a lot more horsepower than share hosting... Leasing a web server that runs everything isn't cheap... but we all have to have something to do with our time.

Those big, bright-colored blade baits are wild. Look like something from the 'Color C'lector' or however that thing was spelled. I just remember it almost always told me to throw green almost everywhere in Michigan...

[21XDC]

Color-C-Lector .... I remember those since I had one too... LOL... It suggested two different colors at the same time. One on the left side of the boat, and one on the right... LOL... I lost confidence in it right away. I sold it or gave it away for free to someone.  I must have been 15-16yrs old.

[dartag]

My lake was back to 77 degrees yesterday.   Going to be a while before you break them things out. 

[detroit1]

Ha Ha  color c lector...didn't own one but I remember them. But, I;ve got that beat..i'm looking at the (in pristine condition mind you), the TR-VII  Fish Call as I write this. My dad bought it in the early 70's. You gotta see this thing. It's a 4" clear plastic capsule that has maybe 30' of wire leading to a hand control. Evidently this capsule has a light, emits "sonic sound waves" in the "desired" 10 to 100 cycle range, and a place to put the fish attracting pellets. (included) What a hoot! I don't think we ever even tried it out... 

[djkimmel]

I wonder if that is the same 'fish call' we bought when I was still a young Irish lad in the early 70's?? This has to be around 1970-72... I remember we dropped it down a hole one day while ice fishing somewhere in the Flint to Pontiac area.

All the 'adult' men-folk were talking or something a few feet away but I was watching that hole! Something was bound to happen!! Suddenly, the BIGGEST BASS I'd ever seen swam right through my view down that hole!! I practically swallowed my tongue and tripped over my own feet trying to shout to the 'adults' to, "come quick!! Giant fish in the hole!!! HUGE!!!"

Of course, no 'adult' was going to pay attention to just a kid... I was shouting for my dad at least. Finally... he turned around and said something like, "what are you yelling about?" I tried to explain too fast about the GIANT bass that I'd just seen swim through the cone of water below. I remember we were also in pretty shallow water at the time. He listened just long enough to hear me stammer about Big Fish swimming around the new fish call before shaking his head while laughing to all the 'men-folk' about 'that kid and his imagination.'

Ha ha ha... kids, right... shaking their heads in their mirth... and the men-folk went back to talking about whatever men-folk talk about without another second of attention to the little kid who was trying to get his line untangled from around the new fish call because he was so excited he couldn't pull it out of the water before trying to catch the Giant Bass on a tiny hook and bait, though the kid tried to pull up the fish call, then remembered the fish might leave if the fish call wasn't down there, then remembered he couldn't see the fish anymore, then remembered he was tangling his line on the fish call cord and would probably break off the Giant Fish even if he hooked it, then remembered fish swim and who knows where it was now that he wasted precious seconds trying to convince the 'adults' there was a Giant Fish down there...

In the end, I felt like throwing my tiny ice pole down the hole and sitting on the ice in frustration... but I'm a redhead. We can be stubborn. I thought you can't see very far down an ice hole... that Giant Fish might be only a few feet away... maybe sitting under the men-folk listening to their 'adult' stories (whatever those are...)

Who needs adults!?! I pulled up that fish call and commenced to FISHING!! I was going to catch that Giant Fish. I hardly even thought about how if I caught the Giant Fish that would show them!!! No... I just WANTED to catch that fish!!

I'm still trying to catch it... one of these days... 'that kid and his imagination...' I don't care if no one believes me... I SAW IT!! It's down there... we'll see who's laughing then...

[djkimmel]

Wonder what ever happened to that fish call... I think it got tossed on a back shelf because "it doesn't work." Though, I know one person (me) who's always wondered... maybe it DOES work!?!

But not the color selector - those don't work... though... I do throw lots of green to this day... and sometimes red (because once in a great while it would shock me and say red instead of green...)

[21XDC]

Recently I made a mold for bigger/heavier blade baits.    1 1/4, 1 1/2 and 1 3/4oz   

[djkimmel]

What are you after with those?? Sturgeon?!?

[djkimmel]

I'm curious what kind of action those fancy minnow head blades have verses the more traditional type head you showed in the 1st set of pictures?

[21XDC]

The larger body has a thump instead of quick vibe. These heads allow the bait to stand up on the bottom at times.  They swim much more realistic as well.

[djkimmel]

That does sound intriguing. Could maybe even use them as a lipless crank (no rattle, but sometimes that's good?). I've tried that a few times with small blade baits in the past with unexciting results.

[21XDC]

The bigger ones like I make have more flash, move more water/vibration, and actually jingle/rattle very loud from the bigger hooks and bigger body. Almost like a bell. 

[djkimmel]

You could call them 'cow bell?!?'

[Mojo]

Hey. So tell me more about the cadence ? Or how to use this 1oz. Blade bait for smallies ? It seems to catch on itself. or lose it?s vibration?

[21XDC]

Lob cast it, Don't let it fall back on slack line. This is what causes any blade bait to tumble down and tangle for the most part. Use the 2nd-3rd hole back, Lift as slow as you can and still feel it vibrate about 3-4 times... Set it back down on a semi tight line. The fish will eat it great like this. Also sometimes it work better to let it sit for longer than you want.

[dartag]

Time to put them away on Union Lake.   Fished 8 hours on my lake yesterday.   Saturday I caught probably 20 on a blade in 47 degree water.   Yesterday we had our club tournament.  Fished a blade for a while without a bite.  Picked up a 3" swimbait and caught 4 in 4 casts.  Fished the rest of the day and caught close to 50 bass.   My partner caught a bunch also.  By the end of the day the bass had moved up and were fanning beds. 

Thanks to Dan Holland for the tip on using the little swim bait.   

[21XDC]

My blade baits make a great swim bait...