Anyone use them. Whats your favorite. Been picking some up this winter. Even bought some blanks and painted my own.
I bought the sivler buddy's
Haven't fished them yet thou
I used the BPS brand in both gold and silver. They are durable. I have use the silver buddies too. I think they or our of business?
They started making them agian
http://www.silverbuddy.com/
To me... They are the best tool to extract bass in 50* and less water... Not to say they cant catch fish in warmer temps. I pour my own with do it molds in the 1/2 oz size. I use double hooks, not trebles w/o split rings. Hooks facing up. Size 2 on front and 4 on back. The key is to only lift it off the bottom 1 ft or until you feel 3-4 vibes. Set it back down on a semi tight line. These baits are easy to fish in deep water, and still have a "triggering" quality that no other bait has.
I normally just use silver, and many times I don't even put eyes on them.
Manxfishing, Thank for the tip that the Silver Buddy is back in business.
21DDC, why the double hooks instead of trebles?
J&K tackle makes a color that looks like prestone coolent, works vary well in clear water. I change to smaller hooks on my blades, and I get less bottom snags.
I've been using them for years. I think I'm fairly good with them unless I get in the boat with a short list of anglers who are REALLY good with them! I use mostly homemade slightly customized ones (I'm told they are anyway though I'm not sure what the difference is?) I get from a friend who is REALLY good with them. They are from a DO-IT mold I believe.
I've also used Silver Buddy, some from the guy who used to make the Float 'n' Fly (colored ones - whites, chartreuses, prism tapes), Heddon Sonar and a few other brands.
I've won a few cold water tournaments on them, and now just fish them for fun. They're really fun in cold water for both kinds of bass, especially for anglers with less patience (like me! :D).
I have other brands and colors though I usually stick to chrome or brass/gold once in awhile (most often when someone REALLY good is kicking my butt!). Probably are times when a different shape might produce better but for once with a type of lure I have pretty much zeroed in on this one style for now. I guess when I get in the boat with the next REALLY good angler who's kicking my butt on a brand I don't have or something fairly different, maybe then I will branch out.
I like the looks of the ones The Tackle Hut has for sale in the GLB 'club' section (post on this board about how to login) but I haven't tried that brand/style yet. Has anyone else tried them? They've been around for awhile.
Quote from: Victor Cerabone on March 30, 2014, 10:03:13 AM
Manxfishing, Thank for the tip that the Silver Buddy is back in business.
21DDC, why the double hooks instead of trebles?
Victor,
Double hooks for less snags
You can also just cut the front hook off the Treble hook
What percent do you cast vs. vertical jig them?
Great video to watch. I have watched Scott fish in front of my house for years.
http://www.greatlakesbass.com/vid/video/0CnVTP31kf8/Smallmouth-in-the-Fall.html
Dan,
I thought we agreed to keep blade baits a secret... ???
There very popular with the Walleye crowd in the spring
There's huge crowds of boats drifting the reefs and useing blade baits
They catch allot of the males that hang around after the spawn
Any bass boat could fish that bite
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.
Quote from: dartag on March 30, 2014, 07:27:48 AM
Anyone use them. Whats your favorite. Been picking some up this winter. Even bought some blanks and painted my own.
I've been using the bass pro shops brand and have done really well with them, depending upon the water clarity, I go with silver or gold. They come with pretty sharp hooks, but I swap out the hooks for gamagatsu trebles...
I use the ones that come out of a do it mold. Prefer half oz silver. 50 degrees or less and I think they are much better in the fall and winter than spring.
Quote from: bigjc on March 30, 2014, 07:40:58 PM
Dan,
I thought we agreed to keep blade baits a secret... ???
Totally forgot that?!? My bad...
PS: Scott does a great blade bait seminar in that video! But bigjc says don't watch it... ;D
Quote from: Manxfishing on March 30, 2014, 08:06:15 PM
There very popular with the Walleye crowd in the spring
There's huge crowds of boats drifting the reefs and useing blade baits
They catch allot of the males that hang around after the spawn
Any bass boat could fish that bite
We whack the crap out of walleyes on Hardy each spring too! Some nice ones mixed in with smaller eaters. Drives the walleye boats over there mad watching a bass boat stroke them into the boat pretty much vertical jigging or short casts!! Some springs we have a 3-angler limit without seeing a walleye boat land 1 walleye!!!
Not that I enjoy that kind of thing ::)
Quote from: thedude on March 30, 2014, 10:40:26 PM
I use the ones that come out of a do it mold. Prefer half oz silver. 50 degrees or less and I think they are much better in the fall and winter than spring.
We usually whack the bejeezus out of smallmouth bass on Hardy in the spring too if we get there earlier in the year. If spring is colder (like this year maybe...??) or we're on lakes that are deeper and cleaner with water just creeping into the 50s blades are a deadly bait on bass in the spring.
Sometimes we might start with them in the morning waiting for the bass to 'wake up' with the warming, brightening day before moving up into shallower water with other techniques later in the day. I like to do that in the spring and the fall.
I think blade baits will be the same great lure in the spring as they are in the fall in Michigan as soon as we can start getting out more often right after ice out legally. Maybe next spring...?
Quote from: Irish21080 on March 30, 2014, 08:12:15 PM
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... ;D
Quote from: djkimmel on March 30, 2014, 10:52:37 PM
Quote from: Irish21080 on March 30, 2014, 08:12:15 PM
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... ;D
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!
I didn't say they were bad in the spring, just better in the fall ;D
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.
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.
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 ;D
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...
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.
Quote from: red68prostreet on March 31, 2014, 03:35:20 PM
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.'
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
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...! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcSMPRFJlMY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ycw77aSLYw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_oy6LvaePw
Your welcome... :P
Got my Heddon Sonics last night. They look good. Now I need open water
I hope you meant "Sonar" and not "Sonic"
(http://c.shld.net/rpx/i/s/pi/mp/11179/1206648703?src=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F31uM3nAQ%252B6L.jpg&d=b9d6752907eea0fdbe645f8687deeb6c2f03300b)
Yep Sonar..
. Sonic is a car I test.
They do make a sonic...
(http://img1.etsystatic.com/011/0/6376855/il_570xN.450605141_dghv.jpg)
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.
Quote from: 21XDC on April 04, 2014, 06:57:32 AM
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... ;D
Quote from: ZeroCool on April 04, 2014, 07:14:04 PM
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.
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?
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.
For all interested, I provide some links. :P
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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga8fi1II3Pw
These are my preferred hooks in order... #2 in front, #4 in back on 1/2 oz
http://www.barlowstackle.com/Gamakatsu-303-P1940.aspx
http://lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/VMC-Treble-Double-Hooks/VMC-9908-Double-Hooks.html
http://www.barlowstackle.com/Mustad-7826-Double-Hook-P506.aspx
http://lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/VMC-Treble-Double-Hooks/VMC-9608BZ-Clip-In-Treble-Hooks.html
(http://www.barlowstackle.com/Assets/ProductImages/Hooks/427473.jpg)
http://www.bassmaster.com/blog/cutting-your-teeth-blade-baits
I forgot to post this link... I have saved all these links and videos a long time ago to help the blade bait newbies that ask a lot of questions... All of the links and videos give you all the tools you need... You just need to watch, read them and put the bait to work.. ;)
Quote from: 21XDC on April 05, 2014, 05:12:57 PM
http://www.bassmaster.com/blog/cutting-your-teeth-blade-baits
I forgot to post this link... I have saved all these links and videos a long time ago to help the blade bait newbies that ask a lot of questions... All of the links and videos give you all the tools you need... You just need to watch, read them and put the bait to work.. ;)
Much thanks for posting all this info on blades. Only tried them a few times before but this C&R opener will be a good time to improve with them