Spinnerbait Blades : Hammered Vs. Plain Finish ?

[ChrisD46]

With your spinnerbait Colorado (or Indiana) blades - what water conditions  would dictate when to use a hammered finish (in gold or silver ) and when  would you elect to use a plain finish with those same blades & colors ?

[Raul]

Hammered finishes reflect up to 50 percent more of the light than smooth finishes, so when ? Whenever you enconter low visibility conditions ( ex. muddy water ).

[einscodek]

I dont buy the explanation of hammered sending off flashes like multiple fish.. I think its just a more subdued flash so if the fish are a bit tentative I'd go with a hammered.

Gold in stained and given that, I'd not use gold hammered.

That being said both silver hammered and smooth polished have caught me big fish.. I'd rate them equal on ability.

[ChrisD46]

If I understand correctly , in stained water you would want more flash so a smooth gold blade would appear to be in order .

Conversely , in very clear water a hammered silver finish (clear water color) would subdue the flash a bit more and so would be a better choice ?

[Raul]

If I understand correctly , in stained water you would want more flash so a smooth gold blade would appear to be in order .

Conversely , in very clear water a hammered silver finish (clear water color) would subdue the flash a bit more and so would be a better choice ?

Yup, that's the theory, in the practice things can be different. I only own and fish one type of finish, Diamond pattern, nowday's it's only availble in Strike King's Midnight Special spinnerbait, but there used to be a time many years ago when it was available in all the spinnerbait line and in three colors, silver, gold and copper, I purchased a bunch of them in different weights, blade types and blade configurations; if hammered reflects more light than plain diamond finish reflects twice as much as hammered, those blades are really shiny. Those are what I use on a daily basis regardless of the visibility conditions, it's not scientifically based what I think but if it ain't broke why fix it ? Those work fine and I have caught tons of fish with them, so, I see no reason to change.

[einscodek]

See for yourself in the water.. when its clearwater and sunny its like a police siren flashing in the water on smooth blades.. a bit too much

I generally dont fish spinners much in clearwater anyway so blades dont make much a difference in that respect for me.

In stained you get moods where fish will hit either

[smalljaw67]

For maximum flash you want a smooth blade, the hammered blade reflects small amounts of light in various directions, think of it like the kick off for the superbowl and in the stands you see all those flash bulbs going off, same principle with a hammered blade. I use a smooth blade 99% of the time, I've done a lot of fishing with blades and a lot of testing because I make my own and the smooth blade is what I feel more confident using.