Glad y'all mentioned Blade Baits for Cold Water

[livin2fish]

The Silver Buddy was mentioned on this forum very recently as being a very good cold water bait.  Recently, there has been nothing hitting my baits of choice.  Visited Academy looking for Silver Buddy.  They don't carry.  Got a couple of "knock offs".  Happened to be just what the bass wanted.  Had a fun hour of fishing.  Nothing of size except a couple of 2 pounders, maybe, but all very healthy, strong fighting fish.  Thanks to the Maine fisherman who gave the excellent report.  M not savvy enough to look up his name while doing this.  Just thanks.

[TnRiver46]

Silver buddy is what I first started catching winter bass with also. I thought they were impossible when I was younger. Academy sports where I live has absolutely zero blade baits of any brand, what kind did you find there?

[JG233]

@Mainebass1984 probably?

[Catt]

[georgeyew]

5 hours ago, Catt said:

Looks interesting, How do you fish that?

[j bab]

Cordell Gay Blades are popular too. My Cabelas doesn't have them, so I've tried the Cabelas brand blade baits and they work well too!

[Catt]

4 hours ago, georgeyew said:

Looks interesting, How do you fish that?

The Rinky Dink is a 1 ½" x ¾ oz chunk of solid lead that vaguely resembles a small fish, a small spinner is attached to the tail end. Thrown in is a small treble hook that not even attached to the lure; the line is threaded through a hole in the body and tied directly to a split ring/hook, meaning the weighted body can move up and down on the line.

The lure was developed in the early 1990s by local angler Hugh Rinkle molded off another local bait called a Wing Ding that had been discontinued. Once the bait was put on the market, anglers began learning just how effective it could be but the only problem now with the lure is it's not longer in production. However, there's still an option: the Norman Knock Off; as the name implies, it's a copy of the Rinky Dink.

Rinky Dinks are late fall and winter structure bait fished deep on the main lake or shallow in the creek channels. While many anglers equate cold temperatures with slow moving small lures this can be a big mistake. Rinky Dinks are most productive when casted and fished with a yo-yoing retrieve, the bite all most always comes on the fall and will be extremely subtle. When you feel something that's just not right, set the hook!

To effectively fish the Rinky Dink or Knock Off, I usually use 12# fluorocarbon matched with a medium to medium-light rod; even at ¾ oz the Rinky Dink (5/8 oz Knock Off) is definitely not a power bait. Lighter line makes a difference in the number of bites and the lighter rod will give you a better hook sets without ripping the lure out of the bass's mouth.

[livin2fish]

12 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Silver buddy is what I first started catching winter bass with also. I thought they were impossible when I was younger. Academy sports where I live has absolutely zero blade baits of any brand, what kind did you find there?

Cordell's Gay Blade like j bab said.  The bass seemed to like the blue back better than the black back.  Having never fished this type of blade bait before, was impressed with the good wobble and feel of the bait.  Will add the Silver Buddy later to satisfy the "bait monkey".

[frogflogger]

The cool thing about the silver buddy is its thin blade - it vibrates more than any of the others I've tried. Don't overwork it is the secret.

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, livin2fish said:

Cordell's Gay Blade like j bab said.  The bass seemed to like the blue back better than the black back.  Having never fished this type of blade bait before, was impressed with the good wobble and feel of the bait.  Will add the Silver Buddy later to satisfy the "bait monkey".

Gotcha. I have a few of those as well but I always seem to get the hooks tangled together or line wrapped around the front hook

[Mainebass1984]

Once the water temperatures drop below 50 degrees the silver buddy, fished in the proper areas, is hard to beat. I have a lot on confidence in this bait. It has produced for me year after year from late October until ice up. The baits are very versatile too. At times you can catch them on the initial drop on the cast. When that doesn't produce a simple lift and fall presentation worked back to the boat will usually get bit. When lifting you only want to feel the bait vibrate 3 or 4 times at most before letting it fall back down to bottom. Another approach is "video gaming", you se the fish arch on your graph/imager and drop it right on there head. With the proper settings you can see your bait fall towards bottom and see hoe the fish react to it. It usually doesn't take long before they bite if they are going to bite. If they nose down on it or rise up from bottom to look at it then that fish is almost always catchable. If the fish doesn't react to the bait then you should move on to the next arch until you find one that is more active. It can be an extremely productive pattern and it is exciting to see the fish hit your bait on your graph. A silver is very effective for deeper water bass. I typically catch fish from 15-30 ft and at times as deep as 45 ft.

[fishballer06]

My favorite blade baits are the Damiki vault and the Lucky Craft one's. They're a little higher quality than the original silver buddy's, and they're not terribly expensive either. 

[Catt]

[Mainebass1984]

30 minutes ago, fishballer06 said:

My favorite blade baits are the Damiki vault and the Lucky Craft one's. They're a little higher quality than the original silver buddy's, and they're not terribly expensive either. 

I upgrade all the hooks and add split rings to my silver buddies. My friend makes his own silver buddy imitating blade baits. They are pretty good as well and come with eyes on the front of the bait.

[A-Jay]

4 minutes ago, Mainebass1984 said:

I upgrade all the hooks and add split rings to my silver buddies.

Me Too.

Big Smallies will lay waste to the stockers in short order. 

Been there, Done that, got the T-Shirt.

A-Jay

[Paul Roberts]

6 hours ago, Catt said:

While many anglers equate cold temperatures with slow moving small lures this can be a big mistake. Rinky Dinks are most productive when casted and fished with a yo-yoing retrieve, the bite all most always comes on the fall and will be extremely subtle. When you feel something that's just not right, set the hook!

Ditto. The important thing in terms of speed control seems to be how quickly the bait moves horizontally, or at least how quickly it moves away from a chilled bass. They have to feel they can catch the darn thing. Let the bait run away from them and they won't (often) bother.

IME bass seem to appreciate the more aggressive yo-yoing earlier in the coldwater season. Otherwise, it's just as Mainebass1984 describes. Short lifts with just a few vibes keeps the bait close to bottom, or just letting those chilled bass know they can catch it.

[A-Jay]

34 minutes ago, Paul Roberts said:

Ditto. The important thing in terms of speed control seems to be how quickly the bait moves horizontally, or at least how quickly it moves away from a chilled bass. They have to feel they can catch the darn thing. Let the bait run away from them and they won't (often) bother.

IME bass seem to appreciate the more aggressive yo-yoing earlier in the coldwater season. Otherwise, it's just as Mainebass1984 describes. Short lifts with just a few vibes keeps the bait close to bottom, or just letting those chilled bass know they can catch it.

Another component of speed control that is sometimes over looked, especially in colder water, is how long the bait actually sits on the bottom.  Bass, especially smallmouth, have no problem picking a blade bait up while it sits motionless on the bottom. 

 When I first started having success with these baits I was under the impression that they needed to be on the move to get bit. Strikes on the fall are super common.  And there are days & times when that's the way the fish will eat it.   But after having a few bass eat the bait off the bottom on the initial cast & fall while I was fiddling with something else, I started experimenting with the "Pause" as it relates to how long the bait sits there between hops on the retrieve.  What I found was there are times when after 1 or 2 or even 3 or 4 hops, if I let the bait simply rest there, when I went to pick it up there would be a bass on it often not feeling anything in the way of a strike.   Other times, I could actually feel the bass pick it up, especially on a very hard bottom.   There seems to be a fine line between waiting long enough to allow the fish to get to & eat the bait, and waiting too long to where there may be a loss of interest.  Sort of like the pause when presenting a jerkbait.  When the fish are chewing, a little experimentation here will get you an answer in short order.

  So there's something else to consider when presenting these most effective lures.  I'd encourage everyone who does to give it a try.   You might be surprised . . . . .

A-Jay 

[Paul Roberts]

25 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Another component of speed control that is sometimes over looked, especially in colder water, is how long the bait actually sits on the bottom.  Bass, especially smallmouth, have no problem picking a blade bait up while it sits motionless on the bottom. 

 When I first started having success with these baits I was under the impression that they needed to be on the move to get bit. Strikes on the fall are super common.  And there are days & times when that's the way the fish will eat it.   But after having a few bass eat the bait off the bottom on the initial cast & fall while I was fiddling with something else, I started experimenting with the "Pause" as it relates to how long the bait sits there between hops on the retrieve.  What I found was there are times when after 1 or 2 or even 3 or 4 hops, if I let the bait simply rest there, when I went to pick it up there would be a bass on it often not feeling anything in the way of a strike.   Other times, I could actually feel the bass pick it up, especially on a very hard bottom.   There seems to be a fine line between waiting long enough to allow the fish to get to & eat the bait, and waiting too long to where there may be a loss of interest.  Sort of like the pause when presenting a jerkbait.  When the fish are chewing, a little experimentation here will get you an answer in short order.

  So there's something else to consider when presenting these most effective lures.  I'd encourage everyone who does to give it a try.   You might be surprised . . . . .

A-Jay 

Interesting, A-Jay. I've never done that. Usually too worried about the bait picking up junk -I don't have a lot of really clean bottoms here.

In sight-fishing, it's common to kill a bait. Often that's the only way they want it. Which tells me what most bass -esp large ones- are probably doing when they see our horizontally moving baits -watching it go right on by. But, it sure can feel like an awful waste of time when blind fishing. But... it's not, and it's a way to dupe bigger fish.

I'll try it with blades this year, although I've not gotten out just lately and we're heading for single digits and below the next few nights. 

[A-Jay]

1 minute ago, Paul Roberts said:

Interesting, A-Jay. I've never done that. Usually too worried about the bait picking up junk -I don't have a lot of really clean bottoms here.

In sight-fishing, it's common to kill a bait. Often that's the only way they want it. Which tells me what most bass are probably doing when they see our horizontally moving baits -watching it go right on by. But, it sure can feel like an awful waste of time when not sight-fishing. But... it's not, and it's a way to dupe bigger fish.

I'll try it with blades this year, although I've not gotten out just lately and we're heading for single digits and below the next few nights. 

I'll be interested to hear your results Paul.  I'm betting you'll have some. 

I debated a little about giving this particular gem up.    I could tell you that "I got them on a blade bait" and a motivated angler could fish a blade bait for a while and may not unlock this one for some time.

It's been a pretty major producer for me the last two seasons (works with lipless baits as well) but it's really what this site is all about. 

Best of luck to you as those temps plummet ~ bundle up.

A-Jay

[Mainebass1984]

37 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Another component of speed control that is sometimes over looked, especially in colder water, is how long the bait actually sits on the bottom.  Bass, especially smallmouth, have no problem picking a blade bait up while it sits motionless on the bottom. 

 I usually count to 10 in between hops, after the bait has already fluttered to bottom.

15 minutes ago, Paul Roberts said:

 I've never done that. Usually too worried about the bait picking up junk -I don't have a lot of really clean bottoms here. 

I have my best luck near the steepest drops. I like targeting rocky areas, boulders, ledge or "hard" bottom. If I pick up any weeds on the treble hooks then I move to another spot. I do not have nearly as much luck near grassy bottoms fishing a blade bait.

[A-Jay]

2 minutes ago, Mainebass1984 said:

 I usually count to 10 in between hops, after the bait has already fluttered to bottom.

I have my best luck near the steepest drops. I like targeting rocky areas, boulders, ledge or "hard" bottom. If I pick up any weeds on the treble hooks then I move to another spot. I do not have nearly as much luck near grassy bottoms fishing a blade bait.

There ya go ~  I often present the blade in the "Clean" bottom areas adjacent to deep weed but seriously dislike mowing my bait after every cast.  I will move to clean hard bottom spots in a heart beat if I can't get the bait back un-gunked.

A-Jay

[Team9nine]

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Another component of speed control that is sometimes over looked, especially in colder water, is how long the bait actually sits on the bottom.  Bass, especially smallmouth, have no problem picking a blade bait up while it sits motionless on the bottom.

 So there's something else to consider when presenting these most effective lures.  I'd encourage everyone who does to give it a try.   You might be surprised . . . . .

A-Jay 

 

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

I debated a little about giving this particular gem up.    I could tell you that "I got them on a blade bait" and a motivated angler could fish a blade bait for a while and may not unlock this one for some time.

A-Jay

Easy to tell who has a good understanding of the basics of catching fish  The beauty of "jump lures" as we Spoonpluggers refer to them is that you get to check three different speeds on every cast. There is the speed of the "rip," the speed of the "drop", and then the speed of the pause (non-speed) in between those maneuvers. Speed control, along with depth control, are the absolute bedrock of putting together a successful day on the water when considering presentation of lures. Suspending jerkbaits are no different this time of year. The length of the pause can often be as critical as the rhythm and cadence of the "jerks" or "twitches."

-T9

[A-Jay]

1 minute ago, Team9nine said:

 

Easy to tell who has a good understanding of the basics of catching fish  The beauty of "drop baits" as we Spoonpluggers refer to them is that you get to check three different speeds on every cast. There is the speed of the "rip," the speed of the "drop", and then the speed of the pause (non-speed) in between those maneuvers. Speed control, along with depth control, are the absolute bedrock of putting together a successful day on the water when considering presentation of lures. Suspending jerkbaits are no different this time of year. The length of the pause can often be as critical as the rhythm and cadence of the "jerks" or "twitches."

-T9

I'm all about the basics.

A-Jay

[Dypsis]

Can this be fished shallow as well?  6-8' what about even shallower?  Same sort of idea presentation wise.  I bought 2 silver buddies on my BF TW order what will be here tomorrow might try it.  Never fished them before.

Finally, what type of rod are you throwing them on?

[Glenn]

But of course we have information about these baits in our library:

Hard Metal Rap

The Silver Buddy