Blade Baits?

[EW6]

Has anyone ever casted blade baits (sonars) for bass? I've used them with lots of success for all kinds of fish up here in the rivers up north. Seems like I have best luck on bass with a steady retrieve.

[papajoe222]

Yes I do, but once the water temp. hit 60, I tend to put them away until fall. Unlike your success using a steady retrieve, a pumping/jigging retrieve seems to work best in the waters I frequent. I would imagine using one under tough conditions, rather than a lipless crank, could be productive.  Or just to show the fish something they don't see very often.  

Thanks for turning on a light for me. Hope I can pay ya back sometime soon. 

[A-Jay]

Yes ~ but not quite yet ~

A-Jay

 

[Bluebasser86]

I gave them a shot last winter and had very lackluster results. I did catch one PB though, just not exactly the one I was looking for.

[Team9nine]

A "must have" for winter bass in my book. The clearer the water, the better - 55 deg. and below. Catches about everything though.

[Attila]

One of two baits I always have tied on come October....definitely a great cold water bait when jigged vertically.

[Cgolf]

I picked some up to try on my clear water trip and of course I couldn't put down the RES long enough to give them a toss. My thoughts was fish them just like a lipless around the same types of cover. Figured that they are essentially silent lipless baits. Have had success with them in the past for walleye on rock humps that come up to 12 fow from 30 fow. Walleye really love lipless baits too. 

[ww2farmer]

When water temps are below 50, both in the spring, and then in the fall, they are my #1 bait for smallmouth. It's so simple, yet so effective, and catches fish when everything else hauls water. Sit in 30' feet of water, make a long cast into 10-12 feet, make short lifts (rod starts level with the water and I lift it up to about the 11'o clock position) just firmly enough to "feel" the blade vibrate...IE..do not rip it. I do this all the way back to the boat, for hours on end, threw all my good smallmouth spots. By the end of the trip I usually have a bunch of good ones. I like 1/2 oz, silver. On a 7' M casting rod, 20lb braid, and a  LONG leader of 10 or 12lb fluorocarbon. The front hook fouls too much on the line with too short of a leader, or straight braid. 99% of the bites on it are a surprise.....the hit it on the short fall back to the bottom, and I don't know one has it unless I see the line "tick" or go to lift for the rise/fall and feel the weight of the fish. I can almost say that every fish I have ever caught on them on a lift, has been a pike, walleye, perch......basically bass almost always hit it on the fall. It's not just a big smallmouth bait/tech. either. I caught multiple 4-5lb largemouth on it last fall too. In the spring, I don't think I have ever caught a largemouth on it.

[Choporoz]

I've used them for years, but last fall/winter/spring, I really dedicated myself to fishing them better.  If you skipped over it, I highly suggest that you check out the link that @A-Jay posted above.  It has a video that is quite instructive.  As @ww2farmermentioned, fouling can be a real issue.  There aren't many on the market that come truly ready to fish...you'll have to play with different hooks, best clip for you, right line, etc.  Once you get one the way you want...can cast with little fouling and you can keep it from snagging on wood and weeds, they're extremely effective.  It will catch just about any fish besides bass...you get near crappies, you may have trouble keeping them off long enough to catch bass.

[Bazoo]

A little old, but I appreciate this conversation. I am going to check out the other thread and the video mentioned. I've never fished blade baits before but started looking into them. I'm excited to learn a new lure, especially a wintertime lure.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

As a neck in the deep south, it sounded and looked stupid.....having fished them last winter, they are one of the most exciting baits to fish when they're firing on it.    

 

Produced a couple magical days I won't ever forget, 50 fish days, 20lb+ bags.......a bait every serious winter angler should at least try.  Just like the A-Rig, Jerkbait, and Axeblade, it's a true standout winter bait.    

 

The Damiki Vault in 1/2oz is the easy button, but change the hooks, and perhaps split ring if you're paranoid.   You see green tunas launching themselves after bait, and can't get them to fire on anything, this might just be the key that unlocks the puzzle that day.    It's a fickle bait, I had to throw it for months before it finally worked......only once the fish got into true peak winter feeding mode.   Down here it wasn't producing in Oct, Nov, and most of Dec.   

[fishingtx]

Down here in the south I know a few anglers that use them a lot. This time of year  the bass are just pushing around schools of shad all day until late fall. You can get some to bite on techniques like underspins, small swimbaits, and walking baits. But I have found that the most effective way of catching those fish is to launch a half ounce damiki vault as far as you can over the cover these fish are relating to and yo yo it. Very slow to where you can barely feel the vibration of it and  just small little pumps with your rod tip. This gets down there to the bigger bass that are hanging off the edges of the schools picking off the wounded shad. It is very effective. Hope this helps.

 

Benjamin