black spinnerbaits

[jimmyjoe]

   There are spinnerbaits with black blades and black skirts. I've always used them at night, and NOT in the daytime. I met another fisherman who uses black blades for slo-rolling deep, during the daytime.

   Who here uses black blades during the daytime, and more importantly .... why?   Thnx.   jj

[Finessegenics]

I use black spinnerbaits for smallmouth all the time. The blades are nickel but the skirt, head and trailer are black. I use them simply because the section of the saint lawrence that i fish is quite muddy. Probably 5-7 foot visibility on a good day. The black silhouette stands out more in murkier water compared to more natural colored skirts. Still, im not sure how important the color of a spinnerbait is, considering all the vibrations it gives off, the fish "feel" it more than they see it. Either way, its worked for me. 

[jimmyjoe]

9 minutes ago, Finessegenics said:

The blades are nickel but the skirt, head and trailer are black.

   Yeah, I've used that type, too. This guy swore that black blades were magic on or near the bottom. I would have laughed him off, but the day I met him he out-fished me 3-to-2 in about 1/2 hour, then went his way.

   Now this guy and I were talking for a little while. He said that for a lo-'n-slo spinnerbait, you want a visible skirt and much-less-visible blades. That way, the fish goes for the skirt (and hook) and not the blades. It's just the opposite of a wake spinnerbait.

   One thing I do remember: when I used Wordens Super Roostertails in 3/8 or (the now-discontinued) 1/2 oz., I had maybe 20 or 25 percent of my fish hooked on the outside of the lower jaw. They were going for the blade, not the body. But I never thought too much about it, because the "body" on a Super Roostertail ain't very much. Just a dinky lead cylinder with a pitiful little dab of dressing.

   I dunno. I never talked to anyone who said stuff like this guy. It makes me wonder about the Mepps in-line spinners with black blades, too. I've been looking at them lately. I used to think, "No way!", and pass them by, but now I'm not so sure. 

   I hope I'm not missing something here. Bait Monkey would kick my keister.   ?    jj

[Finessegenics]

7 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

   Yeah, I've used that type, too. This guy swore that black blades were magic on or near the bottom. I would have laughed him off, but the day I met him he out-fished me 3-to-2 in about 1/2 hour, then went his way.

   Now this guy and I were talking for a little while. He said that for a lo-'n-slo spinnerbait, you want a visible skirt and much-less-visible blades. That way, the fish goes for the skirt (and hook) and not the blades. It's just the opposite of a wake spinnerbait.

   One thing I do remember: when I used Wordens Super Roostertails in 3/8 or (the now-discontinued) 1/2 oz., I had maybe 20 or 25 percent of my fish hooked on the outside of the lower jaw. They were going for the blade, not the body. But I never thought too much about it, because the "body" on a Super Roostertail ain't very much. Just a dinky lead cylinder with a pitiful little dab of dressing.

   I dunno. I never talked to anyone who said stuff like this guy. It makes me wonder about the Mepps in-line spinners with black blades, too. I've been looking at them lately. I used to think, "No way!", and pass them by, but now I'm not so sure. 

   I hope I'm not missing something here. Bait Monkey would kick my keister.   ?    jj

In my experience, all my spinnerbait fish seemed to go for the skirt. Always hooked perfectly in the top jaw. But now you've got me wondering if the few fish I've lost went for the blades instead and ended up being poorly hooked...dont know why I never thought about that. Ive never really tried the slow roll technique either. I like to use spinnerbaits to search for fish and find out how active they are. 

 

Another thing I wanted to add is the guy mentioning how he wanted "much less visible blaids". Shouldnt he just be using a swim jig then? I know the blades add extra vibration but slow fishing and bumping a swim jig off of cover seems like a good alternative to finding a spinnerbait with black blades. Its also way more weedless. But hey what do i know, Ive never caught anything on a swim jig. 

[jimmyjoe]

34 minutes ago, Finessegenics said:

Another thing I wanted to add is the guy mentioning how he wanted "much less visible blaids". Shouldnt he just be using a swim jig then? I know the blades add extra vibration but slow fishing and bumping a swim jig off of cover seems like a good alternative to finding a spinnerbait with black blades. Its also way more weedless. But hey what do i know, Ive never caught anything on a swim jig. 

   Yeah, I know what you mean.

   Sometimes you meet characters when you're fishing and they make you re-think a lot of things.

   Probably the reason this guy didn't use swim jigs is the same reason I don't use swim jigs: we're both shorecasters. If you want to slow roll your lure just a hair's-breadth off the bottom, you can do it a LOT easier with a spinnerbait than a jig. More feedback, as in more "feel".    jj

[scaleface]

I use to use   them a lot during the day . I dont know why I stopped , they   worked well . Won my first club tourney using a black bait with a big Colorado copper blade .

[Bird]

Bought several dark Colorado bladed spinnerbaits on clearance which make the claim " designed for night fishing ".

 

Never considered them for day use.

I do however throw spinnerbaits quite often and it's always white and always willow.

 

I've always worked these baits high in the water column and fairly aggressive and find to many other effective baits vs slow rolling spinnerbaits at depth. 

 

Perhaps it's time to give these dust collectors a try, thanks.

[Ski213]

Not super frequently but I definitely do. Typically when the water clarity is poor. I’ve never “ripped” one but I also don’t just slow roll them. On the days it’s worked, it’s worked well. 

[fishballer06]

I like black nickle blades whenever I don't want all the flash of a spinnerbait. Especially when I'm fishing a bluegill or black skirted bait. 

[jimmyjoe]

26 minutes ago, fishballer06 said:

I like black nickle blades whenever I don't want all the flash of a spinnerbait. Especially when I'm fishing a bluegill or black skirted bait. 

   Thanks, but please elaborate. When is it that you don't want the flash of a spinnerbait, other than fishing a bluegill or black skirt? When it's overcast? When you're deep running? In really clear water? Fishing on the bottom, like stop-n-go?

Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think there's gotta be some kind of pattern here. That old guy is gone, and now I wish I had picked his brain a lot more.

   Bad thing is, if I just start adding black-bladed lures, both in-line and spinnerbaits, without some idea of what to look for and why to do it, I could spend a pretty good chunk of change on a blind venture with a useless outcome. I don't mind experimenting (in fact I love it!) but a person needs some sort of understanding to begin the experiment.     jj

[Munkin]

Mostly for night fishing but I do use them in muddy water as well. Since we all have different definitions to me muddy water means brown and less the 12" of visibility.

 

Allen

[fishballer06]

33 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

   Thanks, but please elaborate. When is it that you don't want the flash of a spinnerbait, other than fishing a bluegill or black skirt? When it's overcast? When you're deep running? In really clear water? Fishing on the bottom, like stop-n-go?

Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think there's gotta be some kind of pattern here. That old guy is gone, and now I wish I had picked his brain a lot more.

   Bad thing is, if I just start adding black-bladed lures, both in-line and spinnerbaits, without some idea of what to look for and why to do it, I could spend a pretty good chunk of change on a blind venture with a useless outcome. I don't mind experimenting (in fact I love it!) but a person needs some sort of understanding to begin the experiment.     jj

 

When don't I want flash? Mainly on sunnier days, or clearer water. 

 

We all know there are days when the fish want a ton of flash, and other days they don't. It's just how it goes. 

 

I build my own spinnerbaits, so it makes the cost of the baits down and it allows me customize them to exactly how I want. Munkin also makes his own, and definitely knows even more than I do on the subject. 

[Team9nine]

Still got a few of these sitting in the tackle room ?

 

[MIbassyaker]

1 hour ago, jimmyjoe said:

   Thanks, but please elaborate. When is it that you don't want the flash of a spinnerbait, other than fishing a bluegill or black skirt? When it's overcast? When you're deep running? In really clear water? Fishing on the bottom, like stop-n-go?

Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think there's gotta be some kind of pattern here. That old guy is gone, and now I wish I had picked his brain a lot more.

   Bad thing is, if I just start adding black-bladed lures, both in-line and spinnerbaits, without some idea of what to look for and why to do it, I could spend a pretty good chunk of change on a blind venture with a useless outcome. I don't mind experimenting (in fact I love it!) but a person needs some sort of understanding to begin the experiment.     jj

 

Patterns do not necessarily have straightforward explanations.  Simple explanations you can put into words for why one thing works, and something else doesn't, are probably the exception rather than the rule.  Anglers' ability to understand the "why" of a pattern is always going to be limited by what they can observe, and many (most?) of the factors that influence a bass' willingness to strike are simply invisible to us.  There is no substitute for some trial-and-error.

[river-rat]

For years I have used black nickel blades with a black skirt on bluebird days after a cold front has passed.

[jimmyjoe]

55 minutes ago, riverat said:

For years I have used black nickel blades with a black skirt on bluebird days after a cold front has passed.

   Shallow or deep?  Thnx.    jj

[Dwight Hottle]

15 hours ago, scaleface said:

I use to use   them a lot during the day . I dont know why I stopped , they   worked well . Won my first club tourney using a black bait with a big Colorado copper blade .

But was it the black bait or was it the copper blade? I have had some awesome outings using copper blades under cloudy low light conditions. 

[WRB]

Black spinnierbaits with single copper Colorado blade was the go to combo in the early 80's for slow rolling day or night.

Tom

[scaleface]

2 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

But was it the black bait or was it the copper blade? I have had some awesome outings using copper blades under cloudy low light conditions. 

Hard telling . I didnt have much success with  white and a large copper Colorado .

 

 Because  of this thread I'm going to make a couple of black with a  large copper Colorado for next spring .

[detroit1]

Thanks 9nine, I remember those, never bought one though.

[IndyBass]

This is a very interesting topic for me, not because of the blade discussion but because of the black bait. I received a pack of black worms a couple years ago and couldn’t stop catching fish on them in stained water and couldn’t figure why they were working. Always wanted to get more but just kept putting it off, after reading this I’ll be trying it again. 

[Munkin]

21 minutes ago, Midwest Fisherman said:

This is a very interesting topic for me, not because of the blade discussion but because of the black bait. I received a pack of black worms a couple years ago and couldn’t stop catching fish on them in stained water and couldn’t figure why they were working. Always wanted to get more but just kept putting it off, after reading this I’ll be trying it again. 

Black shows up best in dark or muddy water.  Using a black bait at night doesn't make sense at first but it silouites better than any other color.

 

Allen 

[Boomstick]

Black is good in low light conditions, being night and as a good alternative to chartreuse in dirty water.

[river-rat]

On 12/9/2019 at 12:10 PM, jimmyjoe said:

   Shallow or deep?  Thnx.    jj

JJ

 

I'm using this combo in shallow water.

[Bluebasser86]

Black and copper spinnerbaits have kind of a cult following here. I've caught some big ones in the spring slow rolling a single Colorado bladed black spinnerbait during the day.