War Eagle Spinnerbait - Not Impressed

[Koz]

The other day I needed to pick up a few things at the local tackle store, among them a 1/2 spinnerbait that I could slow roll alongside the docks. I usually buy Strike King, but I've seen people post on here about War Eagle so I thought I would give them a try. I picked up a double Colorado blade silver/gold in the cole slaw skirt pattern.

 

So today I took a break at work and went out to the docks of my hotel and tossed it in a shade pocket along the sea wall and sure enough got a strike and landed a little two pounder that actually put up a decent fight. But when I unbuttoned him I noticed that the bigger gold blade was gone. 

 

Who knows? Maybe this was a one in a million fluke. But it came apart after only 5 or 6 casts and one fish.

 

Has anyone else had quality issue with War Eagle spinnerbaits?

[LrgmouthShad]

Was the swivel gone too? 
 

Anyways, war eagles have been okay to me. I really only like their finesse spinnerbait for certain things and then otherwise I only like their screaming eagle for burning, particularly for smallmouth. The trouble I have with war eagle is that they are just really dang fragile. I’m not talking about the swivel or the blade here. Plenty of people are going to tell me that fragile, thin wire catches more fish. Whatever, if that’s what you want to believe. But the way war eagles are constructed… and I don’t think it only has

to do with the wire size… makes them really fragile. 

[steve carpenter]

Love war eagles

[gim]

I’ve seen this happen more than once with the cheap Northland spinnerbaits. About 5 casts in, one of the blades completely falls off.

[Cgolf]

It happens once in a while, even on baits I have made. If the swivel is gone, somehow the way the bass grab the bait it pulls it off the wire loop holding it on.

 

The thing I have always found with War Eagles after switching from Strike King spins is that the lighter wire got me a lot more bites. There is a downside though, that they almost always have to be bent back to the proper shape. Now with any spin I either use a net or pick them up at the water line to limit the tuning that needs to be done. Boat flipping a bass is hard on spinnerbaits.

[casts_by_fly]

if the swivel and split ring are gone, check another one for the split ring itself.  A split ring is an easy place to save money except if you use too light of one and the wire is flexible.  Then the split ring can straighten out a bit and even pull through if its too soft of wire.  Also need to look at make sure that the wire loop is closed on the split ring so it can't just swing off.  I've seen some with wire loops open enough to do that from the factory (all brands).

[waymont]

It's probably best to not disparage a proven bait and company on one experience.

I have had a ton of them, all different versions of War Eagle spinnerbaits, and I've never had one problem. They catch tons of fish, are well made, and last a long time.

[TnRiver46]

It’s the only spinnerbait I’ve ever broken. Grated I hit the trolling motor with it, probably would have broken a brick 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Got to preface this by saying I'm not a huge spinnerbait guy.  I really only like the McCleland War Eagles and even then I much prefer Picassos Thunder blade.  Never had one fail or anything, just a preference thing I guess. 

[TriStateBassin106]

On 7/27/2023 at 5:54 PM, Koz said:

The other day I needed to pick up a few things at the local tackle store, among them a 1/2 spinnerbait that I could slow roll alongside the docks. I usually buy Strike King, but I've seen people post on here about War Eagle so I thought I would give them a try. I picked up a double Colorado blade silver/gold in the cole slaw skirt pattern.

 

So today I took a break at work and went out to the docks of my hotel and tossed it in a shade pocket along the sea wall and sure enough got a strike and landed a little two pounder that actually put up a decent fight. But when I unbuttoned him I noticed that the bigger gold blade was gone. 

 

Who knows? Maybe this was a one in a million fluke. But it came apart after only 5 or 6 casts and one fish.

 

Has anyone else had quality issue with War Eagle spinnerbaits?

Never had a quality issue with war eagle, but after a bunch of fish the wire will get loose near the lead and hook. Usually by that point though the skirt is also done. Once I switched over to megabass I only throw now the war eagle finesse spinnerbaits and maybe a double willow by them. But I love the megabass SV-3 these days. 

[fin]

I've had my share of trouble with Strike King spinnerbaits too, especially the swivels, but I also lost a nice fish after the wire broke on one. It was probably due to bending back and forth.

 

I don't know if I ever had a War Eagle. I had a bunch of spinnerbaits somebody gave me, and I think there were some War Eagles in that batch. I don't remember any trouble with them.

 

 

[Bluebasser86]

If I could only choose one brand of spinnerbait, it would be War Eagles. Every kind of mass produced bait is going to produce some lemons. Broke the bill on a SK 1.5 yesterday just cranking through rocks, but that doesn't mean they're bad baits, something was just bad about that bait. 

[CountryboyinDC]

Definitely terrible - this one with the small Indiana blade only caught 2 channel cats before it bent and couldn't be used.  Along with @TnRiver46's experiece with them being not trolling motor proof, I'd steer clear of them.

[Tackleholic]

Sometimes the fish seem tuned in to eat only the blades;  this will bend the wire frame nearly every time, no matter what brand.

[Koz]

This is where it came apart. The end crimp loop did not bend or pull apart and neither did the wire. The swivel holding the gold blade and the gold blade itself are gone. One strike, one fish, new bait.

 

This does not mean that I will not give War Eagle another shot. It just means what I said - my first impression is that I am not impressed. I've had Strike Kings come apart as well, but that's after a season or two of them taking a pounding.

[TnRiver46]

Why not one strike, one fish, new blade? 

[Koz]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Why not one strike, one fish, new blade? 

Imagine if fishing lures were like shotgun shells or bullets. One and done.

[TnRiver46]

You can reload those too! Especially Winchester AA

[Tackleholic]

10 hours ago, Koz said:

This is where it came apart. The end crimp loop did not bend or pull apart and neither did the wire. The swivel holding the gold blade and the gold blade itself are gone. One strike, one fish, new bait.

 

This does not mean that I will not give War Eagle another shot. It just means what I said - my first impression is that I am not impressed. I've had Strike Kings come apart as well, but that's after a season or two of them taking a pounding.

Same thing happened to me, the swivel pulled apart.

[Jig Man]

A white War Eagle is all they would hit in the murky 87° water on upper Table Rock this morning.