Double willow vs tandem spinnerbait

[DrewA]

Do tandem spinnerbaits have more lift than double willows when the rear blade is the same size? I havent owned a tandem bladed spinnerbait in a few years and I was curious which one tends to run deeper and which one has more vibration. Thanks in advance.

[rgasr63]

It was my understanding that a tandem had a little thump and more flash. It would run deeper and faster than the double Colorado. So if you dropped the size of the willow blade you just lost some flash. The double Colorado has the most vibration and drag in the water. So the willow blade and the tandem have less vibration and drag. That's just my 2 cents. 

[DrewA]

I know the double colorado has the most drag. Im mostly curious about the differences between tandem col/wil and double willow. I was under the impression the tandem col/wil would have less drag and lift, but have heard conflicting reviews.

[rgasr63]

5 hours ago, DrewA said:

I know the double colorado has the most drag. Im mostly curious about the differences between tandem col/wil and double willow. I was under the impression the tandem col/wil would have less drag and lift, but have heard conflicting reviews.

I know that the Colorado/willow will have more drag than a double willow does because the Colorado blade is added to increase vibration. That the double willow will always have more flash and less vibration and would run deeper if the weighted side is the same on both. 

[Mike L]

When I want to burn em with the most flash I use a double willow. 
 

All others I use a tandem

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Jig Man]

Just curious.  Do you guys call a Colorado and willow tandem?  Here we call all of them tandem and differentiate by naming the blades. 

[Pat Brown]

I think a tandem blade configuration comes straight the easiest without any mods or trailer at moderate to fast speeds.  Double willow will sometimes want to roll a little more in general without some kind of trailer to help keel it but can be retrieved  the fastest all things being equal.The easiest to retrieve slowly and with the least roll is the Colorado.  Indiana is a great in between.

 

Blade size matters tremendously for how fast you can retrieve it without rolling also.  Bigger blades create more lift and let you retrieve the bait more methodically.

 

My current favorites are double willow and the Indiana Colorado configuration.  Also starting to fish more single Colorados in the cold muddy water while it's around... hopefully have some success there.

 

I really like gold and silver with white and chartreuse or just white with silver for most of my spinnerbait fishing but sometimes I'll do double gold with a golden shiner skirt or double silver with a crappie or shad skirt in cleaner water.

[BassinCNY]

I think of a tandem as being a larger willow on top and a smaller colorado below. That's the configuration I fish the most.

[Captain Phil]

22 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Blade size matters tremendously for how fast you can retrieve it without rolling also.  Bigger blades create more lift and let you retrieve the bait more methodically.

 

Experimenting with blade size is well worth the effort.  I downsize the top blade on most all my spinnerbaits.  This makes the bait run deeper and the blades turn at slower speeds.  When most everyone else is burning and gurgling, I'm catching fish.  

[Bankbeater]

I haven't had that much luck with double willows.  My catch rate goes up with tandem Colorado or Indiana blades or a combination of the two.  The only time it seems like I have luck with a willow blade is when it's in tandem with a Colorado blade, but the willow needs to be on the wider side.

[greentrout]

I like the single big Colorado blade. Plenty of thump and drag. 

 

[Bdnoble84]

2 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

I think a tandem blade configuration comes straight the easiest without any mods or trailer at moderate to fast speeds.  Double willow will sometimes want to roll a little more in general without some kind of trailer to help keel it but can be retrieved  the fastest all things being equal.The easiest to retrieve slowly and with the least roll is the Colorado.  Indiana is a great in between.

 

Blade size matters tremendously for how fast you can retrieve it without rolling also.  Bigger blades create more lift and let you retrieve the bait more methodically.

 

My current favorites are double willow and the Indiana Colorado configuration.  Also starting to fish more single Colorados in the cold muddy water while it's around... hopefully have some success there.

 

I really like gold and silver with white and chartreuse or just white with silver for most of my spinnerbait fishing but sometimes I'll do double gold with a golden shiner skirt or double silver with a crappie or shad skirt in cleaner water.

My experience with bait roll has to do with match blade size to the head, having the bait properly tuned and head style. I think wire length has an affect but havent experimented on that enough to be sure. I find a head with more of a keel style runs more try than a bullet style, especially in current. (Love the modified poison tail for this reason).

 

I also think maybe swivel spin freedom has something to do with it as i theorize more blade rpms would result in more roll but this is also unfounded.

 

an example of matching blade to weight is i run a 3/4 oz weight with #6 willow and i can burn it under the surface with zero roll and plenty of lift (also a ridiculous amount of vibration). A 1/4 oz with tandom 4’s is prone to roll burned but a 3.5’s wont. 
 

as for the willow/colorado. J experience more roll burned if i use too big of a colorado but i havent been fishing a tone of those in a long time since i started making my own.

[Catt]

Double Colorado 

Double Willowleaf

Tandem: Colorado/Willowleaf or Indiana 

 

@Bdnoble84 is pretty dead on.

Head design, wire diameter, length of the wire from the head to the line tie, length of the wire from the line tie to the swivel. Then we can get into blade size, blade thickness, blade cup, distance between blades. 

 

Personally I think a Tandem maybe slightly easier. 🤔 

[scaleface]

I cant answer your question . It seems the double willow would have less drag and fish a little deeper with the same retrieve. Cant say for sure though . I mostly fish the tandems because I have to fish something and they perform well just going down a bank junk fishing.

[detroit1]

I haven't bought a finished spinnerbait in decades. I see now that they cost anywhere from $6 to $15 apiece. Geeez.                 $1.50 - unpainted head                                                                 $1.00 - sampo or worth b.b. swivel                                               $ .40 - skirt you assemble                                                             $ 2.00  gold willows  (cheaper if silver)                                          $.20 for beads and a trailer hook                                                                $5 for any color / configuration         The more components you buy, the cheaper the cost.                                   

Ha ha - my post didn't look like this when i posted it.