Golden blades to match bluegill

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

When I’m fishing around bass that are primarily eating bluegill should I use chatterbaits and spinnerbaits with golden blades to better match the forage? 

[LrgmouthShad]

As a spinnerbait fanatic who does spend a lot of time analyzing the baits I throw, I am going to recommend Don’t Over Think It

[FishTax]

Focus more on the size and weight. 

[LrgmouthShad]

Oh. Chatterbaits. Yeah those things are weird. Uh, hop them on the bottom or something. On a straight retrieve just use spinnerbaits or something. They’re cooler or something. 

[MIbassyaker]

I use gold and copper blades around bluegill- and sunfish-eaters where I fish almost exclusively.   Should you do the same?  Only if, and when, it works.  And the only way to find out is to try it.

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

9 hours ago, PhishLI said:

The primary forage local to me is bluegill. Bass here rarely hit a chatterbait with silver or gold blades. Once I figured this out and switched to black blades only, my catch rate went way, way up. Definitely one of my best big fish baits, but that's here. Figuring out what the bass in your lakes don't want is as important as finding out what they're willing to eat. There's no hard-fast universal rule other than what they tell you where you fish.

 

 Something else to consider is sound. Bass local to me don't like rattles. Once I figured this out and switched to silent cranks, I've done way, way better with those. So how does this jive with what I said about chatterbaits being one of my better big fish baits being that they click? Well, the Zman Project Z regular or weedless doesn't really click like a standard chatterbait due to the slim shape of its jig head. Because of this shape the blade doesn't contact the head as it does with a standard CB or Jackhammer, so any sound radiated is through contact with the jigs eye, so it's more of a whooshing/chuffing sound than a hard click like a Jackhammer. Once I tried the Project Z in my local waters my catch rates went way up, so my Jackhammers are shelved when I'm fishing locally. Try different things and let your fish in your lakes tell you what's up.

Are your fish highly pressured? Is that why they prefer the more silent baits?

[Tennessee Boy]

If you were swimming and saw a spinnerbait with a gold blade would you think it’s a bluegill?  A bass’ senses are much better tuned to their underwater environment than ours are.  When a bass hits a spinnerbait it’s not because it thinks it’s a bluegill.  If you’re going to try the “match the hatch” then you need to find something that looks more like a bluegill than a piece of wire with a spinning blade attached to it.

[txchaser]

Chatterbait: +1 on the gold (sun is out) or black/GP (sun isn't out) blades. And I've never seen the opposite, where the blugill eaters want a silver blade but wouldn't eat the gold or black. 

 

For underspins they don't seem to care near as much, silver works fine.

 

 

 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

The majority of lakes around have no large population of baitfish other than bluegill.  With that being said shad or white based skirts outfish bluegill colors considerably and as for the blade it depends on water color.  I fish chatterbaits more than SBs and always done better coloring the blade with a black sharpie if it wasn't black already.  

[scaleface]

I like this around bluegill beds. It has a tarnished gold blade , doesnt have a lot of flash but still some. Bluegills dont flash.

[LrgmouthShad]

@Deleted account you need to stop playing peekaboo with us and just stick around…

[ChrisD46]

On 5/5/2024 at 5:27 PM, MediumMouthBass said:

No. And yes.

 

Some days the bass will want gold, others it will be chrome. And certain times a black blade or green (like the Jackhammer or Elite Evos) better.

 

Get a few of each and experiment with it, let the bass tell you what they want.

Sometimes I will take craft clear adhesive spray and lightly spray the back of a spinnerbait blade then lightly sprinkle fine gold color glitter from about 8" high jut enough to lightly coat the back of the spinner blade - lastly I'll give the back of the spinner bait another light coat of craft adhesive spray to keep the gold color glitter in place .  I use : "Plaid Patricia Nimock's Clear Matte Acrylic Spray Sealer"  with Hobby Lobby gold Glitter (fine) . *By only lightly coating the back of the spinnerbait blade gold and leaving the reverse side chrome gives a bit of an alternating chrome / gold flash that can work well in both sunny and overcast conditions . In cloudy overcast conditions you could just opt for all factory gold plated blades .

 

 

[Munkin]

I have used nickel, gold, copper, and black nickel all of which have worked. Trying to get some dark green metallic blades plated for this now. 

 

Allen

[gim]

60% of the time, a gold blade works every time.