Blade baits are a curious thing. Knowledgeable anglers have used blade baits for smallmouth bass for years and it has passed under the radar of many of those fishermen who put their gear away when the leaves fall from the trees and hunting season starts.
How could an unsexy hunk of metal catch sluggish cold water smallmouth bass?
Blade baits for smallmouth bass
When bass are feeding on shad or other small minnow and are deep, they may not want to move a whole lot but when they have something that looks like a dying minnow drop in front of their face, they snatch it up.
Growing up on Dale Hollow Lake we learned a few things about cold water fishing, and one was that a blade bait would catch largemouth, spotted and the lakes legendary smallmouth bass. In the early 80’s the late…Billy Westmorland shared his secret “silver buddy” with the world. It was Billy who told me, ” you aint holdin’ your mouth right!” I later learned that he was referring to the smile you get from gaining confidence in a bait. Fishing a 1/2-3/4 ounce blade when bass are suspending as deep as 30 feet in winter can quickly build confidence in these baits. By fishing the black shale rock ledges of that deep clear water reservoir where the bass hold, and allowing the bait to fall with a slight slack line until you feel it on the ledge.
Raising the rod to make the blade lift off the bottom will cause the blade to vibrate and flash resembling a dying bait fish. Repeat this down the ledges until you see and feel the line move then set the hook.” If a bite is not detected as you reach the bottom, jig the blade a few times and a following bass may devour the blade. Source
Good vibrations: watch this video for blade bait fishing tips
Additional tips from Bassmaster.com
If ever there were a lure that seems to be associated with smallmouth bass — but not so much the other black bass — it would have to be the blade bait.
Now you can catch any kind of bass on a blade bait, but the art of blade bait fishing seems to have eluded other bass chasers. That’s a shame — for them — because the blade bait is an extremely effective lure anytime bass are feeding on shad or other baitfish and especially when they’re in deep water.
This is the perfect time to take your blade bait and work the points and pockets back in the creeks of your favorite reservoir. You see, the water that came in with the rain is warmer than the lake water, and that will draw the baitfish in. When that happens, you know what’s next — the smallmouth follow.
As for fishing a blade bait, I like to cast it out and let it fall all the way to the bottom. Then I lift it up 3 or 4 feet and let it fall back to the bottom again. Your strikes are going to come on the fall, so you need to let the lure fall on a semi-tight line. If you don’t, you won’t feel the little “tick” that indicates a strike.
Sometimes the bass want a slow, short hop, and sometimes they want you to rip the bait 5 or 6 feet up off the bottom. You just have to experiment until you figure out what they’re looking for. Source
Open up your options and increase your cold water catch rates by fishing blade baits for smallmouth bass. If you have a favorite, tell us what it is down below.
Tight Lines everyone!
