I had a hit!

And I missed it I can finally say I had a real true hit on a blade bait. He SMOKED it on the top of the lift and I completely missed it. Oh well, one step closer I guess!

Snagged 7 catfish, 3 sheep, 1 white, and 6 shad.

Great variety! That makes for a fun trip anytime!

I wonder sometimes how the heck a fish can slam them without getting stuck…………If they get within 12″ of my gloves, I need to grab the hemo’s to get them out

I found if your foul hooking a lot fish, your either setting up on every “dead weight” or ripp’n too hard. As you get the feel of the soft thumps down, you’ll find that your not setting into snags and fouled fish as much.

Fished some more this afternoon. 3 whites (caught, not snagged), 1 snagged shad, and 6 snagged catfish.

You guys were right, light braid and a ML rod makes a lot of difference.

Your working it way too hard if you are snagging that many fish. Less is more:-)

Do you guys just let the fish swim away off the lure then to avoid snagging them? When I go to lift it up it feels soft so I set the hook, that is how I am snagging them. The fish are all hugging the bottom in about 6 feet of water. The lure moves maybe an inch and they are on there.

Oh and I did notice something, the blades with mustad trebles I do not snag fish with. The are sharp but I always seem to miss them or get a scale back. The ones with VMC hooks, as soon as I touch the fish they are snagged. Don’t even have to set the hook when lifting it up, they are stuck. Those VMCs are some badass hooks.

Are you using large body or small (1/4 or 1/2)? On the small body, I replace the split trebs with rings and a size 10 gamakatsu round bend. Super sticky, but the smaller hooks don’t snag as much stuff on the bottom and less fish. And Yes, if I know I lifted into a fish I just let the tip down and let it swim off. Not always, but many of the times it shakes off the blade and I’m not dealing with a foul hooked fish. On the other side of it, if you get fish that tail slap it, you’ll be bringing fish in tail first. Browns and chinooks in Lake MI are notorious for that.

small 1/4 with #8 no rings.

I ran out of 10’s and used 8’s on a batch that I just made up. I’m switching them to 10s as soon as my order comes in. Blades are the one bait that I found that I personally like to go to smaller hooks on.

Alright, I’ve got some 10’s. I’ll switch a couple over and see what happens. Actually I know what will happen. I will get bored fishing without a hit and go back to the bigger hooks so I can snag a couple shad in the meantime to keep my interest flowing

You should be getting into white bass soon…no need to get bored

Very interesting… Never fished blades but I got a collection of them and I am going to be starting soon – Hopefully this weekend. Thanks for the input.

They are just about to spawn. They are dripping milt and eggs when squeezed.

Did a little better today. less snagged fish and caught a few. The big carp hit the blade, and I got 4 whites on it. One dandy white about 17″ and packed full of eggs. Lots of other hits by whites that I missed. I changed up my jigging to get the hits. I lifted 6″ then stopped and did another little 1-2″ lift before dropping. Right after the 2nd lift I would feel a whack as the blade started to fall.