Nearly the end of March and no one has asked how to fish…..

with BLADES. Did everyone figure it out or just give up? As repetitive as the questions come up each year, I was quite surprised not to see it yet.
When I woke up around 2 this morning, I had a lot of anxiety that I was low on pink/white in 5/16oz. Time to pour a few before I go to work

I’m biting my tongue…..

SR

Blade Master Randy, explain this to me. My buddy and I are fishing blades on Pool 4. He has an orange blade, I have pink. Otherwise they are same weight, etc. He catches 9 walleye and sauger, me zero. We were moving slowly through the water and he did have 1st crack at the fish because he was in the front of the boat. Have you experienced color making that much of a difference? Of course there is always the possibility that I am a terrible fisherman.

Randy please explain in more detail for other dio guests the right way to fish blades I see most try the snag method.lol thanks there is a technique as most don’t know. Hook in tail or belly means snagged and release lmao sorry Randy just a little humor

Dennis Williams wrote:

Blade Master Randy, explain this to me. My buddy and I are fishing blades on Pool 4. He has an orange blade, I have pink. Otherwise they are same weight, etc. He catches 9 walleye and sauger, me zero. We were moving slowly through the water and he did have 1st crack at the fish because he was in the front of the boat. Have you experienced color making that much of a difference? Of course there is always the possibility that I am a terrible fisherman.

Color matters. Had days that purple
Lit them up and couldn’t touch a fish with another color. Hour later, purple went dead and different color turned on

Snagging = a call to the DNR tip line

Steve Root wrote:

I’m biting my tongue…..

SR

One of these days I’ll do a live demo in your boat

Haven’t considered using them yet…

The SCRATCHER wrote:

Randy please explain in more detail for other dio guests the right way to fish blades I see most try the snag method.lol thanks there is a technique as most don’t know. Hook in tail or belly means snagged and release lmao sorry Randy just a little humor

First… stop drifting. Just stop!

Lol

Pitch like a ringworm.

Here’s a 10# from last night

Attachments:

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   IMG_20200323_210552_320.jpg
   

I love fishing blades, but so far this spring I’ve not had much success with them. I was tearing their tail off in the fall with them, but the water was in the 40s. Water temp isn’t quite there yet so I’m wondering if warmer water will make a difference.

Seems most folks with extensive experience like blades in cold water, I just don’t have a solid feel for what “cold water” is or if there is a rule of thumb as far as when to reach for a blade.

I’ve been trying to stay dedicated to reaching for them every trip at least for a while as part of the process.

I was just thinking about this.

Are blades only for cold water river fishing? Are they effective in warm(er) water on lakes or are they mainly for current.

carver wrote:

I was just thinking about this.

Are blades only for cold water river fishing? Are they effective in warm(er) water on lakes or are they mainly for current.

.
Very general response for you…

One can argue everything can work at anytime. But i’ll add that most things have an optimum time and place. You’ll never see me run a bobber in summer heat, rather i’ll be trolling at peak speeds. Bobber fisherman catch fish too…

Blade baits are a popular bass lure in the summer.

I predominately use blades during the shad die off in the fall. 50 falling to 40 water temp.
Tend to run plastics below 40.

There’s no right or wrong. But certain areas at certain times cannot be beat if using the right lure.

Don’t be afraid to stock up on blades and give it a whirl anytime/anyplace. They’re the dying shad lure for me and that’s about it. But, a day in Randy’s boat i’m sure i’d share a different perspective.

Will I have better luck fishing them if I wear my triple walled tinfoil hat and an emergency roll of toilet paper on the butt end of my rod?

No rhyme or reason with blades.Randy and I lit them up in the middle of August.But it is sure funny watching those that yank them 3′ and never follow it down.

Thanks for bringing this up as I need to do some restocking on certain sizes and color.

Randy do you make any of the smaller weight wise 1/8 3/16 ounce ones? I find on the river I like this size as mostly I am pitching them versus vertical jigging.

Tom quarter is about as small as I go

Tom P. wrote:

Thanks for bringing this up as I need to do some restocking on certain sizes and color.

Randy do you make any of the smaller weight wise 1/8 3/16 ounce ones? I find on the river I like this size as mostly I am pitching them versus vertical jigging.

If someone has a reasonably priced source for those lighter blades I’m all ears. Those lighter weight blades with a full sized body are hard to find.

James Holst wrote:

If someone has a reasonably priced source for those lighter blades I’m all ears. Those lighter weight blades with a full sized body are hard to find.

@trumar makes blade baits down to 3/16 oz, not sure if that’s light enough but is a full size body. And whether the $3.50 is reasonably priced?
*Edit-I see he has 15% off orders of $35 or more through the end of March.

But he’s a member here and I have already bought a nice assortment of blade baits and jigs from him. He makes quality tackle.

http://trutiedtacklellc.com/

Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:

@trumar makes blade baits down to 3/16 oz, not sure if that’s light enough but is a full size body. And whether the $3.50 is reasonably priced.

But he’s a member here and I have already bought a nice assortment of blade baits and jigs from him.

http://trutiedtacklellc.com/

$3.50 is fine in my book. Thank you. I’ll check them out.

^^^^^^^Me too.

I did find some 1/8 ounce here I will have to send them an EMail as they do not state the size.

https://www.jannsnetcraft.com/blade-baits/107307.aspx

James Holst wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:</div>

@trumar makes blade baits down to 3/16 oz, not sure if that’s light enough but is a full size body. And whether the $3.50 is reasonably priced.

But he’s a member here and I have already bought a nice assortment of blade baits and jigs from him.

http://trutiedtacklellc.com/%5B/quote%5D

$3.50 is fine in my book. Thank you. I’ll check them out.

See Classified Ads.. Tackle For Sale

I posted a thread about a year ago and Randy went above and beyond explaining how to fish with these flat metal pieces of…

I’m not good at finding old posts but I actually printed it out.

If someone could locate that’d be great!

The guys fishing Head2Head in Depere were using lots of blades….

martyb wrote:

The guys fishing Head2Head in Depere were using lots of blades….

Using or losing?That place can eat lures!
That is the place I first fished blade lures way back.Cotton Cordell gay blade baits were excellent.

If a guy wanted to order 10-15 of these could someone recommend some size and color recommendations? I would be using them on The Miss and Croix.

belletaine wrote:

I posted a thread about a year ago and Randy went above and beyond explaining how to fish with these flat metal pieces of…

I’m not good at finding old posts but I actually printed it out.

If someone could locate that’d be great!

Take this link and in about the 3rd or 4th post there are links to previous conversations including some great advise from Dean. I do a lot of vertical jigging, deeper river channel and basin structure. Dean is the P4 pitching wizzard

Any special way to fish blades

BoatsHateMe wrote:

If a guy wanted to order 10-15 of these could someone recommend some size and color recommendations? I would be using them on The Miss and Croix.

If I were hitting the water today with only 5 blades, here is what I would want from Jeff. Only one I question is the white. For me, pure bright white is the worst. I powder paint most of mine and my white is more of an off/antique white. I learned many years ago not all whites are created equal!

https://trutiedtacklellc.com/shop?olsPage=products%2Fpink-tiger-blade-bait

Pink Tiger Blade Bait
Orange Tiger Blade Bait
Purple Ghost Blade Bait
White Blade Bait
Gold Blade Bait

@Randy,My white is as white as white can get and thank you for the shout out !

All the colors I sell are what has worked on the Mississippi river from P2 down to Pool 16 most constantly .

Thanks Randy!

trumar wrote:

@Randy,My white is as white as white can get and thank you for the shout out !

All the colors I sell are what has worked on the Mississippi river from P2 down to Pool 16 most constantly .

We need to talk about that white one of these days. Think back to a late 60s impala