fishing w/ blade baits

I live here on pool 9 and I am getting excited for the ice to move out. I have fished walleyes using a lot of the common presentations. One thing I have never used is the blade baits, mainly because I don’t have a clue how they are suppose to be used. I’m sure there’s more then dropping them to the bottom and jigging them. I read the posts every day and I hear some about them. I am trying to find info on how to use them. I have checked all over the internet and I have not found much if anything. If anybody knows of a good resource or if their bored and want to give me a quick course I would appreciate it.

go to forms then look for indeph oudoors articels blade baits by Calvin Svihel

Here is another newer post also… blades

We have some guys on P-9 that are veteran Blade fishers…The very best idea is to hook up with someone who can really show you “hands on”…on the water.

There are two schools of thoughts on blade baits.

1. Get a half ounce blade bait and vertical jig/rip it.

2. Get 1/4 or lighter blade bait and pitch it to structure and work the blade down the current and on/around the structure.

#2 is the way I fish blades.

What works for me is a 6’6 or 6’8 medium fast action rod with 10 lb power pro and a #2 snap swivel. What you want to do is pitch the blade out to the structure and slowly work the blade back. Giving your rod a 6 inch pull at a time, real up the slack line and repeat.

Its very important to not over work the blade.

There are a couple outstanding blade guys on this site who will chime in (Dean, Eric). Pitching blades effectively takes a lot of practice, and sometimes a lot of blades…

Best advice I can give is to find a sand flat that you know are holding fish, toss the blade out to the flat and slowly work it back. Once you’ve built your confidence level up, move up to stumps/rocks. Unless you’re stubborn like me and see guys catching fish on rock walls and decide that’s where you’re going to cut your teeth with blade baits.

I buy all of my blades from bfn

everts resort

Dean is one of the best blade bait tosser I know and is a wealth of info for not blades, but plastics, rods and everything else a river guy needs to know!

Jami

I will comment on vertical blade presentation…

I started several years ago when there were but a couple Blades out there…the Sonar and Cicada. About eight years ago I was re-introduced to them on P-4 by Steve Vick and Dean Marshall.

Through many hours of testing the vertucal technique, I find a subtle 6″ lift and slow deliberate drop works best for me…lift just hard enough to feel the blade “flutter”. Most of the time the strikes come after the drop…as the walleye sucks the blade off the bottom.

My vertical rods need to be short, sensitive and extra fast like a St Croix 59MXF or 63MXF. Small, lightweight, quality reels are better than bigger heavier ones, and will really help lessen fatigue after several hours.

Dean has turned me on to the 8025 series Pfleugers @ 5.5 oz! I spool up 100 yds of HI Vis Sufix 8lb braid with a 4′ 10lb flouro leader and #2 snap in the middle hole.

When you get the rythym down it is not uncommon to hook several fish in a row…it is amazing! I have hooked Sauger on 10-11 consecutive “drops” in late fall.

Good Luck and have fun!

I would highly recomend watching this video .

There were a couple blade pitchin fish caught on this show and some good explanation of the how to as well.

Most everything has been mentioned here. Read those other posts that are listed above and also watch the video. They do take a little while to get used to and to have confidence in them. But they are a great tool when used properly. The best learning would have to be to jump in the boat with somebody that fishes them.

Any other questions feel free to ask