You don’t have to tell me. I know you’ve been hoarding Megabait spoons since the company went out of business and your collection of custom-painted ice jigs is the coolest in three states.
But not every day is the same out on the water. With an extra layer of clothes and a lot of adrenalin going, we don’t always sense the changes in conditions. But down there, those marks on the color graph–those are living creatures that are facing another winter day of survival.
True, some days they are hot to go, rising up in the water column to catch your bait as it falls. Other days they like that slide-and-glide look from Norway. And then there are a lot of other days, when bellied down in the mud or silt, they need a real good reason to get up and move even a foot or two.
Blade baits give them another look–a different sound and a different vibration. These metal vibrators might have been designed as a crank, but as a jigging lure, fished in short rips and allowed to fall back to the bottom, they do what can’t be duplicated by any other winter bait.
Yes, there is more than one to choose from, but you probably need at least a half-ounce. The Heddon Sonar tops out with a half ounce model, the BPS Lazer Blade has one that weighs 5/8′s and the old Silver Buddy, has halves, a three-quarter and even a one-ounce model. They all have their moments, and with the head down and the tail up, they have very good hooking qualities.
Here are some things to consider:
1. An .012 to .015 line diameter lets this bait fall freely. That helps with a half-ounce lure down to 35 feet or so, and makes sense with a slightly heavier lure fished even deeper.
2. Sharpen the stock hooks and you’ll be fine. And so you know, those that come with split rings and those that don’t all foul your line at about the same rate–and it’s not very often.
3. Use a short stroke (18 to 24-inches) when you rip the bait up off the bottom. You want it to stay close to the fish. The bait is not much of a line twister, but you could use a small swivel a couple of feet up the line, or just let the bait dangle and untwist after every few drops.
4. The slightly nose-down attitude (front hole line tie) seems to work just fine. (But there is no rule against experimenting.)
5. Color sometimes matters. Silver, gold and silver/blue all work, but usually not all on the same day. And sometimes one color catches an alternate species, and another seems to draw bass. (Lots of personal knowledge: channel catfish eat the gold one real good at times.) I also think solid white could be a good color.