Shaggy253

i had posted these pictures in a more specific thread about the Berkley Blade Dancer (a pretty cool lure that was discontinued for some reason...), but wanted to post here as well because that other thread doesn't seem active, and i want to show off! that's what this thread is for, right? haha... my grandfather used to make his own lures, and he was especially proud of a creation very similar to this, because he said there was no commercially available lure that used the same principle of operation... that may have been true at the time, but the Berkley Blade Dancer eventually did come to market using this principle. i have not been able to find any currently available lure that works the same way... if you know of one, please share! things like the northland jawbreaker and the heddon moss boss are vaguely similar, but from what i can tell based on youtube videos, the action is really not the same at all. ok, so how does it work? it's a bent, weighted spoon; as the the lure moves through the water, the spoon wants to spin (duh). but as the spoon starts to spin and it swings out to one side, the downward force from the weight overcomes the hydrodynamic spinning force, so instead of making a full rotation, the spoon falls back down and starts spinning in the opposite direction. this process repeats over and over, so the lure wobbles back and forth in a "U" shape, making repeated 180 rotations, as opposed to full 360 degree rotations as a normal spoon would do. the action is much slower than something like a chatterbait or a wobble head jig, and much smoother... i would say that this lure "struts" along through the water. it also has a nice wobbly presentation if you stop retrieving and just let it sink. it's a great lure for trolling, cast and retrieve, pause and sink, you can even jerk it and get some good darting motions. very versatile. i've caught pike, pickerel, walleye, bass, and bunches of panfish with this kind of lure. i made this one using a size 4 willowleaf spoon, a 1/0 hook hook with a drop-eye, some .015" steel wire, a piece of lead that i cut out of a bullet weight, some epoxy to hold the weight on, and i had a random curly grub that i used for a trailer. i plan on coating the weight and wire with clear epoxy/nail polish to protect them and prevent corrosion, and while that is wet i will sprinkle some glitter for added flash and color. if you want to make one and have any questions, let me know! threw it for the first time last night. the fishing was really slow, but at least i got one little crappie (ample opportunity for puns here, lol).

following up with a few pictures - previous post was done on my phone and i couldn't figure it out... the wobble is just about the same as the original, even if mine look kindof Crappie (pun intended lol). you could definitely make a smaller one that's closer to the size you want, it just might be a little more difficult handling smaller pieces - that's the only reason i started with a bigger one... but i also like the smaller sized ones - you can catch anything on them. 2 weeks ago on the small size i caught a 30 inch northern pike, several bass, and a bunch of bluegill and crappie in a single day.

I am also a fan of that lure and figured out how to make one. Start with a Willowleaf spoon (I used size 4). Drill two 1/16 inch holes along the midline of the spoon at the opposite end from the factory hole; one should be at about three quarters of the length, and the other real close to the tip. Bend the spoon across its width, at the 3/4 length hole, to form a 30 degree bend (if you know the blade dancer you’ll know what I mean). Get a 1/0 or so hook with a drop eye (with eye bent inward toward the mouth of the hook). Lay the shank of the hook down on the bent part of the spoon, matching the bend in the eye of the hook with the bend in the spoon - you probably will need to bend the hook eye a bit to match the spoon. Position the eye of the hook just ahead of the hole that is on the bend. Wrap with .015 inch steel wire in the following pattern: up through hole #1, around shank, back down hole #1, along shank, up through hole #2, around shank, back down hole #2, along shank, up through hole #1, around shank, etc... repeat 2-3 times and the. Twist off and cut ends of wire. The wire holds the hook super tight against the spoon and won’t allow the eye of the hook to slip through (similar to your idea of passing the hook through a hole in the spoon). Get a lead bullet weight and hold it in a vice/pair of vice grips. Cut into the nose of the bullet with a dremel tool or band saw, just at the edge of the center hole of the bullet, so that the center hole becomes more like a “D” shape instead of a round hole - forming a channel for the shank of the hook. Continue cutting down for a quarter or 3/8 inch (you want to match the length of the hook shank that is sitting on the bent part of the spoon). Make another cut 90 degrees from the first one, and you will have a weight that is pretty much the exact same shape as the weight used on the commercial blade dancer. The center hole of the bullet weight will straddle the shank of the hook so that the weight sits flat in the bent part of the spoon. Glue that bad boy on with some epoxy - be sure to clean all surfaces with alcohol first! Paint on clear epoxy or nail polish to completely cover the weight and wires - prevent corrosion and help the lure last longer. You can get fancy and sprinkle with glitter while it’s still wet to add flash and cover up the dull metal. Add a split ring and barrel swivel at the factory hole of the spoon. use a curly tail grub or minnow or whatever you want as the trailer. ... I know that sounds like a lot and is maybe confusing, but it wasn’t that hard. If you have questions I hope I can help.