LrgmouthShad

Have you found applications for the tin roller? The okeechobee special is on my wishlist. I like the look of them quite a lot. That back blade is huge though.

Are those the Okeechobee specials?

Wow what a great looking lure

Booyah covert double indiana. I regret not having one in white, chartreuse, and blue. Nichols pulsator metal flake single colorado, silver flash Booyah covert single colorado in white, chartreuse, and blue. Those are my favorites

I'm stealing this ?

You're been writing some of those high school junior essays. Some of your use of language is not bad at all in here. Just an observation ?

I had no idea there were such close imitations of crappie in lures. Wow. Okay, but what about the behaviors of these bass chasing crappie? I think I need to do some reading on crappie. Study the mouse, not the cat.

Update: Looking a more photos of crappie, something silver, with black flakes, and maybe a greenish-yellow tint would be a more accurate imitation of crappie. And @Bass_Fishing_Socal's photo too. Wow, thanks for those photos man.

I definitely think this is true. Weren't shad somewhere described as the "perfect" forage fish for bass? Given a choice, I really think bass will go for shad. But, hey, they're also opportunistic. In ponds though, this could be a dynamic that I have been missing out on. I throw some blue glimmer spinners pretty often. But I don't think they outproduce another color of spinner I have, called silver flash, which is a much closer color to crappie I think.

Hey ya'll, This topic is inspired by a recent post by @WRB where he says that crappie can be preferred as forage over bluegill. Let me tell ya'll a little about the lake that I first started bass fishing on and continued to for the next few years. I didn't really realize it for most of the time, because I figured that I just sucked at catching big fish, but this lake is overpopulated, with the sunfish population struggling. There are, however, amazing crappie in this lake, with a very healthy population and some giants (one fellow fisherman on the lake once claimed to me that he nearly caught the state record, maybe I should have crappie fished more.... lol). Basically, you can fish this lake and expect to catch a bass every time you go out, and often many fish in a day. Most every bass you catch will be stunted and pretty small. In years past this lake had a really good grass habitat covering the entirety of the lake. So, you'd hear stories of these giant bass being caught on the lake in the past, and wonder where on earth they are. However, in the winter of 2020, I heard a fisherman who lives on the lake and fishes it often say he caught a 10lber in the fall. That winter, I got my ~9lb and change. The following summer I discovered that the same fisherman had caught another 9lb. There are some commonalities in how these fish (this guy's two and my one) were caught. All were on light line and using white/silver patterned lures. I call this lake a lake but it really more of a pond, so there's no shad in this lake. I specifically got the spinnerbait that caught my 9lber to imitate crappie, because I had a hunch that the bigger bass in this lake at times fed on the bigger forage of crappie. Maybe it worked, or maybe it was just a fluke. But the commonalities between these three fish caught make me wonder. How much is crappie an overlooked forage for bass? If it is a significant source of food for some bass, what behaviors do bass that feed regularly on crappie exhibit? Crappie are pretty migratory(?) I believe. How would this affect fishing for these bass? Hopefully ya'll find this topic interesting and some good discussion is generated.

P.S did a little more digging through my blade box.... the trickster blades are almost completely flat. When I was using the trickster spinnerbait in a crystal clear lake one time, I do recall seeing that the blades spun with a noticeably wide arc.

Lol… my last order of some spinnerbaits I got some of these too. And you know you gotta get some sampo’s ?

I was kidding. Thanks though

Blades from barlows? No idea what you’re talking about. btw I found a particularly “slow” Colorado blade I have

Do you make your own blades?

Where are hildebrandt's on the spectrum of slow to fast blades? I have some booyah coverts, both double indianas and single colorados

YES. You and I been thinking alike in this thread. I have thought that a slower retrieve not only gives the bass more of a chance to get the spinnerbait, but also gives a different flash that I prefer and that the fish may prefer under some circumstances. But blades that spin too fast just dont have the same appeal like those you mentioned

Neither are we. I watch spinny thing go round and round and try to stick sharp object into fish's bluegill-hole. Actually though, I really want to test this out for real next time I'm on the water and pay close attention to whats happening. Wouldnt be the first time ive been proven wrong if I see results different than i expect

So basically I been using the wrong blades for slow rolling this whole time. Allen how much would you be willing to talk over messaging?

PS where can I find these “slow” or very flat blades? Very intriguing considering that the first couple of seconds are critical to how I fish spinnerbaits Edit: that one Stanley vibrawedge I got looks like it could be considered to have “slow” willows. Hmmmm

If I’m not mistaken though, while flatter blades vibrate more, the cupped blades turn more easily and so will turn at slower speeds. Hmmm. I would like to see some more opinions on this I’ll have to review my class notes. ?. I don’t have an answer for you and will double check when on the water next

Hmmmm. I think I’ve seen arguments for both sides. The flatter blades I have appear to vibrate more Keep em coming! I’m taking notes. I won’t tell anybody ?. Me and my kayak ain’t gonna bother nobody.

Dude. Thats awesome. A "good day" is an understatement there for sure

Bass can only hear low frequency sounds. But also, I've seen people talk about on here that bass seem to become accustomed to colorado blades especially over time and will learn from their mistakes. This is a real thing I believe and could be a reason why willow blades have maintained such popularity and effectiveness (they appear to be silent to a bass because of their speed of rotation). But reel slower..... and frequency changes. How slowly can a willow turn and what frequency does this put off? I dont know and its all guesswork. I hate on willows but I have literally been beat down next to someone throwing willows while I was too stubborn to change. Also Captain Phil is an authority on spinnerbaits here. Can we talk spinnerbaits some more over messaging @Captain Phil? I think that might have been a different seminar, yeah. Could be wrong. Thanks

I love that you brought up this seminar. Okay, I have some things to discuss about it. Firstly, Rick says this, but how much of it do you believe was about trying to sell his "Trickster" spinnerbait? Think about it, there ain't too many indiana blades on the market, and Rick further tries to distinguish the trickster spinnerbait from other indiana bladed spinnerbaits by touting the "long drop" blades on the trickster. However, he relates the long drop blades to Indiana by saying they are best able to match visual profile and water displacement achieved. I've read elsewhere that Rick did not tout Indiana blades in this fashion... until he could talk about his trickster spinnerbait. Something to think about. What I will say, though, is that Rick uses some pretty persuasive logic throughout the seminar. The idea that a bass has an idea of the relative size of a spinnerbait before it even sees it and then has this idea tested when it actually sees it is interesting. But how much is Rick trying to think like a fish? And... furthermore, if indiana blades achieve this proper water displacement and are so convincing to a bass, then why do other blades even exist and why are indiana blades the least common? He says willows are the easiest to fish and work better with a larger array of equipment (reel speeds I believe). That might be true, but I doubt it would cause willows to be so much more popular than indianas if indianas or long drop blades are so much better. He also says that if you want to catch big fish, that you need blades that displace water (implying not willows). I don't know about this. What I will say though, is that old bass are wary. An obnoxious spinnerbait might alert but not attract big bass. Bill Murphy talks about this too. I think that the sound or frequency that a spinnerbait is throwing off and the speed of the retrieve are underlooked factors compared to water displacement, which apparently is contended in recent articles anyway right now. I've stated before that I don't like to throw willows. My reasoning is that they fish too fast and if you want to fish them slow, you need to upsize the blade and have a big, flashy blade or go to a much lighter spinnerbait. Nothing to do with water displacement, although when I believed Clunn's seminar like it was the truth, I would have argued that too. Dang I need to do homework.