I can't help interject my opinion when the topic of blade baits comes up. 

 

This is by far my #1 most productive, AND favorite way to fish for smallmouth in sub 50 degree water. And the colder it gets, the more they produce.  They will still run down a swimbait, bite a slow rolled grub, or eat a football jig off the bottom in sub 50 degree water, but the blades start taking over the lower the temp goes, and the longer it stays cold.

 

The number 1 mistake people make with a blade is overworking it.  You  DO NOT rip that thing like a spoon. Even some of the "experts" I see  on youtube making blade bait videos are, IMHO, too aggressive with their up-stroke. Yeah, they will catch fish on them, but if they toned it down a little they would catch more. Remember the old Roland Martin Senko commercial " you don't work them, they work for you" line? They same is true of blades. 

 

Cast, let sink to bottom, keep your rod at 9 o'clock, lift to 11 o'clock in a steady, fluid motion, and then let it fall on semi-slack line right back to the bottom, and as soon as it's on the bottom lift it again. I have found no need EVER, to soak that thing, even in 30 degree water.  The semi-slack fall is important...too much slack and the hooks will foul on the line, and too little slack will inhibit the the magic the bait does when it falls and draws a bite. Plus you will miss a high % of fish that bite it if you let it fall on a tight line. 

 

I can't stress enough that EVERY SINGLE BASS I have caught on blades since I started to fish them "right" bites it on the fall, and the best way to describe a bite is when you go to lift it again...SURPRISE!!!! ones got it. If I get bit on a lift, it's never a bass.

 

Not all blades are created equal. And there's not a single one on the market that comes with, IMHO, the right hooks on them. Even the high end ones wiff on what hooks they put on the bait.

 

I know a lot of people get creative with size, and color of blades.  I don't play with size. I have no use for a 1/4 oz blade, it catches too many panfish. And a 3/4 oz bait falls way too fast to draw bites in cold water. I will play with color. My base line is: silver on sunny days, gold on cloudy, no matter what the water clarity is. The gold thing never really changes...BUT, I have sunny days, especially in clear water where a bunch of them are hooked outside the mouth, or on the top of the head, because they are swatting at it, and changing to a less flashy bait starts getting them to eat it instead of swipe it. What I like to do is take my beat up silver and gold blades, strip the hardware off them, ruff up the finish, and spray paint them a dull color. Then reassemble with new hooks/hardware.

 

Any rod you fish a lipless crank on is a good blade bait rod. 12lb flouro is about perfect. 

 

Shad are not a requirement to good blade baiting....I have zero shad in my favorite lakes, and they bite them.