It's about to start.

One of my favorite ways to target fat brown bass.

Be out there tomorrow giving it a go.

 

A-Jay

Every year, your post make me try to make these things work for me. I did actually catch some bass on them last year, so it's a step in the right direction. 

I tried to start with them last weekend, but I think it was a little warm yet.  Had better luck with the lipless though.

Blade baits work all year round on the bodies of water I fish in NY, but they excel when it starts getting cold or during soft water winters.

I throw them from ice-out until the lake freezes back over. I start out light and go heavier during the summer.  I stick with the heavier ones until they stop producing, sometime in late October here. 

My two most productive retrieves are stroking them off the bottom and letting them fall back to the bottom and counting them down to a certain depth and using a burn/short pause retrieve. The only variation is in the early spring, after ice-out. Then I go light and slow with an occasional twitch of the rod tip.

Let us know how it goes and what the water temps are.  I will be throwing it in a week or two here.  

39 minutes ago, EzyEric said:

Let us know how it goes and what the water temps are.  I will be throwing it in a week or two here.  

Surface Water temps were 58 

Bait EVERYWHERE - shallow & deep.

Could Not Buy a bass bite.

Plenty of walleye & pike though.

Someday I'll crack the code . . . . . .

A-Jay

11 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Every year, your post make me try to make these things work for me. I did actually catch some bass on them last year, so it's a step in the right direction. 

im not an expert but i find that most people who dont have success on them over work them. just lift until you feel them thump a couple times then drop it.

7 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Surface Water temps were 58 

Bait EVERYWHERE - shallow & deep.

Could Not Buy a bass bite.

Plenty of walleye & pike though.

Someday I'll crack the code . . . . . .

A-Jay

That code is truly an enigma, had one bite/fish today....worst day in a long time, if there is a code for days like ours, you're gonna be a billionaire ?

9 minutes ago, padon said:

im not an expert but i find that most people who dont have success on them over work them. just lift until you feel them thump a couple times then drop it.

Sounds like how I "Yo Yo" retrieve a chatterbait.    Just slowly Yo Yo it, seems to drive fish crazy.  I clicked this thread thinking "blade bait" was gonna be a chatterbait.    

On 9/30/2022 at 9:31 PM, A-Jay said:

Surface Water temps were 58 

Bait EVERYWHERE - shallow & deep.

Could Not Buy a bass bite.

Plenty of walleye & pike though.

Someday I'll crack the code . . . . . .

A-Jay

Went out Sunday.  This is a largemouth lake so not a direct comparison though it's still gon clear.  Water temp was 60. Fish completely abandoned the shallows and even most drop offs for deeper water. 20 to 25 feet. Lots of small bait out in open water too.  This time of year is so weird for me.  When will they move up shallow again if ever...anyway. Ended up having to tie the blade bait on to get a bite. Only got a few bass and a nice walleye. Damiki Vault is my go to now. 

 

14 minutes ago, EzyEric said:

Went out Sunday.  This is a largemouth lake so not a direct comparison though it's still gon clear.  Water temp was 60. Fish completely abandoned the shallows and even most drop offs for deeper water. 20 to 25 feet. Lots of small bait out in open water too.  This time of year is so weird for me.  When will they move up shallow again if ever...anyway. Ended up having to tie the blade bait on to get a bite. Only got a few bass and a nice walleye. Damiki Vault is my go to now. 

 

Weird for me too.

I fish hard ALL day today.

Found Bait, Found Bass but not together.

Both seemed to be sunning themselves on long sandy points is 5-8 ft with weeds.

Saw some real brutes; like 3 separate schools of 15 -20 fish , all looked 5 plus.

I almost swallowed my tongue and fell out of the boat. 

Threw everything I had - 1 dink on a little jerkbait. 

Tomorrow's a carbon copy of today weather wise so no go for me.

Sunny, Hot, No wind. - Recipe for NO BASS BITE. 

Might take another whack at them on Wednesday. 

Water temps were high 50's, blade bait time is still a couple of week away here. 

A-Jay

 

 

On 9/30/2022 at 8:31 PM, A-Jay said:

Plenty of walleye & pike though

I have been catching a crap load of pike lately. With the drop in water temps, they have become very active and aggressive. My lures are taking a beating.

 

Last 2 outings have caught 24 pike combined mixed in with the bass. At least a few have been decent sized. 31, 34, and 35 inchers.

Only got one small pike on a chatterbait,

but I want a rematch with those brown bass - just freaks I tell ya.

#figureitout

A-Jay

 

On 9/30/2022 at 9:32 PM, padon said:

im not an expert but i find that most people who dont have success on them over work them. just lift until you feel them thump a couple times then drop it.

I have had my best 3 days catching numbers doing this.

Water temp was 56 yesterday and finally started catching them on the blade bait.  Nothing quality though and I lost 3 on it that all felt bigger than the ones I caught.

On 10/3/2022 at 9:00 PM, EzyEric said:

Went out Sunday.  This is a largemouth lake so not a direct comparison though it's still gon clear.  Water temp was 60. Fish completely abandoned the shallows and even most drop offs for deeper water. 20 to 25 feet. Lots of small bait out in open water too.  This time of year is so weird for me.  When will they move up shallow again if ever...anyway. Ended up having to tie the blade bait on to get a bite. Only got a few bass and a nice walleye. Damiki Vault is my go to now. 

 

if you have sunny weather with no wind this time of year can be a nightmare. for me at least.

 

On 10/3/2022 at 9:10 PM, A-Jay said:

Weird for me too.

I fish hard ALL day today.

Found Bait, Found Bass but not together.

Both seemed to be sunning themselves on long sandy points is 5-8 ft with weeds.

Saw some real brutes; like 3 separate schools of 15 -20 fish , all looked 5 plus.

I almost swallowed my tongue and fell out of the boat. 

Threw everything I had - 1 dink on a little jerkbait. 

Tomorrow's a carbon copy of today weather wise so no go for me.

Sunny, Hot, No wind. - Recipe for NO BASS BITE. 

Might take another whack at them on Wednesday. 

Water temps were high 50's, blade bait time is still a couple of week away here. 

A-Jay

 

 

had weather just like that saturday. 15 boat tournament 7 boats zeroed. depressing i tell you.

21 minutes ago, padon said:

if you have sunny weather with no wind this time of year can be a nightmare. for me at least.

 

had weather just like that saturday. 15 boat tournament 7 boats zeroed. depressing i tell you.

Current deal is no fun either . . .

Can we at least get something in the middle ?

A-Jay

I like blades, but I usually don't start fishing them until the water is consistently in the 40s, once they huddle up together in deep breaks, it's game on.

6 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Current deal is no fun either . . .

Can we at least get something in the middle ?

A-Jay

yeah i know. its hard to get a cloudyor drizzly day with 10-15. iys either beach weather or pouring rain and howling wind here.

I was seeing 69 water temp today so I haven’t broken them out yet, honestly not sure I have any left. I need to start ordering my own blanks. I can only fish them in a select few areas because of too many logs to snag on but I have caught what was probably my PB largemouth with a blade bait (pictured below) 

 

 

and my buddy catches a good many walleye with them. He also caught a 38” striper with a blade bait in the middle of this summer 40’ down, I was working nearby and he gave me the fish because it wouldn’t release