Howard Capone Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 I have had a problem with fish eating the tails off my spinner baits. The pro's claim you need to slow down. I have changed my barrel to ball bearing swivels so the willow blade spins a little better at slow speeds. I found an article on slow willows. Blades Make the Spinnerbait . Does anyone use slow willows? Can it make a difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAVABill Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Howard, Slowing down may not be the only issue here. When fish short strike it maybe a sign that your colors may be off a bit. Fish that short strike tend to be chasing away the intruder (your bait) as apposed to trying to eat it. So some solutions may be: 1) have a second rod riggged with a simlilar bait in a constrating color. When you get a short strike repeat your cast and retrieve with the contrasting color. 2) Add a trailer hook!! As for your question on the Slow Willows, they do work and they work well. But you need to keep in mind the following factors: 1) possible weight differences 2) Lift factors. These will both play a part in your retrieve. Your normal retrieve speed might not be fast enough to keep the lure in the strike zone that you may normally fish. As well as an increase in retrieve speed will add lift to the bait faster bringing it up and out of the strike zone too soon. I would recommend trying the contrasting colors and a trailer hook for short strikes first. And in the interm practice with the Slow Willows and get used to their charateristics. One other thing to try would be to have the same bait in smaller size. If you get a short strike, toss the smaller bait the next time through. And if all else fails, after a short strike toss soft plastic (trick worm, stick bait). Good Luck - Keep it Simple! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 If a soft plastic tail is being "Nipped Off" in my area it is warmouth, bluegill and etc .... We have a lot of "Jack Fish" (Eastern Chain Pickerel) and they are bad at short striking ... Now if you are seeing them strike ... that is a different story and what has been said would apply ... mainly adding a trailer hook (which I do not like to do).. My More to think about. JSC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike-A-Pike Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Howard, The article you listed provides several things to be looked at like: How you space your blases, beads, spacers, etc. The type of clevis used to anchor your blade on the wire. The size of the blade(s). The length of the wire the blade is placed on. To say just any one of these items is the perfect fix may exaggerate the point. A case could also be made (if taken to extremes) that you can only use a reel with a 5.1:1 gear set with a 33" line retrieval at 18 RPM as opposed to a 6.1:1 gear set with a 28" line retrieval at 18 RPM or a 4.7:1 gear set with a 36" line retrieval at 17 RPM. The depth of the blade cup is one of countless variables that may or may not play a part in getting a slower retrieve. You might try varying your retrieve with a slight pause, let the rod tip dip slightly, and resume. Any time you're on the water, experiment with those things you can change that time. Just a few mental munchies to ponder... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Capone Posted February 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 Thank you for your insight. Howard Capone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
