JBlaze Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 Mark & JSC, The wire I used is 75lb test .020 Knot 2 Kinky leader wire from LPO. I am certain that I feel more vibes with this setup. I am not sure how long it will last before breaking. when pulling it through the water, the whole T wire has a nice parabolic bend to it from the brass sleeve to about maybe half the length of the wire then it is straight and the blade lays right over the top of the skirt but doesn't touch it. I hope that this curve eliminates any one single stress spot on the wire. I guess time will tell. Also I have a question concerning the clear blade. It is just something that I did. Good Idea or bad? Is there any situation that you could think of where you would want vibrations with no flash on a spinnerbait? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 (edited) I will take your word(s) for it, because I haven't had any experience with blade wire that small, or with cable. That coated wire looks pretty amazing. I just watched their video on LPO. How do you attach it to your lie tie wire and hook? Edited September 30, 2014 by mark poulson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 Mark I used a leader sleeve to connect the 2 and I believe JB did as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 John let us know how the clear blade works out .. I have never used a plastic blade (that I can remember) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBlaze Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 John let us know how the clear blade works out .. I have never used a plastic blade (that I can remember) Neither have I, it was just an idea. you know, silent (no Rattles) crank baits have their place now. Maybe a no flash spinner bait will do the trick. It is something different, something the bass do not encounter every day. Maybe a clear skirt might go well with it. :-) I will be on vacation last two weeks of October, plan on getting my line wet a few times. Will let you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 I would think the Lexan blade would still put off a bit of flash though not nearly as much as a nickel blade. At certain angles even a clear piece of glass will reflect sunlight. I'm no spinnerbait guru by any means, but it's possible the Lexan blade would excel under certain conditions. And on the flip side I tried buzzbaits with the clear blades when they first came out and never caught a thing on them. Those little, evil green fish do like to keep us guessing. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBlaze Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 Mark , JSC is correct, I did use a brass leader sleeve Inside diameter of .055, I used crimping pliers and a shop vise to put enough pressure on the pliers jaws to connect the two wires together. I also cut two shallow grooves/notches on each side of the stainless wire to give the sleeve something to grip to. the first ones that I made I could easily twist the sleeve and pull it and the T wire off. After making these notches, I can no longer do that. I am hoping it will stay that way and not loosen with use. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBlaze Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 John let us know how the clear blade works out .. I have never used a plastic blade (that I can remember) JSC, found time this morning to take the Flex Arm spinner bait out for a spin. We arrived just as day was breaking and by 8am I had a big bass (by my standards) in the boat. and had missed a couple of others. I lost another big one caught a small one and about a 2lb walleye and missed a few more. I am liking this spinnerbait already. I was not using a trailer hook as we were just out fishing nor did I have any kind of plastic trailer on the spinnerbait. By 9am the sun was shining on most of the places I fish and the bite was over. I saw lots of suspended fish on the depth finder. All my fish and missed strikes were on the 1/4 oz version with a #4 nickle blade. Did not throw the clear blade as I was getting hits on this one. My friend caught two small bass on a jerk bait. here is a pic of my good fish this morning. John http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?/gallery/image/13763-my-frst-bass-on-the-flex-arm-sb/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 Nice fish!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 Way to go John ... Hi Vibes .. Just a an off topic note .. on using trailers I have found that if I use a good small plastic swim bait that the plastic gives them a little more body to "Suck In" and have not had to use a trailer hook since I started using it .. Just skirts does not have enough for them to suck it in some times. Thanx for the Post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBlaze Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 Thanks Mark and JSC. JSC, thanks for that tip. The biggest reason that I don't like trailer hooks is that more than a few times i have hooked a bass in its gills using one. Sometimes, they don't survive that. That is not a good feeling. I take care of my bass the best that I possibly can and very seldom do I lose one. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted October 2, 2014 Report Share Posted October 2, 2014 (edited) Trailer Hooks also tend to make the lure hang more defeating part of a spinner baits main purpose of fishing tight cover/weeds & such. Spinner baits leave a fish in a lot better condition than most any type lure (for me anyway) .. Ready to wet a line with some .. Yesterday Super high Tide (water in the woods) .. only got to go middle of the day S L O W -- with the high tide I spent most of my time on Specs & reds and that was not much action either .. fished a while with the "Finesse Spinner Bait" and had 4 strikes landed 2 all small around a pound (lost then getting behind snags) .. I do not believe I would have had a strike with a heavier wire bait .. Clearer than normal water/High and running out strong - no clouds .. tough conditions ... I turn 95% of the Bass I catch back .. The "Finesse Spinner Bait" produced a "Pile" of good size Warmouth a few weeks back & I kept them for my Daughter and Son in law (they had to do the cleaning) .. Edited October 2, 2014 by JSC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted October 3, 2014 Report Share Posted October 3, 2014 I don't know if this has ever happened to anyone else, but it was one time deal for me, so far. I was throwing 3/4 oz tandem blade, chart/white with a small colorado and large indiana, in off colored water a few years ago, with a trailer hook and a split tail trailer. When I pulled it past a shallow shelf and back over the main channel a 5lb bass ate it. When I got her into the boat, both hooks were up under her chin, which made my partner and me think she had eaten the blades, and thats how both hook wound up under her. As I said, it's only happened to me that one time, and my partner, who has bass fished for 30 years and competed professionally before a successful battle with the big C, said he'd never had it happen or even heard of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted October 4, 2014 Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 (edited) Sounds like he was messing with you and goofed n got hooks in him Edited October 4, 2014 by JSC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted October 4, 2014 Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 I've seen bass get hooked outside the mouth quite often on Rattle Trap type baits. Seems like it happens more often in late winter and early spring. Was always told they weren't really trying to eat the bait but were hitting it with their mouth closed to chase it away. Maybe that's what happened to you Mark. Until we learn to speak "bass" we may never know for sure. One thing for sure though is that you'll stand a much better chance of hooking them with needle sharp hooks when they're doing this. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted October 5, 2014 Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 I've seen bass get hooked outside the mouth quite often on Rattle Trap type baits. Seems like it happens more often in late winter and early spring. Was always told they weren't really trying to eat the bait but were hitting it with their mouth closed to chase it away. Maybe that's what happened to you Mark. Until we learn to speak "bass" we may never know for sure. One thing for sure though is that you'll stand a much better chance of hooking them with needle sharp hooks when they're doing this. Ben Ben, The way the hooks were in line directly below the mouth, like on the fish's centerline, it looked to us like the only way they could have gotten there was if the fish actually ate the blades. But, then again, what do any of us know about how bass think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted October 5, 2014 Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 Could be Mark. Until we learn to talk to those little rascals there are a lot of things we'll never know for sure. The thing that really matters is that you caught her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted October 6, 2014 Report Share Posted October 6, 2014 After seeing the Aflac commercials, I've been trying to use a duck as an interpreter. No luck so far. The only word they seem to understand is food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted October 6, 2014 Report Share Posted October 6, 2014 After seeing the Aflac commercials, I've been trying to use a duck as an interpreter. No luck so far. The only word they seem to understand is food. Might give the Budweiser bullfrog a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted October 7, 2014 Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 Might give the Budweiser bullfrog a try. Hahaha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBlaze Posted October 9, 2014 Report Share Posted October 9, 2014 I think, somewhere i here that I stated that the titanium wire that I used was 75 lb test and .020 diameter. I goofed. Yesterday, I poured a few more 3/8 oz. spinnerbaits and had to cut some more of the .020 T-wire. when I tried to fit the T-wire and .035 spinner wire together inside the .055 sleeve, I could not get them in. I measured both wires on the calipers and they were correct in size. I measured T-wire arm on one of the previous baits that I made and turned out that I had used .016 thousandths T-wire. I do not understand why .035 and .20 will not fit inside a .055 inside diameter sleeve. I hope I have not inconvenienced any one with my misinformation. Report on the Flex Arm Spinnerbait: I have good news and bad news regarding the Flex Arm Spinnerbait. The good news is, A friend and I went to the lake again this morning. We threw only the Flex Arm Spinnerbait. We were on the water and started fishing around 7am we were throwing a 3/8oz size. by 9am we had 6 bass all were largemouth. The largest was about 4/1/2 lbs. three that looked like triplets about 2 1/2lbs. each 1 that wighed 1/1/4lbs. and a slick about 10 inches. I am thouroughly convinced that this spinnerbait is a "fish getter". The bad news is that I pulled out a T-wire arm from one of the spinnerbaits and after about 7 hours of throwing another one, I broke off a flex arm. I have given a couple of them to a couple of friends and don't want to get a reputation for making shoddy baits so I will try to find a better way of putting them together. Meantime, I will make some extras and continue to use them even if I have to go through a few of them in a day of fishing. Maybe going to the .020 wire might help with the breaking of the wire but it is most certainly much stiffer than the .016 and may not flex enough. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted October 9, 2014 Report Share Posted October 9, 2014 Did it break on the wire just in front of the crimp sleeve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBlaze Posted October 9, 2014 Report Share Posted October 9, 2014 Mark, that is where it broke. I can see both wires inside the crimp sleeve. Actually, I had hung it on some rocks and when I got it back, the T-wire was bent . A hard bend right at the crimp sleeve. when I tried to straighten it, it broke. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted October 10, 2014 Report Share Posted October 10, 2014 Mark, that is where it broke. I can see both wires inside the crimp sleeve. Actually, I had hung it on some rocks and when I got it back, the T-wire was bent . A hard bend right at the crimp sleeve. when I tried to straighten it, it broke. John Maybe leaving a longer "tag end" on your wire, so the crimp is a little farther from the R bend, might help by leaving more wire to act like a spring. I've found I can open larger tempered hooks so the point is up from the centerline of the eye if I hold them just behind the eye, and just behind the barb, and gently pull them open. It spreads the bend over the entire hook wire, instead of just at the straight to bend transition. Maybe that will help spread the load and keep the wire from breaking when you try to straighten it back out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBlaze Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 Bob, thanks for the link. That would definitely solve the problem of the wire pulling out of the crimp sleeve. I have thought of another way that might work and will give it a try first.. Mark, the bend in the blade arm is spread over the whole length of the wire. I can actually bend the wire into a complete circle smaller than a dime and when released, it will snap back to its original straight form. If I bend it back over itself using a hard edge, it will retain that bend/angle and will break when I try to straighten it. I think what happened to this one when I got it hung in the rocks, was that the blade arm some how got bent back over the hard edge of the crimp sleeve and this left it at a weird angle which broke when I tried to straighten it. Will give the .020 wire a try maybe it will not bend so easily but maybe it will also not vibrate so well either. The lesser of two evils huh. :-). John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
