French vs Willow Blade issues

[northstar906]

I’ve been making my own spinners for a little over a year and a half now and have a very solid French blade spinner in 2 sizes and a couple different in-line patterns in various sizes that work well also. It’s winter up here (Michigan) which is typically my main building season and I thought I’d make a variant of my French spinners with willow blades so I put together a parts order figuring the transition would be pretty painless and it’s not the case. My willow blades really enjoy sticking to the spinner bodies. First thought is that my size 2 clevis might be too big for the willows. Second is that maybe my blades are undersized.  My testing spot is the equivalent to an indoor pool right now as everything is froze over so flow is pretty low but even on a fast retrieve the larger spinner is mediocre. Smaller is still a no go. Before I go putting in another order with 10$ shipping I thought I’d try to get a little input.. blade sizes are 1 and 2.

[Liv4Nov]

Have you tried the #2 blade on the smaller spinner?  Also try adding another bead to the small spinner with the larger blade.

[smalljaw]

The blades are too small for the body. The proper size willow on an in-line spinner will have the tip of the blade extend to the eye of the treble hook.  Willows, even in the right size, are notorious for being hard to start and often need to be jerked hard after they hit the water in order for them to begin to spin. I use to fish Rooster Tail Lightning spinners which had willow blades and every one you had to give that initial jerk to get the blade going.  So, judging from your pictures and weights I'd say the 1/8oz needs a #3 or even 3.5 and the 1/12oz needs a size #2 minimum.   Just so you know, I contacted Warden lures, makers of the Rooster tail, way back in the early 90s when I was using that Lightning spinner and they told me that even when I get the blade spinning that I would have to reel a bit faster than what I did when using the spinners with their traditional swing blade.  After I was told that I didn't understand why they would use the willow if it didn't spin as easy as the other style blades but after using it for a bit I discovered the reason it was used. When the fish were spooky in clear water the faster retrieve was needed to generate a strike but the other blade style would cause the lure to lift too high but the willow stayed deeper, it became a staple for me.  I still make in-lines but not a lot and they are mostly 1/4oz with #3 French blades for spooky clear water river smallmouth with a few small 1/10oz trout spinners with #2 sonic blades.