spinnerbait blade basics

[basssj]

I am trying to get a good understanding of basic spinner bait blade configurations for bass. I understand that a double willow leaf set up is good for clear water when a lot of flash is needed. I understand that a single colorado blade will give off maximum vibration in stained water, at night, or helicoptered to the bottom off ledges.

What are the purposes of a colorado/willow configuration and a double colorado configuration?

Also, on a tandem set up, how important is the size of the leading blade? It seems that if it were too large, it would really kill the action of the main blade, if it were too small then the effect of having the extra blade would be lost.

One final question. On a tandem set up, how important is the blade spacing?

I wish I could have spent a day with the late Carl Maxfield. I understand that he forgot more about spinnerbait design than most fishermen know.

Thanks for the input.

[sagacious]

This Bassdozer article covers much more than the basics. http://www.bassdozer.com/articles/bd_spinnerbait.shtml

The best way to learn, however, is to test different blade configurations yourself. Rig a spinnerbait with a quick-change front clevis, and a small bb snap-swivel for the back blade, and head to the lake with a sack full of blades. Mix 'em up-- virtually guaranteed you'll learn something new. I've found some blade size/type configurations that had quite surprising performance, and catch fish very well-- but you'll never see those blade combos on the store shelves.

Good luck!

[smalljaw]

The colorado/willow combo is like trying to get the best of both worlds. It serves 2 purposes, the first one is that it'll give a little more vibration to the bait and the second is it'll let you fish it slightly shallower at a slower speed because the small colorado will help give it some lift. A double colorado is a shallow vibration bait. you see this mostly on heavy baits so you can retrieve it faster without it lifting out of the water. The size of the blade on the wire shaft depends on what you want the bait to do, like fishing shallow but at a slow speed then you want to put a colorado blade on front but if you still havt fish it too fast to keep the bait where you want it then you need to go a little larger, if you want some vibration but don't want the bait to lift too high a smaller blade, etc. Blade spacing works almost the same way, if you use a larger front blade, then you will want to have more space between blades because the lager blade will displace more water which can have an adverse affect on the main blade. Use your imagination and try out some different combos, you'll see what works and what doesn't plus you may find something that the fish find unable to resist. Good luck.

[bassin79]

As you are learning your blade combos, go one more step. Try making your own skirts. I am currently doing this and i have found color combos that i can follow someone (non-boater) tossing white and i toss my own sunfish color and can catch fish right behind them. Just write the colors down on paper and you can refer back to them. Remember no one else will have your color combo's. Have fun....