Looking for experianced info from a die-hard blade baits man...or fisherperson.
1. What is the best way to attach them to your line? lb. test to use
2. Proper and or best techniques , style of presentation.
3. How to tip the bait..and preferred bait to run on one.
4. By your own experiance: which is the best on the market after you have tried them all....which would you swear by...go to, and choose over all others and why.
5. your overall, time tested best colors to go with.
6. is there a cadence and or rythm that you find particularly effective using them in your jigging technique?....
I have tried the archives, and after searching still need these questions answered.

Thanks in advance.

Crow

Silver Buddy has produced the best for me. 3/4 ounce being my favorite in most cold water conditions. 1/2 ounce work well in warmer conditions. My favorite presentation is to vertical jig them. Allow bait to fall to bottom and rip 6-12" up and allow bait to fall back to bottom and repeat. Don't allow slack in the line as Walleye tend to hit it on the fall and this can prevent a good hook set. Another favorite presentation is to drift slow and lift and drop or rip the bait from the bottom. In the late fall or through the ice I tend to wiggle them just off the bottom. One problem with this bait is you loose a lot if you fish near structure or the bottom. Also pitching in the weed pockets on a lake that has weeds can be deadly. Silver Buddy comes with a snap to hook to the bait. I tie palomar knot to the snap with 6 lb p-line xxx xtra stong line on a IM6 rod. For me this works better than say IM7 or IM8 with the low stretch lines. There are many good blade bait manufacturers. Try them all and find the ones and presentations that work best for you. Good fishing. Oh the only time I bait them is when fishing through the ice .All I use is the head of a minnow.

Head of minoow on the bottom/front hook usually. Many good ones out there. All have their advantages in certain conditions. Sometimes the fish want a stronger/tighter vibration, sometimes they don't. Some vibrate better at slow lifts than others. Some really only vibrate well at harder/faster lifts.

Daren

Is that factory snap that comes with the silver buddies mandatory?

Thanks Jiggin 5,
good answer and covered almost all I was asking for.I've read here about Silver Buddies, Zips, Cicadas, Vib-e's and Sonars, with all having there own loyal following. Last spring the rage was with Vib-e's on Erie,with alot of guys swearing they outfished everything else on the water.
Just another thing , could you get back on colors..and is there a weight to depth ratio thats a rule with them , as my primary use will be in Rivers [30ft max] and shallow lakes under 30 ft.
Your overall best type of spot where you break one out, stuation where its the go-to bait for presentation over a jig or anything else for that matter.
Is that snap attachment a cross lock or different type of connecter.
Much appreciated....thanks!

Crow

you ask some very good questions. out here in the columbia river country I would say 80% of the river tournaments are won using blades, and are always my go to bait IF I know the fish are there. I catch lots of 10 & 11lb fish on spinners but most of my teeners have come on blades.
I make my own blades using a do-it mold which is no longer available because it is the heddon sonar blade, my second favorite is the blitz blade bait. All of these in 1/2 only and all with #4 round bend trebles (I PREFER RED HOOKS) I do not use snap rings to attach them but cut and bend out the eye then install and rebend the eye, this keeps the bait from fowling on your line as easy in the current.
As to color my is silver or gold plated, silver on bright days and clear water also when the shad smolts are running, gold on cloady days or murky water. My biggest fish was on a blitz blade in white with glow tape. I also use about 30 different tape colors on my baits but I have awesome sponors that really believes in blade baits and orders any color or plating combo I want.
When using a heddon type and jigging vert. I always use the middle hole and a 20lb cross snap, it is harder to snap when you are cold but after lots of testing we find them to be the best.
If it isn't super snaggy I like to go just alittle faster then the current and sorta snap jig them to cover alittle more ground, I also try several jigging motions and let the fish tell me what is best that day, their is the hard fast jurk (for very active fish) the twitch (my favorite) where you move the rod tip about 2" and fell the bait just sorta swing its tail about three times (most people don't use this as it can eat up baits but fish love it), cast and retreive (more for swallow water) and you can troll them (catch lots of steelhead this way).
My favorite rod is a IM6 (same as jigging 5)I like stiffer rods in say 10-17 MH because it requires less work on my part to use sence it start's to pick the bait off the bottom quicker, which helps save you elbow.
I use 20lb power pro line so I can feel everything on the bottom, I do however use about a 20" leader of 20lb florocarbon connected with a barrel swivel, this helps two ways, one it helps in shock absortion from the no stretch line when a big fish is trowing it head around and second it help keep line fowling to a minimum so you have your line in the water no.
If you have more question you can e-mail me as I don't get to this site as often as I would like.
Good luck !!!!

No,but the blade is hard on the line if you tie directly to it. The snaps that come with them I use on all the blade baits.

Blade baits are my go to lure. Many times they are the first bait to hit the water. As far as size to depth ratio,I tend to let he fish tell me what they prefer. I only use the silvers as they work the best for me in all conditions. Reflective tape works well if you want to add color. Red works best for me. I forgot to tell you to put a crane or barrel swivel in the line 12-18" above the blade to prevent line twists. They are one of the best fish catching lures on the market today. What Eyechsr was saying about the hooks is correct the split hooks that come with the blades tend to fowl or catch on the line. Not as bad with Silver Buddy as some of the others. Hope this helps. Good fishing.

Bladebait....
Please get in touch with me....you shot me a message..I just cant figure it ut!!

How about any snap? Why do they include their own specific snap with each bait?

You can use any snap you like. The snaps that come with the Silver Buddy are a fast lock or duo lock cross type snap and I prefer them. I use size 0-2 depending on the size of blade bait. I also buy them in bulk. Use what works best for you. Good fishing.

Crow,I think you recieved some good information.I like it when experience talks!I wouldn't mind a trip with these guys. Great post!

Thanks Texeye. It's a bit of a drive from Texas to Pennsylvania but should you ever make the trip look me up I would be glad to take you.

There are several good bladers on the Columbia on here. They are very modest but most will share info and if you post someting about wanting to swap trips or just meet them, they will meet you at a launch or sportsman show. I know they have taught me alot. Very laid back about everything but very percise about their gear, (yes down to the snap. I laughed first time eyechsr said something about which snap to use. Then when he described how they determined it I stopped laughing. Needless to say when around him and the other bladers I pay close attention and imitate down to the size of snap and brand of beadchains.

Bead chains???? Now you got me curious. What is the bead chain for?

Between braided and mono when using small rippletails (Luhr Jenson blade bait) to keep twist out of the line. It swims in small circles as you work it. I do not know if it is used with the bigger ones but I would just in case.

I got my nickels worth on this thread, thats for sure...Plenty of great info to take in.
Any of you men know where to find blitz blades....cant seem to find them anywhere....
I like the shape and the colors that I saw in an old issue of Walleye insider, but there was no reference to find them there.
thanks for the e-mail and the information guys....its gonna get a good work out here by me, rest assured!!


Crow

Thanks.....

Brad,
the bead chain they are referring to is just that...a bead chain , just like the one you have that attaches your keys to your key ring.....excepting that is has a greater tensile strentgh..in that, the chain has a lb. test rating....ussually anywhere from 3 to 5 beads in the link...you can find them at Netcrafters....and I believe Cabelas' carries them also.....
We here in the NE,.... Catskills and the Lake Ontario region.use the bead chain for attaching spoons to deep water systems.....I use them a lot fishing the NYC reservoir System....as a component to the old Seth Green rig....a multi- level single pole system .
feel free to ask anything else I might be able to help you with....

Crow

Well guy's I finally found some info for you on Blitz blade baits.
The comany name is Blitz Lures Inc. the address is 325 E. Stahl Road,
Fremont, Oh.,43420 and their phone # is 419-355-1115.
They call it the Blitz Blade, I'm not sure what they are made of but it is not lead so the 1/2 oz models have a larger profile, the local tackle outlet only sells 4 colors and a six pack of plain bodies. I caught my biggest walleye on the white with glow tape and charteues stripe, I have also had good luck using white/glow/orange white with green tape.
Hope this helps.

I do a fair amount of blading and I find that the sonar or silver buddy style works best for me. The blades I pour are a copy of the sonar which eyechsr mentioned-Hi Cal.
I use spinning or casting outfits for blading. The casting outfits are 6' MH with a reel that has a flippin switch. I use the casting rig in current when I am primarily fishing vertical. I use a 6' or 6'2" MH or M spinning rod when I fish still water and will be casting and retrieving the blade. Which brings up an idea I hadn't heard too much. In still water or low current you can really improve your coverage by casting and snapping the blade back to the boat. I always use 14 lb fireline mainline tied to a small barrel swivel. I then tie on 2-4 feet of 12lb mono leader which ends with a 5/8 inch snap. If you use a smaller snap the hooks will catch the line at some point on about every cast.
The retrieve is the most important aspect of blading. Lots of guys talk about snapping the blade up different speeds and distance but the most important part of the presentation is the blade falling back to the bottom. Here the key is letting the blade fall on a slack line so the blade can trigger a bite. The other key is the pause,in other words, when the blade falls to the bottom it needs to stay there for a moment so the walleye can slurp it off the bottom. Less of a pause in current because the blade will start to drag and snag. Walleye don't often get the blade on the fall because it's too erratic but they follow it down and grab off the bottom. You don't feel them hit the blade very often you simply let the blade fall to the bottom and the next yank it's fish-on.
As far as a cadence, I like to give the blade a good rip, maybe 12-18" because each lift might be the next hook set. If I am marking fish but not catching them then I vary my intensity, particularly toning it down or jiggling it more before the fall.
Color is very subjective. I use a lot of the same stickers that eyechsr referred to. I like yellow, red, and green stickers on my blades and the nice thing about stickers is you can put a different color on each side an experiment with two colors at a time. I also go with the plain silver ( no sticker ) 50% of the time, or a sticker on one side and no sticker on the other.
Hope this helps. I find blading to be a super affective and fairly versatile method for walleye fishing. bb

Thanks here again!!
You guys have been incredible in your discriptions with techniques...I'm camping out by the mail box waiting for my first order of blades to get here!
Cal, thanks for the mail.....putting them together for ya as we speak...
share a couple here with bladebait too...I'll make sure there are enought to go around.

Crow

PS...you guys like crystal flash in them too? and you forgot the eye colors.....!