Spring River Walleyes On Blade Baits

What’s so great about blade baits?

First, they’re a good way to draw reaction strikes from walleyes in super cold water, from just above freezing to about 60 degrees. And while there’s nothing wrong with any of the other standard spring walleye fishing techniques, waiting for a tap-tap or slight pull is nothing compared to pulling a blade bait off bottom to a shoulder of writhing, solid weight.

And that’s the thing, most walleyes hit blade baits on the fall—typically when the bait is on the bottom—slurping up metal that can weight up to a 1/2-ounce. Yep, pretty amazing. They might not see the bait, but they sure as heck feel that vibration—honing into the meal with their lateral line—attacking with zeal when other less noisy techniques aren’t producing much.

Blade Baits: Weight, Color, Type

No matter what brand blade baits you fish—you should carry a number of different sizes, weights, and colors—everything from 1/8- to 1/2-ounce, although 1/4-ounce is an all-around MVP in most situations.

Same goes for colors, which can vary based on water clarity. Firetiger, orange, green hues, chartreuse, gold, and silver are all standbys, purple can really produce, too, and wonderbread is popular with a lot of anglers, too. And like the Great Lakes crankbait craze, serious river walleye anglers are also sending off for custom color blade bait paint jobs.

So where do you start? Gold, chartreuse, silver, and firetiger patterns are must-haves, but it also seems like certain rivers have their color mainstays—and even changing colors throughout the day on the same water body can turn slow bites into frenzies. Think that walleyes can’t see what’s attracting them, too, even in turbid river run-off? Catch rates prove otherwise.

What type of bladebait is best?

Well, the original bladebait shape is based on the Heddon Sonar, with companies like B FISH N Tackle kicking out numerous sizes and color combinations. The Silver Buddy is another timeless producer, as is the Steel Shad.

But there are a host of newer bladebaits on the market now, too, like the ACME V-Shad, redesigned Berkley Thin Fisher (formerly Johnson Thin Fisher), and the Walleye Nations Rip-N-Rattle, which has the addition of a built-in rattle.

Some anglers have looked to JDM bass blade baits, too—most shad-shaped baits—which can produce as well, such as blades from Megabass and Damiki, more intended for cold-water smallmouth bass fishing.

Point is, you should carry a good selection and match the specific blade bait to the depth, current rate, and type of vibration you want. You’ll stumble into producers and soon you’ll have your favorites.

The Right Stuff

To fish a blade bait correctly, you need the right rod, reel, and line combination. As far as a good bladebait set-up, 10- to 15-pound braid tied to 10- to 15-pound fluoro leader with a tiny barrel swivel and a 6’10” to 7’2” medium-light or medium power rod with fast or extra-fast action is recommended.

For me, standout rods include the 6’ 10” JT Customs MAG Medium Light and Two Brothers Innovations 6’9” Medium Fast Genesis for bladebaits up to about ¼-ounce; the 6’8” medium-power, extra-fast St. Croix Rod Legend Tournament Walleye Snap Jig Rod for a 1/4- and 3/8-ounce baits (and dual purpose for hair jigs).

As far as reels, seems like spinning reels with smaller spools actually do the angler a favor by limiting the line-per-turn of each handle crank, making sure the wrist-hops off the bottom don’t climb too high and out of the bottom-oriented strike zone window. A Daiwa Tatula 2000 or similar-sized Shimano Vanford are both great reels for the technique.

How To Fish A Blade Bait

Although you can catch walleyes on blades in warm water, the ideal water temp is anything from just above freezing to about 60 degrees; basically, what river water is at right now.

While you can fish blades deep in winter—as in targeting scour holes, often vertical jigging, in spring fish you’ll want to pitch the baits, targeting current seams, pools, back eddies, and other areas in a variety of depths—even up to 20 feet of water earlier in the season. But know that when walleyes are in a foot to 3 feet of water, blades work great, too, especially lighter ones—1/8, 3/16, and 1/4 ounces.

The tendency is to fish blades too fast and with hops that are too far off bottom. Especially in colder water, walleyes won’t chase quickly. In fact, with blades they typically grab the bait on the fall or pin it to the bottom and inhale it—seriously, a 1/4- 1/2-ounce piece of metal.

The biggest thing with bladebaits is using your wrist and not over-working the bait. Pitch it out, let it hit bottom on a tight line, and snap the rod top up a couple inches to a foot with wrist motion so you can feel its vibration—rinse and repeat—again, always on a tight line to prevent the bait from fouling. If you run into problems with the baits fouling, which can happen with circulating river currents or letting out too much slack line. Make sure your leader is attached to clip (sometimes smaller is better) and you’re using a stiffer 10- to 20-pound fluorocarbon leader terminated to a tiny barrel swivel and attached to your main line braid (10- to 15-pound test).

Bait fouling is just one of those things you have to work at to prevent. Follow the bait on a tight line until it hits bottom and avoid areas where swirling currents might not be doing you a favor. Most fish will orient on the edges of these currents anyway.

There you have it—an introduction to blade bait walleye fishing for rivers across the Walleye Belt during early season—say, water temps around 60 degrees—when other techniques take over the heavy metal frenzy that spring presents on the Mississippi, Rainy, Missouri, Fox/Wolf, Illinois, and lots of other rivers across the country! Now get out there and have fun!

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