“Pimp” My Bait

Most anglers like to customize their baits. Shave off a little here, add some holographic tape, modify the action, add some weight to a floating lure, touch up the paint… anything that might create a new look and feel in the water, incite fish to attack, and give the angler an edge.

Secret Weapon Lures’ Quick-clip Blade Attachments provide an easy way to add vibration, flash, and motion to many baits. And you can do it in seconds, without tools.

Lipless crankbaits draw fish over large areas by their rattle, vibration, and the flash of their flat-sided bodies. In stained or dingy water, increase the stobe-like flash and introduce a new sonic pattern by clipping a small willowleaf Secret Weapon Blade Attachment to the split ring of the front treble hook.

Just observing it, one might suspect that the hook would tangle with the blade assembly. In action, that rarely happens. The spinning blade’s broad surface creates lift so that it spins right beneath the crankbait’s belly while the treble hook dangles below it. And because it is free-floating, on a strike the blade just folds out of the way without obstructing the hook.

Tail-spinner crankbaits are popular in some parts of the country, luring fish with their unique vibration and flash. Almost any crankbait can be converted into a tail-spinner with Quick-clip Blade Attachments.

Remove the rear treble hook and split ring from the bait. Clip the Blade Attachment onto the rear wire loop, and you’re done. Adding drag to the rear of the bait changes its action. Usually it dampens the lure’s side-to-side wobble, and you will feel less vibration up the line and through the rod to your hand. However, the spinning blade and modified action of the lure creates a new and different sonic signature in the fish’s environment. Fish become accustomed to the signature of lures to which they’re exposed repeatedly. But introduce a different sonic signature, and fish are hard-wired to investigate and attack or devour bite-size critters within their range. By varying the size and shape of Blade Attachment, you constantly change the vibration pattern, which results in more strikes.

Miss that rear treble hook? The front treble hooks is sufficient in most cases, but if braggin’ rights are on the line and you want the added insurance, reattaching it is no problem! Since every SWL Blade Attachment has a loop at the back end, you can just reattach the treble hook behind the spin (as shown above) using the same split ring that you earlier removed from the lure.

Keep this feature in mind for times when fish are striking your spinnerbait blades but not getting the main hook. Also, try clipping a blade attachment (with the Quick-clip closed and encased in a silicone tube) to your jig, spinnerbait, or buzzbait hook to make a superb tail-spinner.

Thanks to SWL Prostaff member Justin Hires of Lexington, KY for coming up with the belly-spin modification. The first time he demonstrated this to us along a highly-pressured rip-rap bank on Lake Barkley’s Eddy Creek, a three-pound bass annihilated the lure during his demonstration. Pretty convincing proof that you can teach a dog new tricks and update an old lure.

Bob Rickard ———————–<=-    0′)))><