Fishing lures with spinners make up a huge percentage of all artificial baits. The blades give the lure life by vibrating, thumping and flashing. There are four basic blade shapes:
The Colorado is a heavy cup blade. This causes a lot of water resistance which creates the most lift and vibration. This is the classic thumping blade. It’s great for slow retrieves, stop-and-go retrieves, and helicoptering down a drop-off. It’s a terrific in cold water.
The Indiana is a narrower and longer blade than the Colorado. And it’s a bit pear-shaped, but wider than the Willowleaf. It’s good in current and anywhere a slow to medium retrieve is needed.
The Hatchet is especially good for really slow retrieves or very slow trolling. And when it’s attached to a worm harness, it’s a killer for post-spawn walleye.
The Willowleaf is a long and narrow blade that flashes and spins in a tight arc causing minimal vibration and lift which allows for deeper fishing. It’s very good along weed lines as it tangles far less than other styles. It’s a smallmouth killer and, of the group, it most resembles baitfish.
The great majority of spinner style baits come with some combination of these four types. There are, however, numerous other variations on these three themes that include differences in finish, colour, size and design including “hammered”, “fluted”, “deep cupped”, “painted” and “scaled” to name a few.
