Copper and gold blades

[Cooter]

Just was wondering when you all throw bucktails with either copper or gold blades - under what conditions? Also, your favorite tail colors with each?

I have some #10s in both gold and copper and am thinking purple with the gold and red with the copper - would be a couple color combos not currently in the box. For suggestions, I primarily fish the stained water of the Chippewa river.

Also, anyone know where to get some #9 blades? Looking for a compromise between standard #8s and the big 10s - quite the gap in between the two IMO. Thanks, later.

[50inchpig]

Thorne bros has #9s, not in the catalog but I'm sure they'll you send some if you call.

Red/Copper and Purple/Copper are two of my favorite color combos, in the end it matters very little as long as it looks cool enough for you to keep throwing.

If it did matter, I'd say your gold blades will compliment your brighter colors better and the copper will compliment the darker colors better.

Conditions are not a factor in my color selection, I grab whatever looks cool that day whether it's cloudy or sunny and I'll throw most colors at night too.

[10,000 Casts]

I more go by the water color of the lake as a rule, clear, dark, stained, algae bloom ect, darker water = gold/copper and clear water = silver but it's not always the case. Gold with a black bucktail can be good anytime, I have heard that gold with a red bucktail can be deadly on Sabaskong and nickel and black is deadly at the Angle. I fish 2 lakes where it is hard to beat gold with purple skirt anytime. Gold and yellow can be good and I have caught fish on throw backs with it. I call it the fireball effect. on overcast days it's not a bad idea to be throwing dark baits.

When I figure out what colors work best and when and where, I will quit Muskie fishing because it will be too easy and it won't drive me nuts anymore.

[MUSKY18]

I can tell you this much.......I know of a certain resort owner up on LOTW that had a copper over Red Gerry's girl on his rod all summer and never took it off. Put a ton of fish in the boat with it.

As a rule, I used to throw only copper/gold blades on darker/stained water, and kept the nickel blades for clear water. However, this has changed over the past two seasons and will throw any color blade no matter what the water is like. As 10,000 said, Puple and Gold is a great color ANYWHERE!!!!

[b1gf1sh1]

on the mississippi, you know the water there is like 1 foot visibility. gold or polished brass produces for me. thats any lure not just bucks. that's not to say copper or nickle have not worked, they have. just brass and gold work better for me so i toss them more, get more fish, instill confidence and so on.

now on the st. croix it's a mix of water clarity because of the zebra mussles, coupled with the proximity to islands, what the islands are made of and how fast the current is bringing junk down from the islands, what the shoreline is made of and a host of other things contribute. on the croix i've found just closeing my eyes and grabbing sometimes works best at the start of the year. then i just follow the pattern for that year. i almost never find the best color last year working the best the next. but i've found when the water in the main river is slow and relatively clear, with that nice iron tint (sadly almost never), copper can be the deadliest to pike and muskie above the swing bridge in hudson to the boom site. just copper though. mixed seems to drop interest. silver or nickle when it's raining, retrieved near the surface above the swing bridge to the boom site. gold and brass/silver or nickle below the swing bridge rain or shine. and silver or nickle getting past afton to prescott. after that it's the mississippi again. above the boom site on the croix is always a shot in the dark. speaking of dark... i fish so little at night i never found any differences in production on blade baits. maybe when i retire and don't need to get up for work .

on a side note.... cooter. thorne has copper #9s in small quantity's. they are lakeland blades. .025 ( my reading is .028 but the lakeland site says .025) copper lacquered brass. .040 blades are more expensive but i have no idea where to get a #9 copper .040 colorado.

[Rmac]

Hey 50inch, I grabbed some of those #9's at Thorne Bro's and I noticed that they are Indiana rather than colorado. They seem to be cupped more than the blades on the dcg jr's. I am worried that they won't spin as well. Has anybody noticed a problem with this? and is there anywhere that has the #9's that are used on the dcg jr's?

[50inchpig]

They'll probably spin just as well. Sorry, didn't realize they were indianas, those are the only ones I've vaccum behind the blades to move the skirt material you'll beseen there. I think as long as you get them spinning and have the in good shape.

I gotta start making some baits before it gets too late again this winter.

Did you by chance check out the #9 DCGs and compare the blade shapes when you were there? I could swear it's the same blade that mayhem uses.

[Rmac]

The blades are a little bit different. I might be nit-picking a little but the ones I got from Thorne look to be cupped a little more and are a little longer and narrower. It seems that when you get into the larger colorado blades like the 10's they start to resemble the indiana's a little more. If you look at the #8's they are more circular.

I am sure the 9's will work fine, I just hate having blades that don't spin just right. I have had #10's that have cupped before and don't spin as well. I'll test out my new 9's and let you know, I am gonna find some open water, I see some of my new baits in the water!

[50inchpig]

Yeah, They're worthless if they don't spin right, they definitely look different from the 8s and 10s but I figured the design was just made that way for reasons beyond my comprehension. I'm curious enough now to get to work on it and see how they look.

For the record the 8s are the ones that don't seem to want to spin right for me yet, it's befuddling.

[Rmac]

I'm with you on the #8's, I was thinking of playing around with the weight on some double eights to see if something lighter might help. Another observation that I have made with all sizes is that the painted ones seem to be more of a problem.

I did notice that Stamina tackle has #9 colorado's listed on there site. That is the only place I have seen that, otherwise they are always listed as being Indiana.

[Cooter]

Think I'll need to stop at thornebros next time I'm in the cities.

I saw a listing for a #9 Indiana on Stamina, but not in Colorado.

Thanks for the suggestions on blades/skirt colors. I have a couple bucktails with yellow skirts and would like some more but I can't find yellow flashabou or silicone. I'll probably have to have someone tie up some with marabou.

I see blade thickness got mentioned and for the bigger blades I think the .025 would be preferred to the .040 - I have both and will experiment. I've used a single .040 on bucktails and it seems they often need a little extra pull to get them spinning - also feels they have less thump/vibration than a lighter blade.

[Cooter]

Musky18 - out of curiousity would you be talking about Frank up on LOTW?

[MUSKY18]

Musky18 - out of curiousity would you be talking about Frank up on LOTW?

Frank is my hero!!! Nuff said!!

[Cooter]

I got some of the #9's from Thornes. Think they'll fit the bill between the #8s and #10s nicely. Somehow, I also ended up with a LOWRider in the package as well....and a red october tube....my name is Scott and I have a musky problem.

[50inchpig]

whoever threw that LOWRider in your sack is a smart guy....

i also picked up some 9s the other day and hopefully will get them on some wire sometime soon, something different at least

[Cooter]

I wanted either a regular or mini super humper also but somehow resisted temptation.

[50inchpig]

go with the super imo - lowrider and superhumper are the only two topwaters i throw, too bad they are so expensive!

[b1gf1sh1]

Quote:

my name is Scott and I have a musky problem.

HI SCOTT, CLAP CLAP CLAP!!! good luck with the 9's.

[Cooter]

I'm getting a bit off topic but....I had a LOWrider a couple years ago - was black with flame blades. When it ran right it was sweet, but I had problems with the rear section spinning. I asked and posted around and tried tuning this way and that and finally sold it. Hopefully I'll have better luck with this one - just wish they still offered it in that black/flame pattern.

[Cooter]

Just a quick recap - the copper/red and gold/purple both look sweet in the water! Made 3 with the #9s and two ran great and the third not so well - pretty sure I had too much weight up front. Tore that one apart and rebuilt it, will test soon. Also did a gold/yellow. Pics - which didn't turn out that great - are under the rod/lure building forum if interested.

Next project is to build with the pair of flame colored #13s I got - think black skirt is the no brainer to match the blades...

[Tim_Anderson]

I like gold blades in stained water. Gold/Gold. Gold/Purple. Gold/Orange/Black. These colors in a Llungen DC-9 were some of our very hottest baits last year. They worked terrific in many of the stained lakes of Northern Minnesota.