How to Fish Blade Lures

Blade lures are a versatile lure option that can be fished across a wide range of depths and environments, that appeal to a wide variety of fish species. In this article I want to take a closer look at blade lure design, a few different blades and their individual characteristics, where to fish blades, and effective retrieve techniques to get the bites.

What is a Blade Lure?

A blade lure is a thin piece of metal, hence the blade name, with a lead / alloy base section that causes it to vibrate when pulled through the water. The metal ‘blade’ has holes drilled to attach hooks and a clip as a tow point. Quality blades, like those from TT, have a balanced design that sees them vibrate even on slow retrieves, while still tracking straight and not ‘blowing out’ when ripped or fished fast. TT blades also feature multiple attachment points that allow you to adjust the action and vibration to suit a variety of retrieves and fishing applications.

You will find a variety of weights and sizes, to suit shallow water work, areas with reduced flow / current and fishing over structure, right through to larger, heavier models that allow you to fish deep, especially in flow / current, while also opening surf, rock and offshore fishing to anglers fishing blades.

Although vibration and profile are key fish attracting attributes of blades, there are also a stack of colours available. A great place to start is the three colour theory of light and natural colours for clear water and bright days, darker silhouette colours for low light and dirty water, and a fluoro colour in the kit, just in case the others aren’t getting the bite.

Retrieve Techniques

Blades are extremely versatile in that they can be cast and retrieved, jigged and fished vertically, or even slow trolled for a wide range of species, including bass, flathead, Australian salmon and more. Let’s look at a few popular retrieval techniques and a few tips to get you hooked up.

Slow Roll – The blade is designed to vibrate on the retrieve, so a simple slow roll (slow wind) will see the blade swimming through the water, creating plenty of vibration, action and noise, as the hooks, split rings and clip move against the metal blade. The blade can be slow rolled over structure, such as weed, timber and rubble, or allowed to bump the bottom when fishing sand and mud, with minimal snagging.

Being a sinking lure, by varying the speed of the retrieve, and angle of the rod, anglers can adjust the running depth of the lure to target bait, schooled fish or a general strike zone where the fish may be holding. Over multiple retrieves the speed and rod angle can be adjusted to prospect throughout the water column until you ‘crack a pattern’ of what the fish want on the day.

Pulsing – A pulsing retrieve makes more use of the vibration and flash of the blade. The pulse is simply a movement, or multiple movements, of the rod tip, that cause the blade to speed up and vibrate more aggressively. You can move the rod tip upward, sideways, or downward, depending on where in the water column you’re fishing and the environment being fished, and the pulses can be added while still winding the reel, or as a series of pulses, followed by a rapid winding up of any slack line.

This retrieve can fire up more aggressive species, such as trevally, tailor and salmon, and can also be effective when fish are schooled and competition becomes a factor, such as bass, redfin, bream and more.

Hopping – This is a retrieve that I recommend for anglers that have not fished a blade and have no idea where to start, especially when fishing open water sand, mud and weed flats, with minimal chance of snagging. I simply say, “fish it like a soft plastic”, with the most common retrieve being a cast, allow the lure to sink to the bottom, or into the strike zone, impart two upward hops with the rod tip, and then pause to allow the blade to sink once again.

On the hops the blade will come to life, creating flash and vibration as it rises, then the pause allows it to flutter back down, representing an injured baitfish. Be ready for a strike throughout the retrieve, but most likely as the blade flutters back down, watching and feeling for a ‘tick’ in the line that signals a fish has grabbed the blade. A premature stoppage or speeding up of the line can also signal that a fish has picked up the blade. What are you waiting for… strikes are free!

Burn and Kill – A burn and kill retrieve is based around a few quick winds of the handle (burn), followed by a pause (kill). You can vary the speed and duration of the burn, and duration of the kill, until you find what the fish want on the day. This is a retrieve that I use often when targeting pelagic species, such as trevally around bridges or tailor and other species from the beach, and it seems to fire them up and give them less chance to look at the presentation before eating it.

Vertical Jigging – Blades are a popular option for vertical fishing as they sink, enabling anglers to fish deeper water and flow, but also because they allow you to create plenty of action and vibration once in the strike zone, without pulling them too far out of that zone. Common vertical retrieves include an upward pulse or series of pulses, or a long draw upward. Each of these retrieves is then followed with a pause as the blade sinks on a slack line, while trying to maintain light contact to feel or see any bites. These bites will range from subtle taps to bone jarring attacks, followed by screaming runs.’

Popular vertical jigging applications include schooled bass and bream, annoying species such as barra and threadfin until they eat, and targeting bait, fish and structure that is visible on the sounder.

Mix it up – Don’t forget to mix things up, especially if you’re not getting the bites. For example I have had good success casting blades around the mangrove edges, where I will cast tight to the mangroves and start with a pulsing or burn and kill retrieve, hoping for a trevally, tailor or bream that’s feeding hard against the mangroves, then switch to a slow roll as I bring it over those snaggy mangrove roots, commonly picking up bream. Finally, once clear of the mangrove roots, I will allow the blade to fall to the bottom and commence a hopping retrieve in search of flathead, grunter, bream and other species.

Blade Types

TT blades have long been Australia’s favourite due to their quality, balanced design, including the ability to vibrate at slow retrieves and not ‘blow out’ on a quicker retrieve or pulse, and the fact that they have accounted for hundreds of different fish species in the fresh and salt and won a tonne of bream and bass tournaments. There are three different models in the range, in a selection of weights, sizes and colours, that each have unique characteristics that make them ideal for different applications.

Switchblade+ (37mm / 3.5g, 42mm / 7g, 56mm / 14g)

 One of the original blades on the Australian scene and still a favourite, the TT Switchblade+ has had a revamp, with a fresh range of colours and super-sticky Owner hooks. Over the years this range has been extremely popular with freshwater and estuary guides because of its effectiveness on a wide range of species and simplicity to use, whether slow winding or lifting and winding over weed, hopping the base of rock walls, or vertically jigging schooled bass.

Switchblade+ is fitted with two Owner trebles to turn subtle taps into hook sets and has multiple tow points to adjust the vibration for different retrieves, with many anglers just leaving it on the initial tow point and catching plenty. The baitfish profile, strong vibration, flash and action of the Switchblade+ has made it a great allrounder for Aussie anglers.

SwitchPrawn+ (37mm / 5.5g, 44mm / 8g, 50mm / 13g)

The aim with SwitchPrawn+ was to create a prawn profile with the weight positioned to create a stand-up style action and more intense vibration. This, combined with the extended profile, tassels and super-sticky Owner assist hooks, for additional water movement, action, and attraction, has created a go-to for schooling and active fish.

An incredible option for targeting schooled bream and bass, running and gunning to cover water and attract actively feeding fish, and when you’re looking to keep the blade in the strike zone, while still creating maximum action and vibration.

SwitchMinnow+ (37mm / 6.5g, 43mm / 10g)

Where the Switchblade+ is the great allrounder and the SwitchPrawn+ is the hyperactive cousin, the SwitchMinnow+ is that chilled cousin that just does things a little differently. This minnow-shaped profile features a unique, colour-matched silicone tail, tassels and super-sticky Owner assist hooks, that create more action and attraction, vibrating on the retrieve and ‘swimming’ on the fall. It’s a more subtle action throughout the retrieve, while still maintaining that vibration, action and noise that sets it apart from other lure types.

The action of SwitchMinnow+ has made it a favourite for switching on the tough bite and finicky feeders. It’s so much more than just a metal vibration blade and the latest design in the TT blade stable, with a lot of R&D going into maximizing the benefits of the blades weight and vibration, while offering something totally different to anglers and the fish that they’re targeting. Favourite applications around the country have included vertically fishing laydowns and snag piles for golden perch and hopping edges for a mixed bag of species.

In Action - Where to Fish / Target Species

I thought I would offer three examples of where to fish blades and the key species to target in the salt and three in the fresh. This is just scratching the surface, as I have caught fish on blades fishing the surf, rocks, freshwater, inshore and offshore with the larger Switchblade HD, however it’s a starting point that may be relevant to the fishing that you do and the species that you target.

Saltwater

Broken Weed Beds - One of my favourite ways to fish blades is a mixed retrieve over broken weed beds. They cast long, allowing you to cover plenty of water, they draw the fish out of the weed, fished with the rod tip up and the retrieve running over the top of the weed, with the bonus that you can pause and drop them into the sand patches to hop them for flathead and other species.

Deeper Edges – I love shallow water fishing and fishing shallow edges with soft plastics, but when the depth drops beyond four metres and there’s a fair bit of flow, a blade is a great option. I’ll still fish plastics, but a blade allows you to get down there quick and create plenty of ruckus, while keeping the blade in the strike zone for flathead, snapper, mulloway, bream and more. I generally fish a hopping retrieve but will mix it up if the bites aren’t happening and I’m confident the fish are home.

Deeper Structure – This scenario is similar to deeper edges with flow as blades make it simple to get down and target fish holding around structure, even in flow. This structure can also be isolated patches, such as a wreck, bommie, ledge or rubble, and the blade allows for accurate casting and targeting of structure at depth. I will either hop the blade back with the flow, or fish vertically above the structure, if the flow is not too strong, to keep the lure directly below the boat.

Freshwater

Schooled Fish – I have had some epic sessions targeting schooled bass with blades. If the school is active the blade gets down quickly and doesn’t take long to get their attention. If they switch off with one retrieve, try mixing it up, or change blade size, type or colour. If the school is shut down try small lifts and pulses, with long pauses. Once one fish eats, more can follow… relying on competition and patience to get the first bite. Redfin also love blades, especially when they are schooled and competitive.

Vertical Structure – Blades are dynamite for fishing vertically, straight up and down beside rock ledges, standing timber and bridges. This has made the SwitchMinnow+ an absolute go-to for Lubin Pfeiffer, The Full Scale – Fishing Adventures, when targeting golden perch around laydown timber. The vibration draws them out of the snags and the Owner assist hooks find their mark on even subtle bites, accounting for numbers of fish and Lubin’s largest river fish to date. Lubin fishes the SwitchMinnow+ vertically, in the strike zone, with short, sharp lifts of the rod tip.

Deeper Edges – Blades are excellent for covering water and hopping the deeper edges for a variety of species in the fresh. You can slow wind, pulse, or burn and kill them, but it’s a good old hopping retrieve that often gets the bites, calling fish in from a large area with the vibration, flash and noise.

Wrap Up

Hopefully this article has helped you gain a greater understanding of bladed lure design and the versatility of this lure type in terms of fishing applications, target species, and environments where it can be fished. I always scent up my blades with Pro-Cure Super Gel, as it stays on better than water-based scents, and the slower that I am fishing, the more I scent up.

The variety of blade sizes, weights, colours and types means that there is almost always a blade to suit the scenario. Remember to mix up your retrieves, think about the key areas that fish will be holding in based around structure, bait and water movement, and if all else fails, “fish it like a plastic”, especially in deeper water and high flow applications, where the weight and profile help the blade to get down and stay down in the strike zone. Fish on!

See you on the water…
Justin Willmer