Heavy metal rocks for music fans and bass anglers alike. Hard rock and blade baits both produce a great time!

The slab spoon is probably the biggest hit among heavy metal bass fishing fans, but other styles of metal baits also produce sweet music to bass. Other metal baits found in the tackle boxes of the touring pros include the Silver Buddy, Heddon Sonar, Cotton Cordell Gay Blade, Strike Pro Astro Glide and various tailspinners such as the brand new Death Stalker From Catch Co.

A 1/2- to 3/4-ounce tailspinner is an effective fall and early winter lure from the blade baits family to use starting in October and on through December when reservoir bass move to the steep cuts in the back ends of creeks. Fan-casting the tailspinner around the balls of shad will usually trigger strikes.

The tailspinner is a great lure for working through baitfish balls because you can feel the blade turn. The big key when fishing that bait is you can actually feel it hit those schools of shad and the lure kind of bounces around in the baitfish school. With that tail spinning you can keep kind of a tight line on it and feel the lure as it is working. Then if that tail stops or you don’t feel it vibrating anymore, you need to set the hook because nine out of 10 times the bite is going to come when that bait is falling.

Once blade baits fall through the shad, lift the tailspinner back up to the shad and let it fall again to mimic an injured baitfish that has been hammered by bass slamming through the baitfish pods. Use a medium-heavy rod at a noon to 1 o’clock position and let the lure fall on a semi-taut line so it drops straight down rather than pendulums.

Select a 1/2-ounce tailspinner when the baitfish are suspended 10 to 20 feet deep in the early fall, but switch to a 3/4-ounce model when the water gets colder and the shad drop deeper.

A Heddon Sonar style bait produces later in the winter for fishing the roll-offs on the ends of flats or bluffs where bass are schooled up tight. If you are seeing bass on your graph, you can drop the blade bait down and pump it like a jigging spoon or you can cast it and let it fall on slack line so it will turn on its side and flutter just like a flutter spoon.

Winter is also the prime time to throw a Silver Buddy metal bait. The bait really seems to excel when a lake is experiencing a shad die-off in the wintertime.

Blade baits are more effective than a suspending stickbait during this time because it can probe deeper and catch fish in the 30- to 40-foot range. Steep drop-offs along main and secondary points or creek channels in the major coves are the prime spots to introduce the metal bait to bass.

The best sizes to use for this metal bait are 1/2-ounce for depths under 20 feet and 3/4-ounce for probing deeper than 20 feet. After making a long cast, allow the bait to sink to the bottom on a slack line before starting your retrieve. You want to lift that bait just enough to where you actually feel it vibrate. Once you feel it vibrate then kind of let the lure pull back down on a more tight line to where it will pendulum out a little bit. You don’t want it to go straight up and down during your retrieve.

Make sure you work the lure all the way back to the boat because bass will frequently hit the lure right under the boat. Match the lure with a medium-heavy rod and baitcast reel filled with 15-pound fluorocarbon line.

The Astro Glide is a tremendous schooling bait when bass are busting the surface. The other time this metal bait shines occurs when the water turns cold and the fish bunch up on the edges of creek channels or on the bottom of the channels. A 1/4-ounce model works best for emulating small shad.

You can cast the bait out and fish it like a flutter spoon with a horizontal presentation or you can drop it down on top of the fish and yo-yo it up and down just like a jigging spoon or other blade baits.

Let the lure fall to the bottom where you work it with a series of pops and drops in water as deep as 35 to 45 feet. Keep a tight line as the lure falls to prevent it from bumping into the line and tangling during the descent.

The lure will work properly on either a medium-heavy or medium spinning or casting rod with 8- to 14-pound test line.

As the water temperatures continue to drop, you can rock a bass’ world with some heavy metal baits.

 

Give The Gift Of Fishing This Holiday Season!

It’s gift giving season! Do you want to give the gift of fishing this year? Or just looking to treat yourself to the gift you have always wanted? Either way a Mystery Tackle Box Subscription is an incredible gift idea. You’ll get the best new baits plus tips, how-to videos, fishing decals and more. With baits delivered to your door at up to 40% off retail price, this is one service every angler needs to try!