The versatility of the Smile Blade makes it a critical part of every walleye angler’s arsenal. The small, .8” blades make for a perfect added attraction for a live bait rig without stealing the show. These blades excel when trolled slowly as they require hardly any speed to make the blade turn correctly. This makes them a perfect early and late season option for waterbodies as big as the Missouri River reservoirs to a small slough or natural lake.
As the forage availability increases throughout summer the larger sizes shine as they capture attention in areas already filled with other forage opportunities prompting active walleye to strike aggressively.
While walleye love the Smile Blades, the anglers love the blades even more. This is because the blades are simple to fish with and allow for fine tuning to take place on the water rapidly. The blades easily slide over a standard Double Surgeon’s knot. This makes for fast changes on the water allowing anglers to quickly find the color and sizes the fish prefer that day.
The other benefit is each individual blade can be fished two ways. Utilize a wide blade angle for a slow, rolling wobble or utilize a narrow blade angle for a more aggressive shake and spin. Tuning these blades can be done with an angler’s fingers and can be adjusted in a matter of seconds.
As a guide on the Missouri River reservoirs I deploy a set plan with these blades every time I hit the water. I like to have half the rods fish with only a single bead (no blade) set up while the others have a single bead and various colors of Smile Blades. March through June I favor the .8” before switching to the larger sizes in July and continuing with them through early-September.
As each day goes on I pay attention to if fish are favoring the bladed or plain set ups. If they are in a passive mood, they often prefer the plain rods. If they are neutral to aggressive they often prefer the blades. On days they are favoring bladed set ups I also pay attention to the top colors. Once I’ve determined the best colors for the day, I will fine tune blade angles from there.
The ability to quickly slide blades on and off makes this a quick and efficient process. I generally keep the same snells on all day, but if coaxing bites proves to be difficult on all set ups I will begin to experiment with snell length as well. Good fishing!
Favorite colors: Hot Pink Tiger/Silver, Chartreuse Scale, Silver Scale, Hot Pink Mirror, Gold Sparkle
