Does anyone else use silver buddies ?
When and where do you prefer to use them ?
http://www.bassresource.com/fishing_lures/silver_buddy.html
On 10/9/2014 at 8:31 PM, Catch and Grease said:http://www.bassresource.com/fishing_lures/silver_buddy.html
Nice little article.
The silver buddy is one of my go to baits in the fall.
I am sure there must be other guys that do the same.
I fish 10-45 feet with them.
I've never even heard of them, so I Googled it and found that article and figured id post it, looks like a nice lure!
On 10/9/2014 at 8:42 PM, Catch and Grease said:I've never even heard of them, so I Googled it and found that article and figured id post it, looks like a nice lure!
They are a very effective bait in the fall especially when bass are relating to baitfish in deeper water.
I've tried, never had much luck with them. I prefer a jigging spoon.
On 10/9/2014 at 8:52 PM, Bluebasser86 said:I've tried, never had much luck with them. I prefer a jigging spoon.
How were you retrieving them ?
I use them when vertical fishing 20-40 feet. Let them hit bottom then rip them up. Sometimes the smallies will follow them up near the boat. Mostly just fish them as lift & drop. I have the same luck with jigging spoons. The blade baits do offer more visual flash. You can also swim them like a swimming jig. Cast & fish horizontally.
I usually have more luck with these fishing for lake trout, perch, and pike. I'm always told this is a multi species bait, so I'm sure it works for bass but I have zero confidence for bass with them!
Another must have cold water bait IMO that I always have tied on. Often referred to as blade baits, they (there are many different versions by various companies) have a pretty big following down in TVA country as a smallmouth killer, as well as a decent following through the northern and NE section of the country as an all-around catcher on natural lake systems. It tends to get overlooked by a lot of our flatland reservoir counterparts, but if the water has some clarity to it there is no faster way of covering decent amounts of deep structure searching for bass, largemouth included.
While we don't have too many Indiana tournaments late in the year when these baits shine, they have helped me cash several nice checks in very early spring tournaments focusing on pre-spawn bass, not to mention just catching a bunch of good bass "fun fishing" late in the year. Retrieve is like everything else, vary until you figure out what the fish want - sometimes long pulls and other times short hops. Even done well at times with a slow steady retrieve. Also a great multi-species bait, so you won't just catch bass on them. Crappie, white bass and walleye love 'em, too.
-T9
I do not fish them vertically very much. I take a long cast and let them flutter to bottom. Then I hop it slowly back to the boat. A lot of the strikes I get is when it is fluttering back to bottom after I left it a couple feet off bottom. I have a lot of confidence in this bait in the late fall. Of course I love to fish jigs to but there are many days when you simply catch more fish on a silver buddy. I have my most luck fishing it around very steep drop offs where there are schools of baitfish. It is an excellent late season bait. I rarely vertically jig it.
I doubt I could fish this effectively where I am... to much grass, I might be able to do a cast and retrieve presentation but the second I let it sink it would probably get clogged with grass..
I fish both the Silver Buddy and G ay Blade, very similiar lures. Although
they can be very effective, I always lose a lot fishing on the Tennessee
River. So, I mostly fish the Silver Buddy on gravel flats.
On 10/9/2014 at 10:22 PM, Catch and Grease said:I doubt I could fish this effectively where I am... to much grass, I might be able to do a cast and retrieve presentation but the second I let it sink it would probably get clogged with grass..
Rip it right out of the grass or count it down so your just barely ticking the top of the grass. You can also just cast it out and real it in like a lipless crankbait.
I just got into them last fall and am already pumped to throw them this year too. I have only tried casting, letting them flutter to the bottom and use a bouncing retrieve back to the boat.
That´s a really "old school" bait, Silver Buddies and Heddon Sonars, not very effective to fish most of the lakes I fish, I did give them a try but ended up loosing all of them, there´s too much wood down there or when there is no wood then there´s chunk rock.
Winter time bait on the Potomac... Can be very effective when the water is in the high 30s/low 40s. Long cast and yo-yo back. Some of my best days ever have been on the river in December with the silver buddy.
One of my staples from December to mid-March in SE Virginia. We have tournaments here all year long on city water-supply lakes and the Silver Buddy and other knockoffs win quite a number of them. As posted earlier, you never know what you will catch, everything hits them. As for Raul's post, I know I'm fishing them in the right place when I get stuck every other cast. Over time you learn to determine what is a strike and what is a stump/log. I rarely have to use the lead dog anymore. I just position the boat over the top of the lure and shake the rod tip, with just a bit of slack in the line, really fast and the lure normally falls off. Just be ready for a strike when it does. I've caught plenty of bass when that thing falls off the wood.
We fish blade baits all the time when the water is 60 or below. We catch a lot of fish on these. We like the Binsky Blade the best with Bass Pro Lazer blade a close 2nd. From Pike to large and small mouth to giant Crappie to perch you never know what you will get but you will always get something. A fun cold water bait.
Fish Sense Lures Binsky is the best blade bait on the market
Silver buddys are a winter bait for me. I own a few Binkys now and love them long time.
I have a bladebait and small lipless crank tied on all winter. I look for river/creek channels that swing along 45 degree rocky banks and fish them like a jig. Picking up slow and let fall back on rocks and just "tick" them across rocks. Use braid with a floro leader and only lose a few i can't get unhung by just putting boat directly over it and shaking rod or with a small plug knocker.
I started using the River2Sea glassie vibe this spring as an alternative when my local shop didn't have the silver buddy in stock. It's different in that it's encased in plastic, but I've become a fan.
A very versatile bait that can be used fast or slow, cast or vertical. Love `em but like to have at least 10' depth,and usually use them in colder water.
Also give the Heddon Sonar a try. Some of them have rattles in the eye sockets.
Heddon was the original blade bait.
C22
FWIW,I catch several salt water species on them too.
On 10/9/2014 at 8:54 PM, Mainebass1984 said:How were you retrieving them ?
I actually have a lot of luck casting them, following them to the bottom on a slack line and ripping them as soon as they hit the bottom, repeat all the way to the boat and then hop them several times directly under the boat to give any followers a chance to commit. Some of my biggest smallmouth every year are caught doing that along with some stout white bass and walleyes and an occasional monster crappie.
On 10/20/2014 at 2:58 PM, Bluebasser86 said:I actually have a lot of luck casting them, following them to the bottom on a slack line and ripping them as soon as they hit the bottom, repeat all the way to the boat and then hop them several times directly under the boat to give any followers a chance to commit. Some of my biggest smallmouth every year are caught doing that along with some stout white bass and walleyes and an occasional monster crappie.
Give the Sworming Hornet/ LFT Live Magic Shad a try. This specific retrieve is critical: Allow the lure to fall on slack line.
When it hits the bottom reel up quickly, but DO NOT lift your rod. Repeat the free-fall and reel up quickly. The strike will
occur on the fall 100% of the time.
On 10/21/2014 at 3:40 AM, roadwarrior said:Give the Sworming Hornet/ LFT Live Magic Shad a try. This specific retrieve is critical: Allow the lure to fall on slack line.
When it hits the bottom reel up quickly, but DO NOT lift your rod. Repeat the free-fall and reel up quickly. The strike will
occur on the fall 100% of the time.
What rod/reel/line combo do you fish that on? I've tried that rig and have had less than spectacular results. I feel I might be fishing it on the wrong (to heavy) gear though.
Fish it on the rig that you fish weighted plastics. Mine is a BCR893/ Curado 50E/ Yo-Zuri #12.