When to choose painted vs metal spinnerbait blades?
This is a tough one to sort. Let’s make it as simple as possible. Flash is a natural look on sunny days. White, chartreuse, and dark colors are natural in other conditions, such as cloudy, dark and cloudy, night, and muddy water. Let’s get specific.
Clear Water and Sunny: In clear water on sunny days, when you see bait fish dart, there is a silvery flash. So you want to generate as much flash as possible on bright sunny days, especially when the sun is overhead. Chrome double willow blades work well. Retrieve slow in colder water and fast in warmer water. In hot summer, reel very fast.
Clear Water and Cloudy: When you see bait fish under a cloudy sky, there is no flash, no bright light to reflect off the scales. The sides of bait fish will appear white or dully reflective. Chrome dulled with a white Sharpie, metal, or white tandem blades work well here. Tandem produces less flash. It simply presents the belly and side colors of bait. Tandem looks more natural under cloudy conditions.
Stained Water and Sunny: You guessed it! Double willow chrome blades in stained water. Sun light will not penetrate as far into stained water, but it will reflect off the scales of bait. The reflection simply will not travel far. That does not matter so much because you have vibration of the blades to draw fish. If the water is truly muddy, try metal Colorado blades. Some spinnerbaits have a single large painted willow blade. These are a good choice in dirtier water because the larger blade produces a lot of thump.
Stained Water and Cloudy/Dark: You guessed it! Tandem blades in chrome (dulled with a white Sharpie), metal, or painted. If the water is a little stained, go with chrome or metal. In truly dirty water, go with painted blades. Truly muddy water under clouds or dark skies demands a Colorado blade. In day, pair a white or chartreuse skirt with a Colorado blade. Under dark skies, pair a black or purple skirt with a Colorado blade. The Colorado blade will provide a ton of thump to get your bait noticed in conditions where smallies cannot sight fish. The thump will be detected by their lateral lines and it will draw them to your bait.