Blade Modifications

[enzyme]

Looking to get a better understanding of which attributes causes it do what and such. Specifically with willows and swing blades.

I am just beginning to understand the properties of the cup depth and how it affects the action. But I read something a while back about guys bending the tip of the willow / swing both inwards and outwards to achieve a specific action. Does anyone know how these changes affect the action?

[Oldfart9999]

Haven't tried it so I can't help you but I'm sure some here have and will.

Rodney

[smalljaw]

I believe it was Bill Dance who showed a lot of anglers how easy it was to modify a spinnerbait by simply bending the blades, most of the time inward but outward as well. On a willow leaf blade what you change is the the width of the spin, rather than spinning in a tight cylinder a blade bent to the inside will slow down the speed but also make the path the blade spins on much wider. The same thing happens when you bend the blade outward, it slows a bit and spins on a wider path but if you bend too much of the tip it makes the blade wobble or spin in an oblong shape. That may sound good but I messed with it thinking that weird spin would be great to catch fish on and to put it mildly it didn;t get a strike and after watching it for a bit I believe I understand why. A spinnerbait is what I call a smoke and mirror bait, it doesn't look like anything but the spinning blades and fast speed create an illusion of baitfish and when you slow the blade down too much you lose the illusion part. In dingy water a slight bend can help you but not in clear water conditions, but that is just my observation and if you give it a try, remember to bend just the first 1/8" of tip, anymore than that and you will end up with the wide wobble.