Spinnerbait Blade Finishes & Colors

Secret Weapon Blade attachments – Important Information

These quick change, fully interchangeable blade attachments are what set Secret Weapon spinnerbaits apart from the rest and make Secret Weapon qualify as the first really true new generation in spinnerbaits in over sixty years. This flexibility allows you to easily customize your Secret Weapon baits by quickly and easily changing the blade configurations to fit your needs. For example, if you have a 3/8 oz. Tandem Willowleaf Secret Weapon spinnerbait and want a Tandem Colorado version, a quick glance at the Blade Chart will show you that all you need is a #5 Colorado blade to create what you want. If you don’t already own another Secret Weapon with that blade, you can order it here. This saves you money and storage space, and you have your choice of finishes.

Here is a description of the blade finish symbols and why those blades are used:

(N) Nickel

This is a smooth nickel finish. Nickel has a bright silver finish and emits a strong flash all the way to extreme depths. Nickel is far superior to Silver because it is much harder and far more durable, along with being much less expensive than silver.

(G) Gold

The color of the refection from a smooth gold finish will better penetrate stained and muddy water, and make your lure more visible in those conditions. Also, fish are often just strongly attracted to gold in spite of water clarity. The value of gold will diminish at increasing depths, however, where the use of chartreuse or white blades may be dictated. In deep clear water, nickel remains the best choice.

(Wh) White

White has a unique appeal all it's own to fish in many circumstances. White is also good in many clear water situations with spooky fish and in moderately stained deep water where gold or nickel might not maintain visibility. Smallmouth and Spotted bass have also shown a strong liking for white blades.

(Ch) Chartreuse

Chartreuse is popular for all the same reasons as white, and does in stained water what white does in clear. The appeal to Smallmouth and Spotted bass can also be even stronger than the appeal of white. A primary use for chartreuse blades is in heavily stained and muddy water, where their visibility is superb (especially where the mud is a light, cream color.)

(Rd) Red

As is true of both white and chartreuse, red also has it's own finny fan club. Red is a favorite color in the south in the spring where they are said to represent crawfish. Whatever the reason, too many tournaments to count are won each year using red to not take advantage of knowing about it. The other primary use for red is that just as chartreuse has superb visibility in light colored muddy water, red excels in dark mud and stain.

(Bk) Black

Black quit being a bass fishing secret generations ago. Black is used at night and on extremely overcast days where the only real visibility possible for a lure is to be silhoutted against the lighter colored sky, or in some cases against a lighter colored bottom. An important note: while shiny black blades are pretty and impressive, your best blade finish for catching fish is always a dull flat black.

And, coming soon...

(B) Brass

Brass emits a very similar reflection to gold, but it is much softer. I use brass instead of gold on clear water designs the same way that I use hammered nickel in place of smooth nickel.

(Nh) Nickel, hammered

This is a nickel blade with a hammered finish. Picture the intense flash of light that can reflect off of a car windshield: this is the level of light that can come off of a smooth nickel blade, and it is what you want most of the time to attract fish. But in real clear water, or at times under bright skies, fish are extra wary and would be scared off when exposed to such bright bursts of light. A hammered finish will serve to diffuse the light and send a softer reflection in those situations, which can lead to a catch! I like to use hammered finish instead of smooth nickel blades on smaller baits that are designed for use in clear water.