Buzzbaits & Spinnerbaits By The Numbers
Can you reach into your tacklebox and, without even looking, pull out a 3/8-ounce spinnerbait? How do you know? Maybe because that’s the only size you ever fish. Why is that? Is your choice the result of habit, or of thoughtful deliberation?
 Many anglers routinely purchase lures of a certain size because “that’s just what we fish around here.” A person may have success throwing 3/8-ounce lures, grow accustomed to its size, and consequently look only for that weight on the tackle racks. But that habit limits your options. All other things being equal, at the same retrieve speed heavier lures will run deeper and lighter lures will run shallower. When you expand your range of lure weights, you increase your range and options, and that puts more fish in the livewell. However, that is an interesting topic that we will leave for another place.
In reality, few things in fishing tackle manufacturing are truly standardized. Baits from five different companies might all be labeled “3/8-ounce” and all have different weights. Several reasons account for the lack of standardization, a few of which are actually pretty good. What is included in that weight? Head & head and skirt & head, skirt & blade?
While conventional, first-generation spinnerbaits and buzzbaits are all sold essentially as one piece assemblies, Secret Weapons are not. SWL manufactures a totally different kind of product that does not conform to older technology and ways of thinking.
As the founder and designer of SWL, I naturally inject many of my strongly held personal beliefs into all aspects of design, and this includes sizes. I believe that two established lure weights are fundamental to most fishing. For spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, those weights are 3/8-oz. and 1/2-oz. (Keep in mind that no two blade types weigh the same, so the number, size, shape, and manufacturer of spinner blades and other components affect the total lure weight.) Just below those, some manufacturers offer 1/4-ounce baits. I do not believe that size makes much sense, so we drop on down to a 3/16-oz. spinnerbait.
On the heavier end, most manufacturers offer 3/4-ounce lures as their next step up from a half ounce model. The engineer in me prefers a more logical geometric progression, which would lead to 7/8-ounce as the next logical size. Therefore, the first four sizes that Secret Weapon Lures manufacture and market are 3/16-oz., 3/8-oz., 1/2-oz. and 7/8-oz.
Don’t you just love fractions? No? Well, few of our customers do either. With spinnerbaits offered in sixteenths, eights, and halves, even our Prostaff and our dealers get a little perplexed. And we knew that the confusion was just beginning, because our design and tooling is underway for even more lure sizes.
Thankfully, members of our Prostaff came up with a good solution: classify all spinnerbaits and buzzbaits to the nearest sixteenths of an ounce. Therefore, we now market our lures by sixteenths of an ounce. Use the table below to find the lure size you prefer.
SWL Labeled Weight |
Actual Head Weight |
3/16-ounce |
3/16-ounce |
5/16-ounce |
3/8-ounce |
9/16-ounce |
1/2-ounce |
13/16-ounce |
7/8-ounce |
Now you know our weight system, and you also know why we went that route.
Bob Rickard -----------------------<=- 0´)))><
May 18, 2006
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