by Joe Cermele

I'm working on a story that requires me to interview a couple muskie guides from around the country. In my experience, you can always count on these guys to peg one of three lures as their favorite; bucktail, jerkbait, or soft-plastic like the Bull Dawg. But Wisconsin guide Bruce Shumway threw me a curve ball, citing the Fuzzy Duzzit (below) as one of his go-to baits for giant muskies. The Fuzzy is nothing more than a huge blade bait that Shumway jigs over weed beds and rock piles. I was surprised to hear that this lure was one of his top producers, not because I don't believe it, but because I'm of the opinion that blade baits are largely overlooked these days. In 7 years of interviewing guides, Shumway was the first to recommend a blade.

I remember having a Cicada blade bait in my tackle box when I was a little kid. I think my grandfather bought it for me, though I don't recall using it very much. I'm sure I lost it to a snag at some point, and I never picked up another one. In fact, it wasn't until just last year that I decided blade baits needed to be staples in my arsenal.

I was fishing on Lake Erie with guide Frank Campbell for smallmouth, and we had every tube, creature, crankbait, and spinnerbait on that boat. This was early spring, and in the cold water the bite was slow. It didn't take Frank long to give his old stand-by, the Heddon Sonar, a shot at a shallow, rocky area. As we drifted along, he just vertically jigged the blade, and the smallmouth and walleyes started climbing all over it like it was the first meal they'd had in months.

Since then, I always have a Sonar in my smallmouth box, and more than a few times it has saved the day when the local rivers got dirty. What I've also found with blade baits is that they seem to catch variety. As an example, there's a hole on the Delaware River I've git hundreds of times, and all it ever produced was smallmouth. Last summer I was fishing it with a Sonar when the water was dirty, and pulled 4 smallmouths, 2 walleyes, a crappie, a catfish, and a small rainbow trout. Perhaps blades get no fanfare anymore, but do you still use them?

Comments (8)

from TAM9492 wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

Looks like that pencil spends a lot of time between your teeth, Cermele ;)

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from rdorman wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

never used them, heard some cat fisherman talking about catching some big cats on them...seem very similar to rat'l traps and those of the such, but without a rattle...i could be wrong

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from Koldkut wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

When the shad ball up in the fall, bladebaits are the ticket for some vertical action.

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from nuclear_fisher wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

I've got a few cicada's and silver/gold lure's that look like what you refer to as the sonar (had to look that one up) and they have made their way into my ice fishing tackle box. Another way of saying at some point I have taken them out of my serious fishing arsenal. I guess I've never really had any luck with that type of lure, but now that I think about it I don't know if I gave them a fair shake.

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from buckhunter wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

Never used them or know of anyone that does. It does not mean they are not effective but I am very comfortable not catching muskie with the lures I have now.

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from weedless97 wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

I used them in Lake Damariscotta, Maine, drifting over a ridge. It's a known spot for alewives. My dad and I were using them when nothing else was working. We hooked Smallies and Largemouth, he hooked into one that jumped clear outta the water, had to be 8 pounds. It threw the hook, but it's still the biggest fish I've ever scene in that lake.

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from RockySquirrel wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

Yep. A 3 inch PCOLA P-chip is murder on river small mouths.

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from dleurquin wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

Use them for walleye ice fishing, especially during really low light situations.

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from buckhunter wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

Never used them or know of anyone that does. It does not mean they are not effective but I am very comfortable not catching muskie with the lures I have now.

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from weedless97 wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

I used them in Lake Damariscotta, Maine, drifting over a ridge. It's a known spot for alewives. My dad and I were using them when nothing else was working. We hooked Smallies and Largemouth, he hooked into one that jumped clear outta the water, had to be 8 pounds. It threw the hook, but it's still the biggest fish I've ever scene in that lake.

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from TAM9492 wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

Looks like that pencil spends a lot of time between your teeth, Cermele ;)

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from rdorman wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

never used them, heard some cat fisherman talking about catching some big cats on them...seem very similar to rat'l traps and those of the such, but without a rattle...i could be wrong

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from Koldkut wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

When the shad ball up in the fall, bladebaits are the ticket for some vertical action.

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from nuclear_fisher wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

I've got a few cicada's and silver/gold lure's that look like what you refer to as the sonar (had to look that one up) and they have made their way into my ice fishing tackle box. Another way of saying at some point I have taken them out of my serious fishing arsenal. I guess I've never really had any luck with that type of lure, but now that I think about it I don't know if I gave them a fair shake.

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from RockySquirrel wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

Yep. A 3 inch PCOLA P-chip is murder on river small mouths.

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from dleurquin wrote 17 weeks 1 day ago

Use them for walleye ice fishing, especially during really low light situations.

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All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.