Part 1

When eight year old Kiley Stauffer looks at her daddy’s Mack’s Lure Smile Blades she just thinks they’re pretty.

When her daddy eyeballs those same spinners my guess is that he thinks he was pretty darn lucky to find out just how effective they can be when it comes to catching the elusive walleye.

Kiley’s father, you see, is Brian Stauffer of McPherson, Kansas. He’s also one of the area’s top walleye anglers.  He and his fishing partner Nick Brumbaugh finished in the top 10 in last year’s final standings of the Kansas State Walleye Association.  Nick is from Lindsborg, Kansas.  Both communities are in the central part of the state.

Brian Stauffer, of Kansas, used a Mack's Lure Smile Blade to help put this dandy walleye in his boat.

Whenever I run into somebody like Brian I like to probe their thinking with regard to walleye fishing.  Some anglers flat refuse to share their secrets.  Brian isn’t one of them.  And the sharing he’s already done has resulted in walleye anglers having excellent success in states other than his own.

“I’ve been using Smile Blades almost exclusively for the past two years,” Brian says, “and I’ve been amazed.  There’s just something about these plastic spinners that attracts fish.”

The Kansas walleye specialist chuckles when he recalls an experience he had while pre-fishing for the Cabela’s National Team Walleye Championship.  The event was to be staged out of Green Bay, Wisconsin.  Brian was trolling a Smile Blade in a green sparkle finish when he nailed a beauty.

“That fish measured 32-inches,” Brian says.  “We didn’t have dependable scales so we just measured the fish and let her go.  We estimated its weight at about 12-pounds.  It was the largest walleye I’d ever caught.”

An experience like that is enough to get anybody a bit fired up.  The next day Brian went into one of the areas tackle shops to pick up a few more Smile Blade in different colors.

“To my amazement,” he says, “not one bait shop in the Green Bay area knew much about Smile Blades.  I did find one shop that had a few Mack’s Lure Wally Pops.  They told me they’d been on the shelf for years.”

As I mentioned, Brian is one of those likeable guys who enjoys sharing thought that can help his friends catch fish.  One of Brian’s friends is Hank McWilliams, of Borger, Texas.

“Hank wasn’t using Smile Blades,” Brian says.  “I told him about the excellent success I’ve had with them and that he was missing a bet if he didn’t try them himself.” 

Hank took Brian’s advice.  Did Hank give his newly acquired Smile Blades a try for walleyes down there in the Lone Star State?  You darn well better believe it!  “Hank,” Brian says, “rigged up using a Smile Blade in a glo gold tiger finish while fishing in a tournament at Lake Meredith.  He and his partner wound up winning that contest with the largest weight ever recorded in a Texas Walleye Association contest.”

Brian says he talked to his friend Hank about Smile Blades again
not long ago.  “Now he’s got a whole bunch of them,” Brian says.  “He told me he’s going to get even more but has to wait until he gets his Christmas bonus check to do so.”

Brian Stauffer will also tell you he now has a generous supply of the easy turning and lightweight Smile Blades himself.  “I must have at least 300,” he told me.

Why so many?  A primary reason is this Kansas walleye expert is convinced using the right color is a key to consistent success in fishing for walleyes.  Get just the right colored Smile Blade out there in front of whatever bait you’ve got on and the walleyes can’t leave it alone.

Brian Stauffer's fishing partner also knows what a sizeable walleye looks like.  He's Nick Brumbaugh and he got this nice one at Green Bay, Wisconsin.

There are other reasons why Brian and his pal Nick have used Smiles Blades almost exclusively for their tournament fishing the past two seasons.  I’ll give you some of the important details in my next column.

Watch for it beginning Sept. 1.

-To Be Continued-