Part 3

One of the neatest features of the Mack’s Lure Smile Blade is the ease with which these nifty little fish attractors can be used.

That’s especially helpful if you’re a first class dummy when it comes to mechanical aptitude.  I know because I’ve got about as much mechanical ability as a retarded billy goat. 

Often when you mention a spinner to someone they immediately visualize the metal variety with one or two blades and as something you have to attach to a line or leader.  That’s not how it is with a Smile Blade. 

You simply pick the size and color of the blade you want and then run your line or leader right through the hole in its center.  There is no clevis.  The glittering plastic blade simply rotates right there on your leader.

In my last two columns I’ve detailed the experience Bob Schmidt and I had with Smiles Blades while fishing bass at Mexico’s El Salto and Mateos Lakes in late June.  I told how we began clobbering those Mexican largemouths once Bob hung a Smile Blade on his line ahead of his plastic worm. 

Here are the ingredients you need to rig your plastic worm Texas Style with a Smile Blade up front.

In that last column I also promised to provide the details on the set up we used for our south of the border bass fishing adventure.  There was really nothing unique about it.  That’s why I mentioned earlier that using Smile Blades is such a simple and easy task.

What Bob did down there in Mexico is something you can do wherever you find largemouth or smallmouth bass.  I have a friend down in Texas who’ll verify that for you. 

I had occasion to talk to this friend right after Bob and I returned from Mexico.  I told him how we had clobbered the fish using Smile Blades ahead of our plastic worms.  “By golly, Stan,” my Texas friend said, “I’m going to give that a try.”

My friend called me about a week later.  “I ordered some of those plastic Smile Blades and the beads you told me about,” he said.  “I’ll be darned if I didn’t get a largemouth on my first cast with that set up.”

This Texas bassin’ man didn’t go on to knock fish the way we had in Mexico, but he did catch a couple more.  He told me he was certainly going to continue to let those Texas bass have a look at it.  I fully expect him to call one of these days and tell me he’s still doing well with it.

So exactly how did we rig our blade and worm set up for Mexican fishing?  As I mentioned in my previous columns Bob rigged his plastic worm Texas Style.  But before he attached his hook and worm, he slid a bead onto his leader, then a Smile Blade, then two more beads and then his slip sinker. 

Just slide the required parts onto your leader.  If you want to have everything ready to go in advance, use about 6-inches of leader and attach a barrel swivel to the free end.

You can do exactly the same thing if you choose.  In the illustrations you’ll find another option.  If you’re one of those who like to rig things in advance, and I am, what you see in the illustrations gives you another option.

I pre-rig my worm and Smile Blade on a six inch leader and attach the free end of the leader to a barrel swivel.  Once I get it all rigged I slip it into a small plastic envelope and place it in my tackle carrier.  I’ve done this with a variety of blade colors and sizes as well as different worms and grubs.  They’re all rigged and ready.  If the fish fail to respond I to what I’m throwing, I can show them something different in less time than it takes to tell about it.

Why do bass go for this rig when sometimes they won’t grab a worm all by itself?  Who knows for sure?  But I do have a thought in that regard.  Bass compete for food.  If you’ve fished them much in clear water you’ve undoubtedly seen several fish trying to grab a single bait.  That’s why fishermen occasionally catch two bass on a single lure.

My guess is that the twinkling little Smile Blade out in front of the worm makes it look like the worm is about to get itself a meal.  Maybe that encourages a bass to make its move.

For whatever reason it does work and sometimes it works big time.  If 19 fish on 20 casts doesn’t prove that, what in the heck would? 

Now all you need to do is add the plastic bait of your choice and you're in business.

I’ll continue to carry a box full of bass baits.  Bass don’t “always” do anything.  That applies to what they’ll hit as well as everything else associated with the sport.

But be assured my Smile Blade and worm combos have earned a special spot for themselves in my bass fishing tackle box.  And those big mouthed boogers are going to get a good look at them wherever my bass fishing adventures take me.

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