Opening Thoughts
Safety Pin type spinner baits have been around a long time. Through
the years, many fishermen and lure manufacturers have tinkered with
this basic design by adding their own twist to improve the bait. All
you have
to do is stand in front of a spinner bait section in a major tackle
store to see what I’m talking about…”Improved Hooks”…”Improved
Skirts”…”Improved Blades” “Improved Wire ”.
But in the final analysis, even with these improvements the truth is
they all basically remained the same. That was until recently. What if
I told you that this old standard has been REINVENTED? Yes, for the first
time in over 50 years tinkering has given way to true innovative design
change. This change will alter your thoughts about spinner baits forever.
If you love throwing a blade-you don’t want to miss this review!
Company History
The reinvention of the spinner bait came from a very skilled mechanical
engineer and fisherman named Bob Rickard of St. Louis Missouri. For over
32 years Bob has been handcrafting innovative baits and testing them
on various lakes and rivers here in the United States. Bob became convinced
that no other lure came close to matching is own design. So in 2001 Bob
set out to introduce them to the retail market. Bob was Production Manager
for Comet Tool and Die Company that manufactured precision components
for aircraft, aerospace and the defense industry. At McDonald Aircraft
his engineering team assisted on projects that included the F-14 Tomcat,
F-15 Eagle and the lunar landing module. These day's Bob uses his skill
and design knowledge to refine and perfect the lure known as the Secret
Weapon Spinnerbait!
Beginning The Review
Recently
Shay Doming (TBGI guide on Priest left) and I met Joe Haubenreich President
of Secret 
Weapon
Lures(right) at Four Corners Marina on Percy Priest Lake in Nashville
Tennessee to conduct this review. Joe and
I had met on one occasion before when he introduced me to Secret Weapon
so I was already somewhat familiar with the baits. I knew that the
Secret
Weapon Spinner Bait came packaged in a “Mini Kit” that
consisted of the spinner bait-skirt and 4 separate blade attachments.
I knew the
baits were packaged in 3/16-3/8 and 1/2 ounce sizes. Visually one of
the first things that I will notice about Secret Weapon is the obvious
quality and workmanship that has gone into these baits. Even the packaging
is first class. These ARE NOT your $1.00 low end quality baits that
only perform correctly 20% of the time. I was joking with a friend
recently,
and made the comment that the Secret Weapon Mini Kit package looked
so good you could put a hook and skirt on it and catch fish. There
isn’t
one element about these baits that hasn’t been thought out ultra
carefully. From the life like minnow designer heads to the “Quick-Clip
easy change spinner blade attachments these baits are well thought
out-well designed fish catching tools.
Visual Value
Another visual element that was well thought out
by Bob Rickard was to make these premium high quality baits a real
value. At this point
I sure some are saying Rick “How can you link Visual and Value
together? Let me do it this way. Let’s tackle the visual piece
first. Go to your boat storage area or tackle box and start laying your
spinnerbaits out on a flat area by size and color so you can COUNT the
total number of baits you have. Don’t count your buzz baits, it
will only make it worse. It might be a good idea to do this when the
wife isn’t around, I wouldn’t want to be the cause of a marital
dispute. OK…..How many spinner baits do you have? 20…30…40…50?
I sure hope Rena doesn’t read this review. In my case 68! Yes
68 spinner baits in various sizes-head and skirt colors- blade configurations
and wire construction. I think I qualify for the Fishing Lure Anonymous
therapy support group. BUT! I needed everyone of those to get the right
size-the right color-the right blades for all the different potential
circumstances that I might be faced with when I got to the water. Sixty
eight spinner baits at what total $$$$$ investment since good spinner
baits retail anywhere from $3.99 to $10.00. If I just used the low
end
$4.00 figure as an average, the total would be $272.00.
Now, How about you? To make this easier, let say you spent $100.00
on conventional spinner baits with the average cost of $4.00. (I’m
sure if you are like me the average cost would actually be higher.) That
would give you 25 spinner baits for you to use. Let’s now compare
what you would have, if you bought 4 different Secret Weapon Mini Kits
at the suggested retail of $11.00 per kit for an $44.00 total investment.
Remember that each mini kit comes packaged with 4 separate blade attachments.
So the 4 kits would give you 16 different blades and 125 Different Blade
Combinations each color head and skirt. Let me say that again…..not
25 baits to use but 500 baits. And you still have $56.00 left to take
your wife to dinner. Now visually which is the better value? 25 baits
for $100.00 or 500 baits for $44.00? There really is no comparison!
Secret Weapon wins hands down!
What About Performance?
No spinner bait is a good value unless it performs correctly when
you’re
on the water. This is where the rubber meets the road. Early on Bob
Rickard realized that if you could successfully marry the in-line spinner
bait
qualities with the safety pin style you could have a bait with superior
performance. As we conducted this review I made these observations.
-
There are times when you will want to work
spinner bait fast just under the surface, but not breaking the
water. To make this technique
work correctly you need to make sure that the spinner bait doesn’t
sink too deep upon entering the water. With many spinner baits that I
have used in the past I have encountered 2 problems. (1) It was hard
to get the blades to turn freely immediately upon entering the water
(2) When you “Burned” the bait back toward you many
times the spinner bait would roll on it's side instead of tracking
true.
This was not true with Secret Weapon! Since the blades of the
Secret Weapon
Spinner Bait are free floating and not attached to the frame
itself it keeps the bait from rolling side to side. Cast after
cast with
each size
bait I was unable to make the bait roll and the blades started
spinning immediately upon retrieve.
There also times when the reverse is true.
The might fish want the bait to be retrieved very slowly. Once
again, with many spinner
baits
this is difficult to achieve because you had to steadily increase
speed to keep the blades rotating. Prior to and during the review
I have
tried each style of the blades offered by Secret Weapon and have
found that
I could slow these baits down to a crawl and still free the “Thump” of
the blade all the way through my rod handle of my rod.
-
If you like to “Slow Roll” spinner
baits Secret Weapon is for you. These baits can be slow rolled
slower at greater depths
than any spinner bait I have ever fished. This is ideal for yo-yoing
retrieves,
since all blades rotate on the drop, or for crawling the bait along
the bottom where the least movement makes the blades revolve. This
again
is a direct result of excellence in engineering.
-
This
bait also has a “Lower Line Tie Angle” which is perfectly
aligned with the point of the hook. Why is this important? It’s
simple! When a fish strikes the bait and you set the hook, if the line
tie is “Higher” than the hook point you will actually be
rolling the hook point downward during your hook set which results in
fewer hook up’s. I’m sure you have heard someone say they
had to “OPEN” the hook up to get better hook up’s…the
reason for this is a design fault in the bait. This Is Not True
With Secret Weapon! Pick up one of these baits and take a look.
The line
tie is perfectly aligned with the Mustad Ultra Point hook. This
is a result
of careful planning and excellent craftsmanship.
-
Another unique difference in these baits is
the “Sonic Signature” the
free floating blades emit. By
talking with Joe and
doing some research I found that every spinner bait
blade emits it’s own unique
sound. If you are using a conventional spinner bait where the blade
is attached
to the arm with a swivel, these sonic emissions will all sound
very similar and the fish become accustomed to that sound. But
if you
are fishing
a Secret Weapon bait the sonic sound is entirely different since
the blades are free floating and not rigidly attached. For you
tournament fishermen this could be your ace in the hole. Joe sited
many times
during testing where they went behind other fishermen using conventional
spinner
baits and caught fish on the Secret Weapon Bait and they attribute
that to the fish reacting to the different sound.
What About Versatility?
This is one of the most versatile baits I have ever fished. I’ve
listed several areas below where I believe using a Secret Weapon
is superior over all other spinner baits.
-
How many times have you
been on a good spinner bait bite and then the fish just stopped?
You know the fish are still there but seem uninterested.
In the past the very first thing most of us would do would be
cut off the bait and tie on something different. With Secret Weapon
in
just a
matter of seconds with the Quick Change attachment you can change
your blade colors or configuration and the bite may very well be
back on.
This same scenario will work for sudden changes in water color
(such as mud lines) or if a heavy cloud cover moves in. Or maybe
you have
been fishing stained water and then come upon clear water. Keep
you bait on-Just
change your blades to match the conditions.
- These baits are also terrific for controlling your depth. If
you have been fishing fairly shallow water and then want to switch
to a
deeper
water presentation but keep the same reel speed…once again
all you have to do is “Change Your Blades” size so
the bait will drop deeper but still perform the same. Switch
to larger
or wider
blades
to produce more lift so you can retrieve slower and nearer the surface.
-
I
would almost bet most of you have at least one Quad type spinner
bait in your box. This is another great example of Secret Weapon
Versatility. You can add 4-5-6 or even more blades to create your
own “Schooling
Minnow Effect” without purchasing another bait. If Smallmouth
are hitting the blades and not the bait try this. Attach a treble
hook behind
the rear blade using a split ring.
Take a look at the attached Rattle Trap picture. Here a small
Secret Weapon willow leaf blade attachment has been added
by a split ring to
its tail and the treble hook reattached to the end of the
blade. This same technique can be duplicated on many other types
of crankbaits.
- The versatility of these baits are only limited by the users imagination.
One important thing you need to remember. ALWAYS start with you
smallest blade attachment first the move up in size to a larger blade.
By doing
this the larger blades create a draft for the next smaller blade
on the bait.
Conclusion
Superior quality and design. Life like designer heads and Quick-Clip
blade attachments. Rock Hard baked powder paint on heads and painted
blades. Durable Stainless Steel wire construction. Premium silicone
skirts. Super sharp Mustad Ultra Point Hooks. No swivels to bind and
fail. Better
hook ups and the blades won’t block the hooks. Different blade
sound that attracts more species. Always runs true with no roll over.
All Blades rotate as the lure sinks. Easy turning blades for the
slow rolling technique. Lure design permits a higher retrieve speed.
Unequaled
flexibility that gives you the best value anywhere. Bob Rickard and
his team have crafted a ultra high quality bait that will enhance
any serious
fishermans arsenal. A great bait, manufactured by a great company.
Rick McFerrin Owner Tennessee Bass Guides Inc. www.tennesseebassguides.com
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