(I will emphasize on the latest craze - Big Blades, however, the theory can be conceptualized for all sizes of blades/bodies)
So we know it works, but how often can utelizing a method make you a better fisherman if you don't know why it's working - even if you ARE catching more fish? Relative to burning blades, consider these stances and use them to prove wrong or right, so long as it helps you think like a fish hunter rather than a hope fisherman.
Now-a-days, double 10 blades are as popular as ever, most of which are trailed by a flashabou skirt. Two weapons in one, really. . . Musky have sensory pores under their lower mandables, as well as a lateral line (same as all other fish). Can fish hear? Sure, but do they hear voices? No, science tells us they hear pitches, however, their real "hearing" is their sense of feel.
Double 8's, 10's and 13's have one thing in common - they all displace a tremendous amount of water, sending out a vibration that can be "heard" from quite far away. While I don't know the exact reason behind a muskie's addiction to vibration, I have my theories, which I'll dispell later. Assuming for now, we can all agree this beacon calling power of the big blade sensation definitely draws some attention, but what does it have to offer that can turn a window shopper into a buyer?
As I mentioned, I have my opinions based on muskies attraction to vibration and water displacement, and it's as simple as it relates to a struggling fish. Ever seen a fish an injured fish swim erratically at high rates of speed sideways, upside down and all around? When a fish moves in that way, assuming a musky doesn't see the erratic dying fish, they feel it and their attention becomes focused on an "easy meal". In the same sense, the vibration of the blades is the calling power, and so the chase begins.
Musky, being the fastest swimming fish of freshwater due to their shape, length, and shear power, can chase down any straight swimming fish - but it does expel a lot of energy. I'm not sure why the musky decides to chase after a fast blade, rather than a slowly retrieved bucktail, although that is sometimes the case, that is not my motivation for writing this. Mainly, we have to conceptualize reasons why a following musky is more susceptible to eating a burnt bucktail more so than a slow-roll (Except under the darkness of night).
So, we have follower, she's hot on the trail. As a musky nears it's victim, it obviously gets a closer look. NOW, consider a bright flashy/reflective skirt pulsating from the vortex behind the big blades - what you have is a Lack of a Visual Profile. Combine urgency to end a high-speed chase without the ability to define LURE from PREY, and BOOM!! Hooks in the mouth dispell the mistake, but the fish has no visual cue left to train it not to make the same mistake twice.
Now I could have said the last paragraph and called it a day, but then I leave out some thinking power that starts from the base and works it's way to the answer.
So how does this hold true to smaller blades and bucktail or rubber skirts? While all bucktail skirts pulsate from the blade vortex, it simply doesn't compare to that from BIG blades, however, it is enough to blur the visual profile of the bucktail body. Combine that with urgency to end the highspeed chase and you just might make a sale to that window shopper.
In the same regard, the next time you are slow-rolling and your watching a lazy follow behind your bucktail, conser giving the bait a rip to immediate a speed change to draw the strike. Many times I've had lazy follows that seemed like they just wanted to see where the "thing" (bucktail) would go or what it would do, but one or two rips or bulges if I'm riding high in the water column, and again, BOOM!
*NOTE - Next step is learning the when's and where's to use this method as it doesn't stand up to the test under all conditions (darkness, climate/water temp & Baro-Pressure).
