Why am I so excited about the new spinnerbaits coming out like the Berkley Power Blade Compact spinnerbaits I’ve been throwing since last fall?
Well the short answer would be spinnerbaits are near and dear to my heart. I grew up idolizing the guys I saw dominating with spinnerbaits back in the early days of BASS. I wanted to be like that KVD whiz kid who could catch largemouth bass on a spinnerbait in a foot of muddy water or smallmouth bass over 20 feet of gin clear water.
I wanted to bust ‘em up on big river stumps like I watched some rookie do on Ross Barnett in 1996 named Mike McClelland. I wanted to burn spinnerbaits like I watched this guy name Rick Clunn do on the St. Lawrence River in 1992. So when I saw a bunch of top the heap companies in the fishing industry throwing their hat in the ring with spinnerbaits, I was pretty excited.
I loaded up on a bunch of the new Berkley Power Blades last fall and had a good fall, winter and early spring already on them. I tried a bunch of different blade and color combinations and played with both the regular and compact spinnerbait versions a bunch.
I’m really loving the Compact double Colorado versions of the Power Blade a lot.
Here’s a bit more about these new spinnerbaits.
Design and Components on Power Blade Compact
The Berkley Power Blade Compact spinnerbaits feature a smaller profile and head thanks to the weight being shifted behind the skirt collar. The sizing and balance of these spinnerbaits has been really well done. The blades could be a little bigger on the larger 1/2 ounce size and I would love to see a 3/4 ounce size added here, but the profile, components and overall design are first rate.
The shank features a specialty reverse double cone keeper that holds your trailer rock solid in place. I like spinnerbaits that hold together nicely when you get on a good scrape so you’re not having to mess with the trailer and arm every time you catch a fish and are in a hurry to get right back in there.
The compact weigh design makes the spinnerbait fall more horizontal and gives the blade a nice stall and pop when you fish it. I always incorporate a pause and twitch into my spinnerbait in anticipation of getting a following bass to react.
The blades turn at ultra slow speeds as I tested slow rolling these spinnerbaits in 40 and 50 degree waters. The wire keeps its shape pretty well and is quick and easy to tune if a fish does twist it up on the fight.
My Experiences with the Power Blade Compacts
I had some really good days this winter and also this spring on the Berkley Power Blade Compact DBL Colorado spinnerbaits. I really like the coleslaw and firecraw colors for muddy to stained water that you often find in the winter and prespawn. I’ve taken numerous nice bass on these spinnerbaits and the spinnerbait has held up well.
I shared a couple of my spinnerbait catches on social media and a couple people said they liked my ugly spinnerbaits. That’s because I will put a trailer that completely contrasts the skirt a lot of times. So I was putting glimmer blue trailers on a red craw spinnerbait. But have you ever flipped a craw over. He’s not red underneath. So I always have contrasting trailers. And these baits got bit.
One thing I noticed is the Power Blade Compact stays upright as it comes through cover. You want that when you want to get bit on contact. If your spinnerbait lays over on its side when it hits something, you will get snagged more and you will miss fish. So you want to roll your bait down a laydown and hit branches and not lay over. The Power Blade Compact stayed upright and I was fortunate to catch several nice bass doing that on a recent trip.
These spinnerbaits cast well and I’ve been roll casting them to targets under the water and bumping through the cover and getting the bass to react with this dirtier water thanks to all this rain.
Final impressions on the Berkley Power Blade Compact Spinnerbaits
At $9.99 these spinnerbaits lived up to their billing. They are durable, well designed, come in great skirt and blade combinations, held up well to numerous fish and heavy cover. The spin at fast and slow speeds well and they were a good addition to my spinnerbait kit.
You can find Berkley Power Blade spinnerbaits at the following online retailers:
