Crawler harness question

[wakina]

I want to say that the following post is only my opinion and is based upon my experience and experimentation with worm harnesses!

If you are having trouble with size 5 and 6 Colorado Blades blowing out at less than 2 mph(SOG/GPS) move up at least one size in the clevis department. Apply the same theory to the hatchet blades if problems occur at higher speeds. The blade must be able to clear the line if using a metal clevis or the body that goes over the line if using a plastic quick change clevis. If the tip of the blade closest to the line/clevis comes in contact with the line or plastic clevis when lifting the blade into a horizontal position(right angle) from the hole in the blade to the line or plastic clevis it will interfere with the rotation of the blade and that creates about 75% of the twisted leaders caused by the ensuing blowout.

Always check the plastic clevis to blade mating point when re-baiting and especially after landing a fish. Your landing net is the worst enemy of your blade quick change clevis setup.

Once the season has moved into the mid June time frame and the temps have moderated to warmer you should speed up your presentation some to 1.6 to 2.0. If you want or need to troll at a faster speed then it is time to switch to all Hatchet/Tomahawk blades, willow leaf blades or spoons. You can run both the Colorado and the Hatchet/Tomahawks at the same time with no tackle issues so long as you stay away from speeds greater than 2.0 mph with Colorados. I have ran hatchets as fast as 2.4 with out issues but the clevis must be large enough to facilitate unrestricted spin.
Depending on the day of course, I most often run both Hatchet Blade Harnesses and spoons in the same spread with about equal results from both type lures.