Tandem willow-blade spinnerbait

Two willow blades for maximum flash and a slim profile that slides through grass — the default all-around spinnerbait.

Also known as: Tandem willow-blade spinnerbait · double willow spinnerbait · tandem willow · willow-willow spinnerbait · double willowleaf · Tandem-Blade Spinnerbait · double blade spinnerbait · tandem willow spinnerbait · tandem Colorado-willow · Willow Leaf Spinnerbait · willow blade spinnerbait · single willow spinnerbait · open-water spinnerbait · shad spinnerbait

Flash and thump through anything: the spinnerbait is the original search bait.

• Willow for flash and speed, Colorado for thump and slow rolling
• Wind, stain, wood: when visibility drops, the spinnerbait rises
• Slow-roll deep, burn shallow, wake it on top
• Trailer hook for short strikes

The tandem willow is the most-thrown spinnerbait in tournament fishing because it does the most things well. Two elongated, tear-drop willow blades spin tight to the wire arm, throwing heavy flash with less water resistance than a Colorado setup, so the bait runs a little higher in the water column for a given weight and slides through milfoil, coontail, and scattered brush without fouling. That low resistance also lets you burn it — reel fast just under the surface — which is one of the best triggers there is for warm-water, actively feeding bass along grass edges and wind-blown banks.

It shines from post-spawn through fall whenever water is clear-to-stained and fish are shallow and aggressive. It struggles in genuinely muddy water or very cold water, where the tighter, faster blade spin does not push enough displacement for fish to find the bait by feel — that is Colorado territory. It also reads a little 'thin' to fish that want a slower, heavier thump, which is why some anglers swap the front blade to a Colorado for a hybrid tandem.

Gear: a 7'–7'6" medium-heavy, fast-action rod with 15–17 lb fluorocarbon is the standard all-around setup; step up to 50–65 lb braid over heavier cover or when burning topwater-style through matted grass. Keep the rod tip high on the retrieve to control depth and feel the blades ticking. The most common mistake is fishing it too slow in warm water — a tandem willow wants speed to make it thump correctly — and the second is not upsizing trailer/blade size when water muddies up, at which point it loses to a Colorado bait.