Rocket Shad build

[Fishermanbt]

A buddy of mine and I were talking baits during a recent fishing trip. He mentioned the Rocket Shad spinner. I had forgotten how effective these can be on river smallmouth in the right conditions. So this weekend I started the R&D. I found that with .032-.035 I could put a double twist loop in one end and manipulate the wire shaft with pliers to lay in the Ultra Spinner mold.  Here is a stock photo and the ones I made in 1/4oz and 3/8oz. Am I close enough, improvements? Anyone have any measurements of a store bought one?

[21xdc]

Thats close enough. Bass don't brand shop, And yours are nicer anyway. Maybe less skirt material.

[Fishermanbt]

Thanks. I don’t know, I swear I’ve had them check to see if I was offering them a Do It product before. The skirt. I need to get some craft fur and give that a go to thin it down. I was going to use deer tail but I’m going to hold out for now.

[efishnc]

I only have a vague memory of the rocket shad and I thought the blade arm was proportionally shorter than the body (but maybe they were all like your stock photo).  Your baits definitely look as good (or better) than the stock photo, but the only sure way to test their effectiveness is to cast them and start yanking lips... I'm sure those will work as desired.

[Lines]

Looking excellent Fishermanbt.  Leave one skirt long, and shorten another to compare. I guarantee you'll catch fish on both.
Nice work!

[bigjim5589]

Those look great!

I've never fished the Rocket Shad, but have made a small spinnerbait for many years, based on the Do It Crappie Spinner mold.   I've caught many types of fish on them too, and when fishing highly pressured waters, often the lighter, smaller lures caught more than a typical size bass lure..

For craft fur, check Etsy, and look for extra long pile, or sometimes it's labelled as Mongolian. I've bought some that was very close to Polar Fibre, and I really like it for flies & jigs. Plus, for what they charge for Polar Fibre, around $5 for a pack, you can get about 5 times as much for $8-$9 plus the shipping.

I think I've posted this one before, but it's typical of the small spinnerbaits I make use, and I have dressed them with hair, and flash. This one is 1/8 oz and I've used the same frames in the Do It bullet style spinnerbait mold and made them in 1/4 oz.

I generally only add a singe blade too.

[Fishermanbt]

Thanks for the info on craft fur big jim. I had a couple of the 1/8oz crappie spinners with me but they proved to be way to light to cast for the setup I was using and the water currents.