Flicker Shad...newbe Question

[PaJay]

Hey everyone I'm a new guy here. I live in Connellsville Pa. and the Youghiogheny River run right through town. I've always been a Walleye guy but got the Smallmouth fever this fall. Has anyone ever used Berkley Flicker Shads? I was Walleye fishing this past fall and I guess accidentilly started catching some real nice Smallmouth. Two to Three pounds on Flicker Shads while fishing for Walleye. Over the winter though whether the Smallmouth bite stopped or they gave up on the Flicker Shads. Would like some help cause I caught the smallmouth disease..Bad!!!!

[Snakehead Whisperer]

Hey everyone I'm a new guy here. I live in Connellsville Pa. and the Youghiogheny River run right through town. I've always been a Walleye guy but got the Smallmouth fever this fall. Has anyone ever used Berkley Flicker Shads? I was Walleye fishing this past fall and I guess accidentilly started catching some real nice Smallmouth. Two to Three pounds on Flicker Shads while fishing for Walleye. Over the winter though whether the Smallmouth bite stopped or they gave up on the Flicker Shads. Would like some help cause I caught the smallmouth disease..Bad!!!!

First off, welcome to the site!

 

Not sure what the water temp is up there, but I'm assuming it's below 35°. If so, smallmouth will not be nearly as active as walleye are at that temp. While they are catchable in cold water, the crankbait bite will most likely be almost non-existent until it warms up a bit. I would try some other methods if you're trying to catch cold water smallmouth. A few to try might be...

-Float and Fly

-Small senko/stick baits.

-Jig and grub

-Tube baits, etc.

 

As far as habitat goes, try checking some of the deeper pools in the river and fishing slooooow. Even slower than that. Words can not emphasize how slow I mean by slow. 

 

I am a recent transplant to the area from Northern California, and I'm relatively new to walleye fishing (and cold water.) The bass bite slows down to a crawl in the winters here, so I usually target walleye for most of the winter and return for bass in the spring. Just some food for thought.

 

There are numerous articles on this website that go into detail about habitat, water temperature and spawning rituals for bass, as well as effective baits/presentations. You still have time to read them all and devise a strategy before the pre-spawn in your area. A lot of the details will be specific to your area, so if you're familiar with the water you can fill in the blanks.

[29JMP29]

I like flicker shads and shad raps and x raps.  I have been using slower stuff for this time of year, I have had a lot of good luck on jigs and grubs

[OkobojiEagle]

My experience with Flicker Shads is they are harder to present than Shad Raps because they are smaller and harder to cast.  They are good baits for both walleye and smallmouth when trolled.  As said above... this isn't the best time of year for presenting any crankbait in your waters.

 

oe

[PABASS]

Hey everyone I'm a new guy here. I live in Connellsville Pa. and the Youghiogheny River run right through town. I've always been a Walleye guy but got the Smallmouth fever this fall. Has anyone ever used Berkley Flicker Shads? I was Walleye fishing this past fall and I guess accidentilly started catching some real nice Smallmouth. Two to Three pounds on Flicker Shads while fishing for Walleye. Over the winter though whether the Smallmouth bite stopped or they gave up on the Flicker Shads. Would like some help cause I caught the smallmouth disease..Bad!!!!

Guys on the susky are catching them on tubes, extremely slow jerkbaits and jigs.  Check out this article and watch his videos on Youtube, I am sure it will help.

[Crestliner2008]

You need to get into some suspending jerkbaits this time of the year.

[Bluebasser86]

Flicker shads and Shad Raps both can produce lots of smallmouth. Like others said this isn't the best time of year for them. You can weight them so they suspend and they can be really good in cold water though. 

[RODNEY]

Got my head handed to me on Stillwater Reservoir by my friend, he was throwing Flicker Shads and I didn't have any. I do now.

Rodney 

[iabass8]

I prefer casting shad raps over flicker shads. I've trolled /w flicker shads for walleye with better success it seems than with shad raps but I don't think my sample size is great enough to give an honest opinion on which is better trolling. Casting though I just prefer the difference in action of the shad rap over the flicker shad. They are smallmouth magnets though.