Shad Soft bait...a Real one? Not Yet.

[Bartableman7]

Here is what I think of when I see a shad in the water that the bass eat where I fish:

 

With a million soft baits out there...none look like this.  Close sure.  They fool bass...but I would like these traits:

1) Shine on the body like chrome.  NOT white.  I've seen this so I know it can be done. The flash is a must. IT IS what creates the reaction strike.

2) Large black eyes.

3) THIS SHAPE! NOT a fluke, not a fat body swim bait shape.  Shad are "Thin" bodied.  Forked tail too.

 

Does anyone make a great "replica" Shad soft bait?

 

[king fisher]

     It would be easy to make a bait that looks exactly like a shad, the difficulty is making a bait that looks alive, and imitates the way a shad moves.

       A statue of a German Shepard could be made that looks exactly like a reel guard dog, but if I put it in my yard it wont be a good replacement for a live dog, that runs, growls, and shows its teeth.

      Most good lures are good because of their action, which is much harder to imitate, than the looks.  Trout flies made out of hard plastic came out when I was a kid.  They looked exactly like the flies that they were supposed to represent, lasted forever, and were cheap.  Problem was they didn't have the buggy looks, and action, like flies tied with hair.  They looked more real sitting on a table, but floating on the surface, of a river, they didn't look like the real thing.

    A silver spoon may not look like a shad hanging on a tackle shop wall, but twitched while fluttering towards the bottom, the spoon may look exactly like a shad to a bass in the water.

  Even a live shad, wont get hit if it doesn't act the right way.  Lively live bait works, while slow swimming wore out, bait doesn't even get a look. 

    There are many lures out that do a good job of imitating a shad as long as the angler does his job of imparting the correct action.  There is always room for more lures, so maybe some one will make a lure that looks exactly like a shad combined with the magic action anglers are looking for. 

[WRB]

Live fish have the ability to “light up” iridescent that no lure can do.

Huddleston Deluxe makes a Grass Minnow and Shad that look like the real thing and catch bass. Some hard lures have iridescent coloring with flash.

Tom 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

37 minutes ago, king fisher said:

     It would be easy to make a bait that looks exactly like a shad, the difficulty is making a bait that looks alive, and imitates the way a shad moves.

       A statue of a German Shepard could be made that looks exactly like a reel guard dog, but if I put it in my yard it wont be a good replacement for a real dog, that runs, growls, and shows its teeth.

      Most good lures are good because of their action, which is much harder to imitate, than the looks.  Trout flies made out of hard plastic came out when I was a kid.  They looked exactly like the flies that they were supposed to represent, lasted forever, and were cheap.  Problem was they didn't have the buggy looks, and action, like flies tied with hair.  They looked more real sitting on a table, but floating on the surface, of a river, they didn't look like the real thing.

    A silver spoon may not look like a shad hanging on a tackle shop wall, but twitched while fluttering towards the bottom, the spoon may look exactly like a shad to a bass in the water.

  Even a live shad, wont get hit if it doesn't act the right way.  Lively live bait works, while slow swimming wore out, bait doesn't even get a look. 

    There are many lures out that do a good job of imitating a shad as long as the angler does his job of imparting the correct action.  There is always room for more lures, so maybe some one will make a lure that looks exactly like a shad combined with the magic action anglers are looking for. 

I recently saw an underwater video of the Chad Shad compared with other big hard swimbaits like Hinkles, S Wavers, Sneaky Petes, etc.    

 

I was truly stunned watching the Chad Shad come through the water.   I thought it was real.     Never been tricked by a lure like that before.  

 

It's a Milliken video.   

5 minutes ago, WRB said:

Live fish have the ability to “light up” iridescent that no lure can do.

Huddleston Deluxe makes a Grass Minnow and Shad that look like the real thing and catch bass. Some hard lures have iridescent coloring with flash.

Tom 

Shimano's flashboost is the real deal, and likely touches on this exact point your making.   I think you'd like them if you don't already own some.  

1 hour ago, Bartableman7 said:

Here is what I think of when I see a shad in the water that the bass eat where I fish:

 

With a million soft baits out there...none look like this.  Close sure.  They fool bass...but I would like these traits:

1) Shine on the body like chrome.  NOT white.  I've seen this so I know it can be done. The flash is a must. IT IS what creates the reaction strike.

2) Large black eyes.

3) THIS SHAPE! NOT a fluke, not a fat body swim bait shape.  Shad are "Thin" bodied.  Forked tail too.

 

Does anyone make a great "replica" Shad soft bait?

 

Doomsday Tackle makes a very close copy, I have a pack....just haven't tried them yet

 

Also don't like the color I have but it was a clearance thing.     They are called the 3.2 C-Shad 

 

[WRB]

Basstrix  Live Trix Shad looks alive but doesn’t swim like the real thing.

Good lures, fished like a dying Shad.

Tom

[BlakeMolone]

LC silent Pointer 95 in American Shad has a very Shad like profile and fish feeding on Shad just absolutely hammer the thing, not a replica but a similar size, shape, color, and profile.

Sorry just saw you said soft bait, my bad 

[JediAmoeba]

A lot if the foil wraps look really good in the water. A lot of times bass aren't hunting good healthy fish - they are looking for something that is injured that has difficulty swimming - i.e. easier prey.

[Big Rick]

10 hours ago, king fisher said:

exactly like a reel guard dog

You got a dog to guard your REELS?? Man, you must have quite the collection!!