Is "Sexy Shad" really that good?

[NOVA Angler]

Let me start by saying I used the Red Eye in Sexy Shad a lot this past season.  It's been hit so many times that it doesn't even look like the original color anymore.  The success with this lure has more to do with the action of the bait than the pattern.  It just happens that the catchy name "Sexy Shad" is the most popular light color version of this bait.  Great marketing.  The success and endorsement by KVD helped tremendously.  I've used other colors and they also work very well.  These lures have replaced all but one of my Rat-l-Traps.  If you painted the Red Eye solid white and called it white, I bet I would have just as much success.

[jack1]

No doubt that KVD is a hot angler, so whatever KVD saysit's gold to the novice angler.

My little bro went nuts over it and got lured in to buy one.  A lot of angling success is the ability to use your knowledge and imply it to the conditions you're faced with, but to someone who is beginning to learn about the sportjust because KVD catches fish with it, doesn't mean that you will.

But yeah...Sexy Shad was over hyped.

[Simp]

What many forget is that baits are tools. The Red eye shad in sexy shad is I'm sure a great tool but it does you no good if you fishing it in the wrong situation (hard to do with this style of bait). The pros find a pattern and find a tool to best fish that pattern and the best make improvements to these tools. We often see them on TV telling us how great this tool is and how we can get in six months and look how many fish it's caught today. They hardy ever go into much detail about how they found this pattern and why it produces so well under their current conditions. The reason of course is because it's harder to sell that to the common consumer and easier to tell them you owe it all to this new lure and color. The people who would understand that info are also the ones he doesn't want to know this info. That's what IMHO makes this website and forum so amazing.

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

What many forget is that baits are tools. The Red eye shad in sexy shad is I'm sure a great tool but it does you no good if you fishing it in the wrong situation (hard to do with this style of bait). The pros find a pattern and find a tool to best fish that pattern and the best make improvements to these tools. We often see them on TV telling us how great this tool is and how we can get in six months and look how many fish it's caught today. They hardy ever go into much detail about how they found this pattern and why it produces so well under their current conditions. The reason of course is because it's harder to sell that to the common consumer and easier to tell them you owe it all to this new lure and color. The people who would understand that info are also the ones he doesn't want to know this info. That's what IMHO makes this website and forum so amazing.

Well said 8-)

It is a killer color without a doubt, but even if it didn't exist I am sure that all the other colors would still catch just as many fish if applied correctly.

[flippin]

paca craw makes a chart shad color never tried it though

[shootermcbob]

I don't know  about all the hype and that. I just know that I caught several fish last year on a series 3 and 4 and/or the redeye lipless crank in sexy shad when other colors did not work. I look at the water and the sky ( learned from bass pros and kvd video) and try the appropriate colors/baits. I fish with a spinnerbait first because it is my favorite. I will also have some type of soft plastic tied on, usually a brush hog or flappin hog, and then a crank bait. I have accumulated over about 125 cranks in different brands/colors/depths. I like to try several types and time after time, after not getting hit on the spinnerbait, jig/plastic, or another type/color, I would get hit on the sexy shad crank/redeye shad. I believe it works, it is not magic and fish don't just jump on and say catch me, but the results, at least in my opinion, is that it is a versatile color and a good bait. I have caught several fish on the zoom brushhog pumpkin/green flake color as well, and while I think it is an eye catching color, the fish don't always agree. I say, it's your money and your fishing time, if you like it and it works for you, throw it. Good luck to all you guys.

[CWB]

Timmy Horton has won a ton of $$$ on Fat Free Shads in Citrus, which is pretty close to Sexy Shad. KVD even used this same bait on Kentuky lake to push him over the top.

Hype? probably.

Good color? Definitely!

[Simp]

I've always felt that said something about the Fat Free Shad. He pushed the strike king cranks like crazy and for it to come out he tied on a Fat Free Shad says something. Part of me also thinks it was probably just to give them something different though. I'll LOL if at the roadtrip there evreybody has a Fat Ffree shad and Stike King crank on with sexy shad LOL.

[TournyFish001]

I agree with some of the others, I  think "sexy shad" is strike king's answer to LC's Chartruse Shad.  As far as KVD winning tournamnets and others having success with it... LC's Chartruse shad has been winning tournaments for years since LC came to the states.  KVD is the greatest power fisherman to ever step foot on this planet- that helps too.  But kudos to Strike King for adding a fish catching color to their line up.

[Steven Ladner]

Look at it this way, Strike King is one of his biggest sponsors, so he will wear out how good the color is. I do remember seeing the

tournament where he was catching lunker after lunker on the fat free shads. Sexy Shad is the latest craze in the fishing industry, just like when the chatterbait came out. I'm not sure how well the color works, never used it, I stick with Bomber.

[BIG M]

This color pattern has been painted in different versions for over 20yrs.   It wasn't until Bass tournys were on ESPN that everybody noticed.   It's a good color pattern and KVD happened to be the guy wearing the fish out with it.    

[Gatorbassman]

I got a chance to go to an after tournament dinner last year where KVD and Mark Zona showed up. I got to talk one on one with KVD and we talked about the Sexy Shad color. His response was something like this. "It's all about confidence. I fish that color because I have the most confidence in it. If I were catching alot of fish on a different color I'd fish that the most."

[Gatorbassman]

Oh and I make a Sexy Shad Fluke using JJ's. lol

[sambrochill]

to be honest, I've bought many sexy shad lures but for some reason i can't use them because  i lose them on cover or something. but ive had the chance to use them and i've caught one channel cat.

i'll probably buy more and hopefully this year i'll have better luck with them

[daviscw]

If KVD said a turd would catch fish, the whole would be throwin turds and there would be on turds to be found. Its all marketing IMO. I think color of baits are overrated.