Entry 208-1

Mark Menendez on Strike King’s Latest Lures

Part 1: Lucky Shad – Red Eye Shad

Question: Mark, what do you like about the new Red Eye Shad?

Menendez: In years past, many lipless crankbaits resembled each other, but the Red Eye Shad is a lipless crankbait with a new shape. The Red Eye Shad throws like a bullet in the wind and has the same vibrations as a No. 5 or a No. 6 Colorado blade on a spinner bait will.

One of the unique things about this bait is the way it comes through vegetation and up off the bottom. I really like to rip a crankbait through the vegetation to trigger a strike, or rip it up from the bottom to make those bass that can’t decide whether or not they want to eat, to go ahead and eat the bait. Most lipless crankbaits just fall vertically back to the bottom after you rip them. But this lipless crankbait has a lazy swimming action as it falls.

This lazy swimming action is an advantage for two reasons. When a shad gets tired, it doesn’t just die and fall straight to the bottom. It will relax and swim to the bottom, much like an athlete who runs the 100-yard dash. Once the athlete expends all his energy and crosses the finish line, he jogs slowly before he begins to walk. The swimming action of the Red Eye Shad is much-more natural and realistic looking than any of the other lipless crankbaits. The bait is also the perfect size to mimic a threadfin shad. It has a very-narrow tail, which allows it to vibrate from the nose to the tail much harder than other crankbaits.

I’ve had great success with this lure from the Sam Rayburn Lake in Texas to Lake Oneida and Lake Champlain in New York. I’ve learned that the Red Eye Shad is a universal lipless crankbait. All you have to do is add water to start catching bass with it. You’ll generally see this crankbait tied onto one of my rods any time I’m fishing vegetation, or if I’m fishing for smallmouth. If I’m fishing for smallmouth, I’ll change the color to a real-bright chartreuse or a real-bright chrome color. If I’m fishing for largemouth, I’ll probably fish with either a brown or some other subdued color.

Question: What are your favorite colors?

Menendez: I’m real fond of the chrome colors – chrome with a black back, gold and black chrome, chrome and blue – and the Lucky Shad color, which has a pearl base layer on its shoulders that fades into a brown-copper color. The back of a threadfin shad is more brown than black, so this particular color looks just like a threadfin shad. The Lucky Shad color and the chrome colors will have to be my favorites.

Next: Spinning the Strike Shad

Contents:

• Part 1: Lucky Shad – Red Eye Shad
• Part 2: Spinning the Strike Shad
• Part 3: The Flat Shad – the Spinner Bait with Treble Hooks
• Part 4: The King Shad – The Next Version of a Swim Bait
• Part 5: How to Poison Bass