Entry 293-1
Five of My Favorite Strike King Baits with Mark Davis
Editor’s Note: Strike King was really proud to have Kevin VanDam, Greg Hackney, Shaw Grigsby and Mark Davis in the 2009 Bassmaster Classic in Shreveport, Louisiana, last week. Every day that week, we posted reports on how these fishermen did in this year’s tournament. Mark Davis has been a part of Strike King’s professional fishing team for many years, and he’s had input on many of the lures Strike King has produced. This week we’ve asked Mark to tell us about some of the lures that he’s helped Strike King design and build.
Part 1: Strike King’s Wake Shad with Mark Davis
Question: Mark, Strike King has come out with some new lures lately. Which one do you feel like you’ve had the most influence designing, promoting and fishing?
Davis: I’d say the Strike King Wake Shad, a new lure for Strike King this year. I won a tournament 2-years ago fishing the Wake Shad. I started working and modifying the King Shad to make it lighter. I also started heating-up the lip and turning it down to prevent the bait from diving so deep. I put lighter hooks and split rings on the King Shad, so it would give off a wake. I did make the King Shad wake, but obviously it wasn’t designed to be a wake bait.
Working with the Strike King lure designers, we changed the bill on the King Shad, so that it turned-down more to keep the bait to the top of the water. We also took a lot of internal weight out of the lure to keep it from sinking. 
We tested several different prototypes, and I suggested making the Wake Shad out of a completely different material than the King Shad. But we found that a lighter plastic was more brittle and would break easier. We ended up using a much-more durable plastic. We worked on this bait for about 12 to 18 months, and the end result was the Wake Shad.
Question: Mark, what was your original purpose in modifying the King Shad to make the Wake Shad?
Davis: The King Shad was designed to run just under the surface of the water, and I wanted a lure that looked like the King Shad and had the same action, except I wanted it to swim on top of the water. 
I felt the King Shad was the right size and profile for a lure that could swim on top of the water to catch a big bass. I like the King Shad, but I wanted to figure our how to make it float.
I had spent some time taking old minnow-type lures and making them lighter to be able to swim them on the surface with a wake, like an injured shad. I liked the swimming action and the size of a King Shad. I felt if I could modify a King Shad, we could have one of the best wake baits in the market. After we’ve tested and worked on the Wake Shad, I believe this lure is one of the best wake baits ever to come to the marketplace.
