Sexy Shad Bladed Swim Jig

[smalljaw]

We got a lot of rain and just when it looked as if it was going to stay nice for 3 days straight we get hit with some wicked T-Storms. So, now my waters are dirty again and so I'm breaking out some bladed jigs but instead of switching colors as the water changes, I decided to give an all-purpose pattern ,that is visible in dirty water yet still good in clear water, a try and so I tried my hand at a sexy shad pattern. This pattern is tailor made for spraying powder, I used my own custom blended pearl paint as a base, and then I dusted a little yellow chartreuse on the bottom with my own custom blended sky blue dusted on the back. The deal with this is you can't due fine lines so you have to dust the color on the head in a way that you get full coverage but it is light enough for the white base to show through, it took some practice to get this down, and I still have a little tweaking to do but for now it is good enough. The skirt is 44 strands with 30 being sexy shad silicone and 14 strands being silver neon that I use for flash and to break up the sexy shad a bit, and I know it doesn't mean much to the fish but it does to me so I will add that other material. This is a 3/8oz bait with a 4/0 Eagle Claw 2706 heavy wire flat eye hook, as I said before, this is my first go around with this version of sexy shad, I did another with some gray and dark blue in it but I wanted a softer, more pastel look to it because the colors are bright so a little toned down will make it better for clearer water while it is still visible in all but muddy water. After I use it I'll see how it works and then I'll work on tweaking it a little bit, maybe more white or blue or a different hue, I'm not sure but I'm ok with this for now, let me know what you think...Honestly.

[Muskygary]

I love it! Will you be using a swim plastic with it? I have been fishing my chatterbaits without a skirt this year and they are doing well. Always wonder if a skirt makes any difference in the catch rate.  I've been told a skirt will catch bigger fish? Let us know how you do with it and what trailer you use.

[efishnc]

I love it! Will you be using a swim plastic with it? I have been fishing my chatterbaits without a skirt this year and they are doing well. Always wonder if a skirt makes any difference in the catch rate.  I've been told a skirt will catch bigger fish? Let us know how you do with it and what trailer you use.

Not to take away from SJ's art, but this spring I was using my chatters with the zipper tube (no skirt) and doing better than my buddy (in the back of the boat) with the skirt on his... not really a fair test, but they certainly work without as skirt as well as with.

[Lamar]

  I like that little bit of silver in the belly. Nice touch. That will be a nice bait come fall when they start munching on shad.

[WALLEYE WACKER]

Great  jig I also have used a chatter bait both was with and without a skirt. I haven't seen were one caught bigger fish. I use 3.5 &  4.5 swim shad  4 & 5 xc  Craw's and a 3.5 ribbed swim bait.

[smalljaw]

Thanks guys, I too have tried the bait with and without a skit and without a skirt is a good option when it is tough or in clear water. I found that my average size fish is larger with the skirt and it goes up by a pretty good margin but it makes sense since the skirt bulks the bait up. I use fluke trailers for my bladed swim jigs, and I use paddle tail swim baits for a regular swim jig, I feel the blade shaking the jig moves the fluke around to give it a nice action, I don't thing I need any other action but on a regular swim jig, well that has no action so it needs help and that is why I like the swim bait as a trailer for those.

[Lamar]

  When using a fluke type trailer try it with a clear or a clear with some flake to it skirt ( I like gold flake for stained water and silver or green flake for clear ). I want supper fine flake to make it still transparent. That way you get still get the real bait look the fluke gives you but also gives the body some movement and bulk. I also think adding the fluke gives me a bigger bite. With this bait I would add a solid white fluke to make it stand out better. For me in dirty water that bad boy would produce.

[Apdriver]

Very nice bait, Smalljaw. Your work speaks for itself. Indeed, something most us aspire to come close to.
In my home waters, which are mostly clear, I have not done well on bladed jigs when the water is gin clear. I think it's too much vibration and color maybe for the fish. I'm no expert just my opinion. When I have done well is when the water is off colored or when I travel to waters that are typically stained and never get gin clear. Waters where bass tend to use their lateral line as opposed to their vision alone to find prey. That said, if the water has two or three feet visibility, I find muted colors in a bladed jig do well also, as opposed to bright colors. I will try the fluke as a trailer, for sure. Maybe in my gin clear lakes just a fluke and no skirt will be the ticket in using this bait. Certainly another dynamic I will try. Thanks for sharing......

[smalljaw]

Very nice bait, Smalljaw. Your work speaks for itself. Indeed, something most us aspire to come close to.
In my home waters, which are mostly clear, I have not done well on bladed jigs when the water is gin clear. I think it's too much vibration and color maybe for the fish. I'm no expert just my opinion. When I have done well is when the water is off colored or when I travel to waters that are typically stained and never get gin clear. Waters where bass tend to use their lateral line as opposed to their vision alone to find prey. That said, if the water has two or three feet visibility, I find muted colors in a bladed jig do well also, as opposed to bright colors. I will try the fluke as a trailer, for sure. Maybe in my gin clear lakes just a fluke and no skirt will be the ticket in using this bait. Certainly another dynamic I will try. Thanks for sharing......

I will have to agree with you Apdriver, when it comes to largemouth your experience is 100% correct but smallmouth are a different story. In the lakes I fish that are primarily largemouth, I don't do well with bladed jigs with more than 2' of visibility, for that I use a "Northern" style swim jig, 1/4oz with a light 24 strand skirt and 4/0 light wire hook and I use muted colors like smoke, watermelon and green pumpkin with a touch of blue. Even a bladed jig without a skirt seems too much and I believe it is the hard vibration, in clear water they become sight feeders and color and size become very important, until you throw smallmouth into the occasion. Strike King came out with a new color in their soft plastic baits, "Siren" , it is referred by northern pros as the smallmouth killer and the color is a bright yellow chartreuse, and it is solid, no flake or glitter and no translucency at all, as bold as it can be. I get a lot of anglers telling me I play to much with color when I make jigs and that color doesn't matter much, and I'll give you that when it comes to largemouth but smallmouth are very different, when the water has 2' to 3' of visibility, color begins to become a larger part of getting the fish to hit but, they will let you know, if you have the right bait in the wrong color, you'll get follows, and in gin clear water, I had then turn down natural and muted colors for bright reds and chartreuse, and blaze orange as well. I made these in the "Mouse" color as well, just so I have something like you mentioned, a little bit muted but keeping a little flash, hopefully I can get some fish to cooperate next week and I'll let you know how these things worked.

[Fatman]

Nice SJ!!!! Those should work just fine