The shad fishing lure is designed to mimic the swimming motion and profile of the shad.  The reason for this is that it is a major forage base for predator fish such as bass, northern pike and walleye among others.  Often these predator fish will not be able to pass up the easy meal of a shad swimming by, especially one swimming erratically. This can be the case even if the fish are in a neutral or negative mood. 

In general if you are fishing clear water you want the color of the shad fishing lure to match as close as possible the color of the actual shad swimming in these waters.  That is the classic silver gray with black top of the classic shad fishing lure.  In general this color will work well in most situations and therefore should be a staple of a fisherman’s tackle box.  If you get to more stained waters a brightly colored lure such as the fire tiger or similar can provide more strikes as the visibility is much better in this stained water. 

The most popular brand of shad fishing lure is likely the Shad Rap by Rapala.  Made of balsa wood and floating, this lure is a staple of many fisherman.  Other lure manufacturers such as Cotton Cordell and Mister Twister are also known to make high quality shad fishing lures.  The thing to remember is that you are trying to match the size of the shad in the lake you are fishing whenever possible.  It is this reason that the lure manufacturers make different sized lures.  If you are unsure, I generally steer towards the middle most size of lure.

Shad Crankbaits

The two main fishing methods employed to fish a shad fishing lure is to either cast and retrieve or to troll. Often the preferred method is to troll as it allows you to maintain a constant depth as you work a particular type of structure.  If you purchased the “Troller’s Bible” it will display how far back you need the lure to be from your rod to achieve a certain depth based upon the manufacturer and size of lure.  A line counting reel or a special rod attachment can keep track of this distance easily and will allow for you to work the lure at the depth the fish want.  If you watch your depth finder and perhaps even use a GPS system you can continually run over the same water to trigger strikes from the waiting fish below.  If you prefer the casting method simply locate the structure you are looking to work and begin casting in a fan type of system.  Work the structure at varying depths and features and determine what the fish are looking for.  Once you have found this pattern make sure to return to the same retrieval method or specific structure as it is very likely that there will be more fish there.

Shad Soft Plastic Baits

Similar to the crankbait portion, there are two ways to fish soft plastic shad lures, but trolling is seldomly done.  The soft plastic shad is more of a finesse presenation that is meant to land near the fish and entice them to eat.  Much like cranbait fishing, beginning with a fan casting style is likely the best scenario.  Work the structure you are around at varying depths and places until you catch a fish.  Now with the soft plastics it is especially helpful to slow down and really work over the areas that you did catch fish as this presentation is great for the neutral to negative fish.