I had the opportunity to spend some time fishing the new bait from Sebile called the Stick Shad.  This bait is a cross between a “walk the dog” top water, and a sub-surface bait.  The bait has been known as a great bait for Redfish and Speckled trout, but freshwater use has been non-existent to say the least.  At first I wasn’t sure how the Stick Shad was going fit into my River Smallmouth arsenal. That concern was quickly forgotten, when I took it out of the pack and made a cast.

Initially, I fished the Stick Shad on 14lb Gamma Copolymer green line spooled on a Citica 200 Reel mounted on a Shimano Cumara 6’8” MH Rod.  I immediately caught fish in an area that I had just fished with a Spinnerbait, Topwater Popper and a Small Crankbait.  I then switched it to a  lighter Cumara rod (6’8” Med) and a Citica 100, spooled with Gamma Edge Flourocarbon line (10 lb).  My results where much better with the lighter outfit and the Flourocarbon line made the bait get a little deeper.  It is much easier to control the bait and give it a harder side to side action. In the small stretch of water I fished I proceeded to catch 21 fish in a very short period of time and almost every fish had the front hook in its mouth and a few had the entire bait inside their mouth, which tells me there was no doubt to the level of commitment to the bait.

The bait color I fished was the ghost pattern, but I am sure the blood colors will produce as well. Most fish where caught on shallow rocky flats and around deep water ledges.

The Stick Shad can be fished as a topwater bait with very short twitches on a semi slack line. It walks side to side in very subtle movements. In order to work it as a topwater the rod must be kept fairly high. I have not spent much time doing this yet, but I will in the very near future.

The best results I have found are to use the Gamma Flourocarbon to work it as a sub surface bait.. The is best achieved by keeping the rod low to the water and  making strong twitches on a semi slack line. This action makes the bait dart side to side  18” or so under the surface. The bait will quickly return to the surface if you stop the retrieve or don’t work it fast enough.

If you want to increase your summer time catches, you can’t go wrong with adding a few of these to your tackle box. Let me know how you like it and your success story.