Flicker Shad

[specseeker]

Hi All, I see a lot of folks talking about the Flicker Shad baits and some recommendations about using a #7 size. Went to the Berkley website and I couldn't find any mention of the size #7. The site list bait lengths from 1 1/2" - 3 1/2" and sizes from 1/8 - 1/2 oz. We are rookies at pulling cranks but have had some good results with the Bandit 300's. I guess it's like anything else about fishin it always looks greener on the other side of the boat. Any recommendations on size and colors would be appreciated. Do most of our fishing on Mark Twain, Lake of the Ozarks, Sardis & Enid. Thanks

[wilbur]

They have a size 7 http://www.fleetfarm.com/search/?cat...rder=ascending I have only used 5 and 6.

[specseeker]

Thanks - any color favorites?

[Tommy Skarlis]

We were using 5's and 6's (that's in centimeters) when we won the championship at Grenada last fall. The # 7's seem to have a fairly radical action - so in warm water and aggressive fish - they are ok - but I would stick to the 4's, 5's and 6's. The dive curve comes on the package. Mills (which wilbur pointed out above) Scheels, Gander and Cabelas all have custom colors. Bright colors with Chartrueses and Oranges worked well - I try to fish the painted lures when it is overcast and chrome when it is sunny.

We handled a lot of fish at the CM tournament on Lake of the Ozarks earlier this year - some of the fish we were catching were 50 feet deep - we were using an Off Shore Tadpole diving weight to get them down that deep.

[Cray]

Down here I have had my best luck on the 6's though I have a few 7's and some 5's. Think m going to like the 5's for fishing a little more shallow. My best luck has been on the Black and silver then black and chrome followed by blue and chrome. Like Tommy said depending on overcast the colored baits with Chartruse or Orange work good. I also like the Chrome clown. If you watch Fleet farm on a regular basis they will run some really good sales on them at times. I have a buddy that swears by the storm smash shad which is very similar to the Flicker shad. I also pull a lot of 300's but I think sometimes they want something a little different. Sometimes we will have 30 or more boats all pulling bandits in the same water so I try to show them something different. I usually will mix it up with different baits out at the same time to find what they want.

[luremaker]

specseeker, I sell a lot of the flicker shads in my brick and mortar store. The popular colors here in southern Missouri are pearl white, black silver, and blue tiger. Shad is also popular at times.

The most purchased size here is #4 and #5, but most of the guys buying them are chasing white bass in North Fork lake at the Tecumseh bridge where the water is shallow.

They just come out with a new line of them that are like the rapala glass raps. Haven't started carrying them yet but nobody here knows much about them colors yet so we'll see.

Good Luck!

[specseeker]

Sorry for the slow follow up. Went over the Grandpa threshold 8 weeks ago and been spending a little time with Max this morning.
I appreciate all the advice. Tommy I have a question about how deep, 50', you were catching those fish on LO. Is that because the lake had not developed a thermocline yet in the Spring. Most all of the crappie that we catch from now until Fall will be fish suspended approx. 15' and above over deep water. Very seldom do we catch any fish consistently deeper than that because of the low oxygen levels. Is that what you all experience?

[Tommy Skarlis]

specseeker, I sell a lot of the flicker shads in my brick and mortar store. The popular colors here in southern Missouri are pearl white, black silver, and blue tiger. Shad is also popular at times.

Good Luck!

I would use the pearl white and shad on overcast days and the black silver and blue tiger on sunny days - but wouldn't be afraid to go "against the grain" and pull them anytime! I bet lureseeker also has Chartreuse Pearl and Clown which are also good colors as well. I have not had much of a chance to use the new "Flash" and "Slick" Series for crappie - but the walleyes were all over them at Lake Oahe in Mobridge, SD last week and I did catch 3 big black crappies as well. (And this is not a body of water known for it's crappie) I might have to visit your store when I'm down for the Crappie Masters last two MO events or the next time I head to the Ranger plant!

[Tommy Skarlis]

Sorry for the slow follow up. Went over the Grandpa threshold 8 weeks ago and been spending a little time with Max this morning.
I appreciate all the advice. Tommy I have a question about how deep, 50', you were catching those fish on LO. Is that because the lake had not developed a thermocline yet in the Spring. Most all of the crappie that we catch from now until Fall will be fish suspended approx. 15' and above over deep water. Very seldom do we catch any fish consistently deeper than that because of the low oxygen levels. Is that what you all experience?

No need to apologize - I was gone to a tournament and just home now catching up!

We felt the crappie were that deep because the forage was that deep - as well as no thermocline yet. The cold front came in and actually pushed both deeper.

I don't have a tremendous amount of experience [yet ] on fish that deep either - but if they are anything like walleye - they will "Follow" the thermocline and sometimes relate to it as it "moves".

[specseeker]

Tommy thanks for the follow up. Not that we are any experts by any means but we have had real good success fishing between 25 and 50 ft during the months of Nov - Jan in lakes we fish in TX, LA and MO. We find that most of the fish relating in the water column between 15 ft deep to the bottom with most of the active larger fish within 1 - 4 ft from the bottom. We use a modified form of spider rigging that we call sliding. The rod holders are the same placement on the bow with a complete set up on the back of the boat and if we are carrying a third person we will have another set up on the side. The equipment is simple. We use an inexpensive 5' 6"Med Action Yellow Eagle Claw rod with an Abu 5500 C3 spooled with Vicious 8 lb fluorocarbon. Each rod is rigged with a #214 hook with a split shot approx. 8" above the hook and a1/4oliding bullet weight above that. Each is baited with a minnow an we free pool the bait to the bottom. Once on the bottom we will fish the bait 1 - 3 cranks on the reel off the bottom. After locating fish I will put a 30 lb anchor off the bow using 1/4" nylon rope. I use a spool that holds 750 feet. I will slowly side back on the rope until someone gets a bite . I will hold until a couple of minutes passes without a bite and then continue to slide back. If we hit a particular spot that was productive but went quiet I will put a trotline clip on it and continue the slide When I run out of fish on the locator I will pull us back towards the anchor and when I comeback to a clip I will tie off and the boat will settle back over the productive spot. If we get back to the anchor and it was a good line we might run that same line again and again. Otherwise I will pick up the anchor if the area is productive move over 30 ft and drop it and run a new line. Most of the fish we find active will be between a 3 ft differential 25-28, 31-34, etc. This method allows us to fish slow and accurately and has served us well. Another benefit is that it has made us much better at identifying some small vey good structure that we have a saved as waypoint that I don't think we would have identified if we would have been moving quicker. We are lucky to fish with a group of folks that share these little hotspots. Just thought I'd share a little success and hope it helps someone catch a few more for the freezer. God Bless!