New Shad Fly

[Tony Buzolich]

How could I have forgot about the surprise we got this morning.

Denny Griifin and I had been targeting striped bass and had just landed a beautiful 15# male on a 3/0 Clouser tied on a EC413. We picked up a couple more smaller bass when one of them went airborne. A shad! What an unexpected grab this was.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about another guide boat saying they had hooked shad while jigging for stripers using large Gibbs Minnows and Kastmasters.

Maybe this is telling us something? Are we tying shad flies too small? I've never had any problem using size #6 nickel hooks before but maybe I'll try tying a few even larger.
TONY

[LVC]

Tony,
I have always used size 4. I think you get better hook ups. Smaller hooks don't grab as much meat and can tear out because they are closer to the edge of the mouth. Many years ago Grant King always advocated big hooks for shad and I followed his advice. I very rarely get short strikes or hits without hook ups when other people around me are. When they want it, they have no trouble getting it into their mouth.
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