Paul Fisler and HM1 Shane Gilley catching bass on Lake Toho using steelshad. They caught a bunch of schoolie sized bass and had a great three days of bass fishing.

The SteelShad have probably been one of our most productive baits for several months. These baits have been catching everything from slab sized crappie to some pretty darn good bass. These lures have been very good for clients and especially tournament bass fishermen, as they can load the boat fast when your trying to get your 5 bass limit quickly, but don’t be fooled, the steelshad has landed plenty of bass over five pounds.

Keep in mind, these baits are the perfect size to mimic bait fish such as shad and wild shiners, the flash and the tight wobble of this lure make it very attractive to feeding bass as well as lethargic bass. There are several ways you can work this lure. Steady retrieve will usually produce some pretty good strikes with it, but one of my favorite ways is to do a yo yo retrieve, that’s where while your retrieving the lure, you raise and lower your rod tip, causing the lure to come back in a erratic up and down motion. This has proven to be very effective and it seems to really get some of the bigger bass to be more aggressive.

For the crappie guys, we have fished this lure slow and deep, almost like slow rolling a spinner bait for bass, every now and then you will lose the feel of the lure, this typically is when the lure is hit from the side, but the crappie did not get hooked up. When reeling this lure in and a crappie hits it, just a simple “lift” of the rod tip seems to have been good enough for setting the hook on the crappie. We have caught a ton of crappie from 2 to 2 ½ pounds like this.

With 5 colors to choose from, Silver, Gold, Trout, Red and Fire Tiger, you have plenty of options.