What shad lure are throwing besides a shad rap?

[City17Banner]

I finally got to put in some time with the Type 3 this winter. Had a day where I was getting skunked, I tied the type 3 in a frosted white semi-transparent color and started whacking them. The TX is something I'd like to acquire.

I'm glad you are enjoying success with the IxI Type 3 Shad. I've had great success with all the different permutations of the IxI Shad fishing for smallmouth bass in the flood control flowages near my lake cabin in NW Wisconsin. I'm most curious if the newly released IxI Furious 0.5 Shad (designed to dive to 50cm or 19") will finally de-throne the very similarly designed (both lures feature the same exact lip design/material) Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad as my primary super shallow (less than 3ft) shad crankbait of choice during the pre-spawn fishing period this spring for smallmouth bass.

Good luck with your continued success using these excellent shad style crankbaits and please have a great day!

IxI Furious 0.5 Shad Link: https://www.lurenewsr.com/247376/2/

Looks like these cranks come in at just 1/4 oz if the stated weight is accurate - quite light. So what gear are you guys casting these tiny cranks on? I'm not sure if I have casting gear light enough to get the job done, at least not a rod that would load well enough anyway. Maybe they cast like little rockets.

Yes, these are all very light JDM crankbaits that are all around 7g or 1/4oz in weight. The IxI crankbaits use the LBO II (miniaturized) version of the classic Megabass LBO (Linear Bearing Oscillation) weight transfer system while the Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad uses a tungsten weight transfer system so both lure families do cast like "rockets" in my experience.

As for casting rods, I use two casting rods depending on if I am fishing open water or cover fishing situations.

Open Water Light Crankbait Fishing Situations (Light Cover & Obstructions)
Rod: Megabass Tomahawk GTZ F3-610 Hien (composite rod)
Rod Length: 6'10"
Number of Pieces: 1
Rod Purchase Price/Availability: $300 (in 2010), rod has been discontinued
Rod Weight: 146g or 5.15oz
Rod Power: F3 (medium light)
Action/Taper: Extra-Fast
Lure Weight: 3/16-5/8oz
Line Weight: 5-16lb
Fishing Impressions: The Megabass Tomahawk GTZ Hien is an old favorite casting rod for presenting small reaction crankbaits and topwater lures and provides the best features of both graphite and fiberglass rods in one consolidated rod blank. The Hien has the buttery smooth casting motion that is associated with classic fiberglass rods of yesteryear along with enough graphite to possess good sensitivity to avoid cover and other underwater obstructions. I have yet to find a better all-around light casting rod than the GTZ Hein even after extensive searching over the last decade.

Cover Light Crankbait Fishing Situations (Weeds and Standing Timber)
Rod: Smith LTD Tourer V-Spec TVC-69ML Bait Finesse Advance (graphite rod)
Rod Length: 6'9"
Number of Pieces: 1
Rod Purchase Price/Availability: $415 (in 2022), rod is available in very limited quantities
Rod Weight: 98g or 3.41oz
Rod Power: Medium Light
Action/Taper: Fast
Lure Weight: 1/16-3/8oz
Line Weight: 5-12lb
Fishing Impressions: After fishing with the Smith LTD Tourer V-Spec Bait Finesse Advance for an entire fishing season, I have determined that this rod will be the future centerpiece of my light crankbait fishing game as it has a potent combination of super lightweight and forgiving belly section that allows for great loading on the cast and excellent ability to ensure a smallmouth bass stays hooked during the fight by protecting the small trebles so often found on these light crankbaits. The sensitivity of the Smith LTD Bait Finesse Advance is especially useful when navigating the standing timber and log strewn flood control flowages I fish in NW Wisconsin and while the venerable Megabass Tomahawk Hien remains the best overall light crankbait casting rod I own, the Smith LTD is fast overtaking the "master light crankbait rod" due to its combination of lightness and sensitivity. I predict that as I gain more time on the water with the Smith LTD Bait Finesse Advance that it will eventually relegate the Hien into long term rod storage.

I hope this helps address your questions regarding these phenomenal JDM light shad style crankbaits.

Please have a great day!

Excellent info. I really enjoy and appreciate your detailed responses. I was hoping I might be able to present these lures with my 7'2" Medium Shimano Adrena, but I don't think it will load quite well enough for my liking. I might have to look into a ML casting rod with a regular fast action to present smaller cranks like these. Maybe there is something in the JDM Expride lineup

Thank you for your kind words, sir! JDM Crankbait fishing is my second favorite technique lagging only behind my JDM topwater fishing presentations, so I spend quite a lot of time, effort, and expense, to try and improve upon the JDM casting rods I use for my crankbait fishing addiction.

The JDM casting rods that I used last year that failed to properly present these light shad style crankbaits or really any of my light crankbaits in general are as follows (in no particular order):

1. JDM Shimano Poison Adrena 163ML Technical Approach: This rod was far stiffer than expected and may be a better light bottom contact ML casting rod for presenting 5g Bottom Up Gap Jigs with appropriate soft plastic trailer.

2. JDM Daiwa ST 69M+ Firewolf: This rod is far too powerful even though it has a solid graphite tip, instead it makes for a decent medium jerkbait rod for presenting the 3/8oz DUO Realis Rozante 77SP and LC Pointer 78.

3. Megabass Valkyrie VKC-69M+: Great rod for presenting the 3/8oz Megabass Deep-X 100 and the larger 7/16oz Megabass Flap Slap LBO model, too powerful for presenting any lighter crankbaits.

4. Sedition SDC 702ML Cristobal Limited: This rod excels at presenting lighter 3-7g lures, but the stiff tip and powerful belly section have relegated it to use only with bottom contact and light swimbait presentations with emphasize on the 5g RAID Japan Libero Head Swimmer.

5. Legit Design Wild Side 6'10" Solid Tip ML: This rod has a great moderate fast taper, but the solid tip makes this rod very soft and adversely impacts the ability to set hooks properly. This rod is best used to present the 1/8oz Megabass Okashira Screwhead with either a 3" MB Spark Shad or 3" MB Hazedong Shad body.

JDM Casting Rods To Try This Season
1. Daiwa Steez Racing Design 64ML+XB-SMT
2. Daiwa Steez AGS Compile-X (USA) STAGS681LFB68 Finesse Game Special
3. Zenaq Spirado Blackart B65 Finesse
4. Yamaga Blanks Blue Current III 69B
5. EG War Gazelle

Please have a great day!

[Craiger12]

I completely forgot that I actually own the 7'2" ML+ Expride A. Definitely not ideal due to the XF taper but the rod does load pretty deep into the blank given the lighter power. I will likely give it a shot with 1/4-3/8 oz cranks this spring and see how it goes. I don't fish cranks a lot so it makes sense to give it a try first before investing in a dedicated stick. I'll run straight fluorocarbon to help cushion the fast taper.

[City17Banner]

I completely forgot that I actually own the 7'2" ML+ Expride A. Definitely not ideal due to the XF taper but the rod does load pretty deep into the blank given the lighter power. I will likely give it a shot with 1/4-3/8 oz cranks this spring and see how it goes. I don't fish cranks a lot so it makes sense to give it a try first before investing in a dedicated stick. I'll run straight fluorocarbon to help cushion the fast taper.

That sounds like a good idea since you indicated you don't fish crankbaits a great deal. Good luck with your crankbait fishing efforts and please have a great day!

[Craiger12]

I completely forgot that I actually own the 7'2" ML+ Expride A. Definitely not ideal due to the XF taper but the rod does load pretty deep into the blank given the lighter power. I will likely give it a shot with 1/4-3/8 oz cranks this spring and see how it goes. I don't fish cranks a lot so it makes sense to give it a try first before investing in a dedicated stick. I'll run straight fluorocarbon to help cushion the fast taper.

That sounds like a good idea since you indicated you don't fish crankbaits a great deal. Good luck with your crankbait fishing efforts and please have a great day!

Much appreciated. I'm sure I'll be back to discuss upgrading my light cranking rod should it go well...

[City17Banner]

I completely forgot that I actually own the 7'2" ML+ Expride A. Definitely not ideal due to the XF taper but the rod does load pretty deep into the blank given the lighter power. I will likely give it a shot with 1/4-3/8 oz cranks this spring and see how it goes. I don't fish cranks a lot so it makes sense to give it a try first before investing in a dedicated stick. I'll run straight fluorocarbon to help cushion the fast taper.

That sounds like a good idea since you indicated you don't fish crankbaits a great deal. Good luck with your crankbait fishing efforts and please have a great day!

Much appreciated. I'm sure I'll be back to discuss upgrading my light cranking rod should it go well...

I hope you enjoy your crankbait fishing efforts, to me there's something magical about working a crankbait and being able to fool a smallmouth bass into thinking it's real enough to bite the lure. There are many good light crankbait casting rods out there should you find yourself more interested in fishing light crankbaits.

[Craiger12]

Are you guys banging these IXI Shads off rocks? How's the durability? The Duel Hardcore Shad looks very comparable at half the price.

[City17Banner]

Are you guys banging these IXI Shads off rocks? How's the durability? The Duel Hardcore Shad looks very comparable at half the price.

I am specifically fishing the IxI Type R and the Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad on super shallow (less than 3ft) sand/gravel, chunk rock, and boulder/rock flats in the early pre-spawn period for smallmouth bass in the electric-only flood control flowages around my lake cabin in NW Wisconsin. These hard bottom shallow areas are the first to warm up in the early season fishing period and the durability of these shad style crankbaits has been excellent. I actually lose far more lures to "nuisance" pike bites than due to damage sustained by using them in this type of environment.

I also use the Duel Hardcore Shad 1+ crankbaits but they have a tighter and different action and lack the specific side-to-side rolling action that the IxI Shad and Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad do so I tend to use them in different fishing conditions than "grinding" them on the shallow hard bottom flats.

Long story short, I own hundreds of JDM shallow crankbaits, and the IxI Shad and Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad are the standout lures for my early and late season hard bottom shallow smallmouth bass fishing efforts. As the fishing season progresses, different crankbaits come into play as water conditions evolve and these two specific lures get put away until the water gets colder again.

I should note that I do not modify either of these crankbaits since they are meant to be used in super shallow conditions.

For slightly deeper water fishing (4-6ft) during the same early and late season cold-water conditions, I prefer to use highly modified JDM crankbaits such as the Jackall Bling 55 and the OSP HPF Spec 2 crankbaits which are custom weighted to achieve very specific "slack motion" movements in specific water temperature ranges.

Lastly, if the fish are deeper than that depth range (7-10ft) and are in neutral or inactive states, JDM hard jerkbaits tend to work best for me, both neutrally buoyant/suspending and modified "slack motion" movement style jerkbaits depending on the prevailing water conditions.

Please have a great day!

[Craiger12]

Are you guys banging these IXI Shads off rocks? How's the durability? The Duel Hardcore Shad looks very comparable at half the price.

I am specifically fishing the IxI Type R and the Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad on super shallow (less than 3ft) sand/gravel, chunk rock, and boulder/rock flats in the early pre-spawn period for smallmouth bass in the electric-only flood control flowages around my lake cabin in NW Wisconsin. These hard bottom shallow areas are the first to warm up in the early season fishing period and the durability of these shad style crankbaits has been excellent. I actually lose far more lures to "nuisance" pike bites than due to damage sustained by using them in this type of environment.

I also use the Duel Hardcore Shad 1+ crankbaits but they have a tighter and different action and lack the specific side-to-side rolling action that the IxI Shad and Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad do so I tend to use them in different fishing conditions than "grinding" them on the shallow hard bottom flats.

Long story short, I own hundreds of JDM shallow crankbaits, and the IxI Shad and Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad are the standout lures for my early and late season hard bottom shallow smallmouth bass fishing efforts. As the fishing season progresses, different crankbaits come into play as water conditions evolve and these two specific lures get put away until the water gets colder again.

I should note that I do not modify either of these crankbaits since they are meant to be used in super shallow conditions.

For slightly deeper water fishing (4-6ft) during the same early and late season cold-water conditions, I prefer to use highly modified JDM crankbaits such as the Jackall Bling 55 and the OSP HPF Spec 2 crankbaits which are custom weighted to achieve very specific "slack motion" movements in specific water temperature ranges.

Lastly, if the fish are deeper than that depth range (7-10ft) and are in neutral or inactive states, JDM hard jerkbaits tend to work best for me, both neutrally buoyant/suspending and modified "slack motion" movement style jerkbaits depending on the prevailing water conditions.

Please have a great day!

Again, I greatly appreciate the highly detailed response. I plan to fish these baits in shallow rocky bottom areas similar to what your are describing, so I'm happy to hear there are no durability issues. Now I have more info to consider.

[City17Banner]

Are you guys banging these IXI Shads off rocks? How's the durability? The Duel Hardcore Shad looks very comparable at half the price.

I am specifically fishing the IxI Type R and the Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad on super shallow (less than 3ft) sand/gravel, chunk rock, and boulder/rock flats in the early pre-spawn period for smallmouth bass in the electric-only flood control flowages around my lake cabin in NW Wisconsin. These hard bottom shallow areas are the first to warm up in the early season fishing period and the durability of these shad style crankbaits has been excellent. I actually lose far more lures to "nuisance" pike bites than due to damage sustained by using them in this type of environment.

I also use the Duel Hardcore Shad 1+ crankbaits but they have a tighter and different action and lack the specific side-to-side rolling action that the IxI Shad and Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad do so I tend to use them in different fishing conditions than "grinding" them on the shallow hard bottom flats.

Long story short, I own hundreds of JDM shallow crankbaits, and the IxI Shad and Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad are the standout lures for my early and late season hard bottom shallow smallmouth bass fishing efforts. As the fishing season progresses, different crankbaits come into play as water conditions evolve and these two specific lures get put away until the water gets colder again.

I should note that I do not modify either of these crankbaits since they are meant to be used in super shallow conditions.

For slightly deeper water fishing (4-6ft) during the same early and late season cold-water conditions, I prefer to use highly modified JDM crankbaits such as the Jackall Bling 55 and the OSP HPF Spec 2 crankbaits which are custom weighted to achieve very specific "slack motion" movements in specific water temperature ranges.

Lastly, if the fish are deeper than that depth range (7-10ft) and are in neutral or inactive states, JDM hard jerkbaits tend to work best for me, both neutrally buoyant/suspending and modified "slack motion" movement style jerkbaits depending on the prevailing water conditions.

Please have a great day!

Again, I greatly appreciate the highly detailed response. I plan to fish these baits in shallow rocky bottom areas similar to what your are describing, so I'm happy to hear there are no durability issues. Now I have more info to consider.

You are most welcome!

There's always so many factors to consider when one decides to spend their hard-earned money, if I can be of further assistance, please let me know and I will do my best to assist further.

Please have a great day!

[Craiger12]

Are you guys banging these IXI Shads off rocks? How's the durability? The Duel Hardcore Shad looks very comparable at half the price.

I am specifically fishing the IxI Type R and the Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad on super shallow (less than 3ft) sand/gravel, chunk rock, and boulder/rock flats in the early pre-spawn period for smallmouth bass in the electric-only flood control flowages around my lake cabin in NW Wisconsin. These hard bottom shallow areas are the first to warm up in the early season fishing period and the durability of these shad style crankbaits has been excellent. I actually lose far more lures to "nuisance" pike bites than due to damage sustained by using them in this type of environment.

I also use the Duel Hardcore Shad 1+ crankbaits but they have a tighter and different action and lack the specific side-to-side rolling action that the IxI Shad and Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad do so I tend to use them in different fishing conditions than "grinding" them on the shallow hard bottom flats.

Long story short, I own hundreds of JDM shallow crankbaits, and the IxI Shad and Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad are the standout lures for my early and late season hard bottom shallow smallmouth bass fishing efforts. As the fishing season progresses, different crankbaits come into play as water conditions evolve and these two specific lures get put away until the water gets colder again.

I should note that I do not modify either of these crankbaits since they are meant to be used in super shallow conditions.

For slightly deeper water fishing (4-6ft) during the same early and late season cold-water conditions, I prefer to use highly modified JDM crankbaits such as the Jackall Bling 55 and the OSP HPF Spec 2 crankbaits which are custom weighted to achieve very specific "slack motion" movements in specific water temperature ranges.

Lastly, if the fish are deeper than that depth range (7-10ft) and are in neutral or inactive states, JDM hard jerkbaits tend to work best for me, both neutrally buoyant/suspending and modified "slack motion" movement style jerkbaits depending on the prevailing water conditions.

Please have a great day!

Again, I greatly appreciate the highly detailed response. I plan to fish these baits in shallow rocky bottom areas similar to what your are describing, so I'm happy to hear there are no durability issues. Now I have more info to consider.

You are most welcome!

There's always so many factors to consider when one decides to spend their hard-earned money, if I can be of further assistance, please let me know and I will do my best to assist further.

Please have a great day!

What line are you using for the IxI Shads? My plan is to go with 8# fluoro, Sunline Sniper to be specific. I figure this will help with casting distance on these light baits and hopefully still have enough durability for dragging bottom, not sure if I should go with 10# instead for the latter reason.

[City17Banner]

Are you guys banging these IXI Shads off rocks? How's the durability? The Duel Hardcore Shad looks very comparable at half the price.

I am specifically fishing the IxI Type R and the Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad on super shallow (less than 3ft) sand/gravel, chunk rock, and boulder/rock flats in the early pre-spawn period for smallmouth bass in the electric-only flood control flowages around my lake cabin in NW Wisconsin. These hard bottom shallow areas are the first to warm up in the early season fishing period and the durability of these shad style crankbaits has been excellent. I actually lose far more lures to "nuisance" pike bites than due to damage sustained by using them in this type of environment.

I also use the Duel Hardcore Shad 1+ crankbaits but they have a tighter and different action and lack the specific side-to-side rolling action that the IxI Shad and Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad do so I tend to use them in different fishing conditions than "grinding" them on the shallow hard bottom flats.

Long story short, I own hundreds of JDM shallow crankbaits, and the IxI Shad and Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad are the standout lures for my early and late season hard bottom shallow smallmouth bass fishing efforts. As the fishing season progresses, different crankbaits come into play as water conditions evolve and these two specific lures get put away until the water gets colder again.

I should note that I do not modify either of these crankbaits since they are meant to be used in super shallow conditions.

For slightly deeper water fishing (4-6ft) during the same early and late season cold-water conditions, I prefer to use highly modified JDM crankbaits such as the Jackall Bling 55 and the OSP HPF Spec 2 crankbaits which are custom weighted to achieve very specific "slack motion" movements in specific water temperature ranges.

Lastly, if the fish are deeper than that depth range (7-10ft) and are in neutral or inactive states, JDM hard jerkbaits tend to work best for me, both neutrally buoyant/suspending and modified "slack motion" movement style jerkbaits depending on the prevailing water conditions.

Please have a great day!

Again, I greatly appreciate the highly detailed response. I plan to fish these baits in shallow rocky bottom areas similar to what your are describing, so I'm happy to hear there are no durability issues. Now I have more info to consider.

You are most welcome!

There's always so many factors to consider when one decides to spend their hard-earned money, if I can be of further assistance, please let me know and I will do my best to assist further.

Please have a great day!

What line are you using for the IxI Shads? My plan is to go with 8# fluoro, Sunline Sniper to be specific. I figure this will help with casting distance on these light baits and hopefully still have enough durability for dragging bottom, not sure if I should go with 10# instead for the latter reason.

I use all YGK hybrid sinking braid/super ester mainline connected via an FG knot to a short 18" 30# Sunline FC100 leader to help with abrasion resistance and to primarily assist with "nuisance" pike bites.

I forgot to mention that the IxI Shad uses the new LBO II weight transfer system and is therefore silent, while the Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad uses a Tungsten weight transfer system and possesses a rattle, each type of lure has it's time and place and I always have both tied on and let the fish determine which type of lure they prefer each day. This is true of all of my JDM crankbaits such as the Jackall Bling which has a rattle and the OSP HPF Spec 2 flatside crankbait which is silent. The OSP HPF Spec 2 is the silent version while the "original" HPF flatside crankbait has a rattle. If you have the correct casting rod with the corresponding taper, then these lures with their advanced weight transfer systems are quite easy to cast for distance and accuracy. All of my casting reels are Shimano 21 Antares DC reels with the standard 5.6:1 gear ratio which helps me with staying consistent in my retrieval speed as sometimes, when the water is cold the fish can be lethargic.

I hope this answers your question and please have a great day!

[Craiger12]

I am specifically fishing the IxI Type R and the Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad on super shallow (less than 3ft) sand/gravel, chunk rock, and boulder/rock flats in the early pre-spawn period for smallmouth bass in the electric-only flood control flowages around my lake cabin in NW Wisconsin. These hard bottom shallow areas are the first to warm up in the early season fishing period and the durability of these shad style crankbaits has been excellent. I actually lose far more lures to "nuisance" pike bites than due to damage sustained by using them in this type of environment.

I also use the Duel Hardcore Shad 1+ crankbaits but they have a tighter and different action and lack the specific side-to-side rolling action that the IxI Shad and Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad do so I tend to use them in different fishing conditions than "grinding" them on the shallow hard bottom flats.

Long story short, I own hundreds of JDM shallow crankbaits, and the IxI Shad and Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad are the standout lures for my early and late season hard bottom shallow smallmouth bass fishing efforts. As the fishing season progresses, different crankbaits come into play as water conditions evolve and these two specific lures get put away until the water gets colder again.

I should note that I do not modify either of these crankbaits since they are meant to be used in super shallow conditions.

For slightly deeper water fishing (4-6ft) during the same early and late season cold-water conditions, I prefer to use highly modified JDM crankbaits such as the Jackall Bling 55 and the OSP HPF Spec 2 crankbaits which are custom weighted to achieve very specific "slack motion" movements in specific water temperature ranges.

Lastly, if the fish are deeper than that depth range (7-10ft) and are in neutral or inactive states, JDM hard jerkbaits tend to work best for me, both neutrally buoyant/suspending and modified "slack motion" movement style jerkbaits depending on the prevailing water conditions.

Please have a great day!

Again, I greatly appreciate the highly detailed response. I plan to fish these baits in shallow rocky bottom areas similar to what your are describing, so I'm happy to hear there are no durability issues. Now I have more info to consider.

You are most welcome!

There's always so many factors to consider when one decides to spend their hard-earned money, if I can be of further assistance, please let me know and I will do my best to assist further.

Please have a great day!

What line are you using for the IxI Shads? My plan is to go with 8# fluoro, Sunline Sniper to be specific. I figure this will help with casting distance on these light baits and hopefully still have enough durability for dragging bottom, not sure if I should go with 10# instead for the latter reason.

I use all YGK hybrid sinking braid/super ester mainline connected via an FG knot to a short 18" 30# Sunline FC100 leader to help with abrasion resistance and to primarily assist with "nuisance" pike bites.

I forgot to mention that the IxI Shad uses the new LBO II weight transfer system and is therefore silent, while the Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad uses a Tungsten weight transfer system and possesses a rattle, each type of lure has it's time and place and I always have both tied on and let the fish determine which type of lure they prefer each day. This is true of all of my JDM crankbaits such as the Jackall Bling which has a rattle and the OSP HPF Spec 2 flatside crankbait which is silent. The OSP HPF Spec 2 is the silent version while the "original" HPF flatside crankbait has a rattle. If you have the correct casting rod with the corresponding taper, then these lures with their advanced weight transfer systems are quite easy to cast for distance and accuracy. All of my casting reels are Shimano 21 Antares DC reels with the standard 5.6:1 gear ratio which helps me with staying consistent in my retrieval speed as sometimes, when the water is cold the fish can be lethargic.

I hope this answers your question and please have a great day!

Plenty of pickerel where I fish so that is something I need to consider as well. I'm planning on going with straight fluorocarbon as a mainline for my cranking and jerkbait fishing this year, but that sinking braid sounds interesting for bottom contact presentations where I will continue to use braid with a fluoro/copoly leader. How's the shock absorption on hooksets? My understanding is that ester lines don't stretch and have poor shock absorption, but not sure how that factors in.

[reason162]

I'm planning on going with straight fluorocarbon as a mainline for my cranking and jerkbait fishing this year

Definitely straight fluoro esp with that 72ML Expride A. The YGK SS112 behaves just like braid, except it slowly sinks. The ester core is just to increase density. I used 7lb sniper last year cranking all the ixi shads, but for your Expride 8lb would probably be a better bet, even 10 if you don't need to squeeze out every inch of depth on these crankbaits. Also more versatile for bottom contact/finesse jigs/free rig etc.

The ability to throw these small shad plugs on straight fluoro is one of the main reasons to use baitcasting gear over spinning imo.

[City17Banner]

Again, I greatly appreciate the highly detailed response. I plan to fish these baits in shallow rocky bottom areas similar to what your are describing, so I'm happy to hear there are no durability issues. Now I have more info to consider.

You are most welcome!

There's always so many factors to consider when one decides to spend their hard-earned money, if I can be of further assistance, please let me know and I will do my best to assist further.

Please have a great day!

What line are you using for the IxI Shads? My plan is to go with 8# fluoro, Sunline Sniper to be specific. I figure this will help with casting distance on these light baits and hopefully still have enough durability for dragging bottom, not sure if I should go with 10# instead for the latter reason.

I use all YGK hybrid sinking braid/super ester mainline connected via an FG knot to a short 18" 30# Sunline FC100 leader to help with abrasion resistance and to primarily assist with "nuisance" pike bites.

I forgot to mention that the IxI Shad uses the new LBO II weight transfer system and is therefore silent, while the Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad uses a Tungsten weight transfer system and possesses a rattle, each type of lure has it's time and place and I always have both tied on and let the fish determine which type of lure they prefer each day. This is true of all of my JDM crankbaits such as the Jackall Bling which has a rattle and the OSP HPF Spec 2 flatside crankbait which is silent. The OSP HPF Spec 2 is the silent version while the "original" HPF flatside crankbait has a rattle. If you have the correct casting rod with the corresponding taper, then these lures with their advanced weight transfer systems are quite easy to cast for distance and accuracy. All of my casting reels are Shimano 21 Antares DC reels with the standard 5.6:1 gear ratio which helps me with staying consistent in my retrieval speed as sometimes, when the water is cold the fish can be lethargic.

I hope this answers your question and please have a great day!

Plenty of pickerel where I fish so that is something I need to consider as well. I'm planning on going with straight fluorocarbon as a mainline for my cranking and jerkbait fishing this year, but that sinking braid sounds interesting for bottom contact presentations where I will continue to use braid with a fluoro/copoly leader. How's the shock absorption on hooksets? My understanding is that ester lines don't stretch and have poor shock absorption, but not sure how that factors in.

I haven't had any issues with line breakage or hooksets on any techniques I have used the YGK SS 112 hybrid braid for over the previous two season of fishing and that includes bottom contact fishing presentations such a 1oz OSP Hunts football jigs w/trailers and 1oz Megabass Dark Sleepers with my EG Rapid Gunner RSRs which have tremendous hook setting "prowess".

As an aside, like many things, due to the current global supply challenges, finding any pound-test of the YGK SS 112 hybrid braid is almost impossible at this moment in time. Thankfully, like with everything else related to JDM fishing tackle, if you like/prefer a given item of tackle, buy lots and lots of it and even after outfitting all of my JDM casting and spinning reels last spring, I still have quite a few spools of 10#, 16#, and 20# left over for use down the road with new casting reels and for line replacement in general.

Please have a great day!

[Craiger12]

I'm planning on going with straight fluorocarbon as a mainline for my cranking and jerkbait fishing this year

Definitely straight fluoro esp with that 72ML Expride A. The YGK SS112 behaves just like braid, except it slowly sinks. The ester core is just to increase density. I used 7lb sniper last year cranking all the ixi shads, but for your Expride 8lb would probably be a better bet, even 10 if you don't need to squeeze out every inch of depth on these crankbaits. Also more versatile for bottom contact/finesse jigs/free rig etc.

The ability to throw these small shad plugs on straight fluoro is one of the main reasons to use baitcasting gear over spinning imo.

Excellent. This is basically exactly what I was hoping to hear. Thank you.