Strike King® Red Eye Shad

Target Species: Largemouth Bass
Also Good For: Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Trout

The original rattlin' sexy shad, Strike King recently improved this highly successful lure with a lineup of new colors (including some translucent) and also added a smaller 1/4 oz. size. Two seasons ago, our reviewers caught just about everything with the original, and we are more than excited to get going with the new colors and sizes this season.

First Impressions

The first time I picked up this lure two things struck me immediately; the hollow rattle and the feel of plastic. In fact, in all honesty, I was a bit suspicious of the overall quality of the lure even before I cast it. A closer look at the paint, detail, hooks and balanced weight, suggested otherwise.

Fishing the Lure

Using a spinning set-up, the very first time I cast this lure I put it in a tree. Not a fault of the lure. In fact, the weight was better proportioned than I anticipated and it cast much further than I thought I would. (TIP - the first time you cast an unfamiliar lure, use open water!) My first experience was with the 1/2 oz. size in the original Sexy Shad color. After my initial mishap, I found several Largemouth Bass using the lure in water 3 ft deep or more using standard cast and retreive techniques and up to 15 ft. deep using vertical, free-style type jigging - where the lure landed several Perch, a few Northern Pike and even a Brown Trout!

The Original Sexy Shad

I first fished this set-up in 2007 with the original "Sexy Shad". For those of you unfamiliar with the "Sexy" shad color, it was made famous by Kevin Van Dam and is essentially a silver shad with light blue tinged back and yellow highlight. In fact it was so popular many companies now offer their lures with similar paint schemes ("Foxy Shad", "XXX Shad", etc.) Strike King still offers the original sexy shad scheme with two new twists: the Chrome Sexy Shad and the Chartruese Sexy Shad (pictured at top). Strike King also offers 26 other colors with 14 new schemes for 2009.

Review Summary

As mentioned previously, this lure caught just about everything. On the original sexy shad color in the 1/2 oz. we caught Largemouth, Smallmouth, Rock and Spotted Bass; the occassional walleye, pike and perch; and even a brown trout which really caught me by surprise! I recently purchased a bunch of these lures on sale at Bass Pro Shops in a few new colors and sizes (Chrome Blue, Chartruese Shad, Green Gizzard Shad, and Citrus Shad). We'll have an update as soon as bass season opens.