Page 30 - ODUMar-Apr2019
P. 30
More Than Just Another Blade Bait
By Billy ‘Hawkeye’ Decoteau
The year was 2016,
shortly after that every
now and then I would be
enthusiastically enticed by
the sweetest looking
blade-bait I had ever
seen! Then just like my
enthusiastic-enticement it
would disappear, or
rather truthfully, I just
forgot about it! After all
these blade-bait visions
were NOT during the cold-
water periods. It was July-
August the hottest days of
the year. The time when
savvy bass anglers SLOW-
DOWN, bass scatter
taking up residence in
thick green vegetation,
and large six-eight-inch
plastic baits become the Daily-Special on the Bass Menu.
Over the next two-years I became more and more curious of this sleek, shiny, lustrous baitfish profile
blade-bait. My inquisitiveness uncovered a treasure chest of information, as my enticing blade-bait
vision came into full focus... It was called the SteelShad.
Being a New Englander I was overwhelmed to learn the
SteelShad Fishing Company is based in East Dorset, Vermont.
Green mountain perfection coupled with ‘Yankee Ingenuity’
enticed me to contact Stephen Price, CEO of SteelShad. CEO
Stephen Price enlightened me on the history of the SteelShad
Fishing Company. Founded in 2016 Price, Brad Wightman and
Campbell Mathewson partnered together with Florida Fishing
Guide Captain Steve Niemoeller and launched the SteelShad
Fishing Company nationwide.
I couldn’t hold back any longer, I had to inquire, “So Stephen,
tell me how you and your partners developed the SteelShad’s
unique baitfish profile?” “Actually, the SteelShad lure was
designed by B.A. Gills, a fisherman on Kentucky Lake. However,