Flat-sided baitfish represent critical components of the forage bases of many fisheries. In freshwater, shad, alewives, and even young-of-the-year sunfish and crappies are favorite targets, from trout and salmon to walleyes, bass and stripers. In saltwater environments, threadfin herring, and sardines are well-established prey items for a staggering variety of inshore and offshore species, and are frequently used by anglers as chum or live baits due to their innate bite-triggering features.
The prevalence of such baitfish around the globe, and their importance to the fish that we pursue with rod and reel, led the master lurecrafters at LIVETARGET to engineer a truly unique soft plastic jerkbait, the Skip Shad, to help anglers put more fish in the boat – wherever those fish happen to swim.
The innovative Skip Shad will elevate your soft plastics game to the next level. Manufactured using LIVETARGET’s exclusive, patent-pending Injected Core Technology (ICT), the Skip Shad features an authentic, vibrant color patter within the core, which is fully encapsulated and protected by a clear, soft polymer shell. Matching anatomical features are aligned on both the interior and the exterior portions of the Skip Shad, producing unique three-dimensional textures that are both robust and ultra-realistic. By carefully controlling the density of both the interior core and the outer shell during the molding process, the Skip Shad achieves a perfectly-balanced, strike triggering action – right out of the package.
Injected Core Technology not only gives the Skip Shad its unique appearance, but it also makes this soft plastic jerkbait extremely versatile to rig and present in both freshwater and saltwater environments. It can be fished on a weighted or un-weighted weedless Texas Rig, or along the bottom on a Carolina Rig. The smallest size Skip Shad is an incredibly tantalizing dropshot bait. It can be rigged to crawl nose-down along the bottom on a stand-up jig, or even used as a trailer to elevate a conventional jig-and-plastic presentation to the next plateau of realism. And, as the name implies, the Skip Shad is also a tremendous option for skipping under docks and overhangs; its flat sides help it to skip farther back underneath overhead cover, to areas where true trophies wait in ambush – places that other lures simply cannot reach.
The precision-tuned balance of the Skip Shad is revealed as it falls through the water column. When simply dressed on a hook, the Skip Shad has a remarkably slow descent, with its flat body within the horizontal plane as it falls, perfectly mimicking the action of an injured shad or sardine. The Skip Shad doesn’t tumble or spiral, it simply drifts tantalizingly downward with just a gentle shimmy along its length until it comes to rest on the bottom – or is consumed by a nearby predator fish.
The LIVETARGET Skip Shad will be available in three lengths and weights: 3 ½” (4 per pack); 4 ¼” (4 per pack); 5 ¼” (3 per pack). Six color patterns (134 Silver/Pearl, 951 Silver/Smoke, 934 Silver/Brown, 952 Silver/Green, 201 Silver/Blue and 207 Silver/Purple) make it easy to select the perfect Skip Shad to match your regional forage base and target species in freshwater or salt. The Skip Shad has an MSRP of $9.99.