Shallow Shad Rap SSR5 alternatives

[dragon1]

The last few trips out with a buddy of mine on Percy Priest, a #5 shallow Shad Rap has been the most consistent in shallow 2-4 fow for bass chasing small threadfin. I did match up well earlier this week with a 1/4 oz mini squarebill, but today even smaller cranks, lipless, and topwaters the same dimension or smaller than the SSR5 didn't elicit the same amount of strikes, although I did manage one each on a Flap Slap and an H2O mini squarebill. Strangely, even the LC SP65 and C'ultiva 65 minnows weren't drawing any action from these bass that were chasing shad into very shallow waters near shore.

What other techs are you finding would work in this scenario aside the SSR5?

[Bassjam2000]

It's not quite as subtle as the shad rap and has a rattle but may be worth a shot, Berkley makes a shallow 2 inch version of their flicker shad that I've had luck with. I'd probably just move away from hard baits and try casting around a mid-strolling bait like a small 2-3inch fluke style bait or twitch tail minnow on a small jighead, 1/16 or 1/32oz.

[reason162]

Megabass IXI Type R - you'll never go back to casting that potato chip SR5 - https://tackletrap.com/products/mega...3737b8dd&_ss=r

[dragon1]

Thanks fellas...we did toss some smaller Flukes and 2.5" grubs on 1/8 chatters as well, right to the bass when they were pushing the shad to the surface, and they ignored our offerings.

I did have a tiny Flicker Shad with me, but it was a mid diver and I didn't bring my L power spinning, only a couple of BFS that didn't handle it well. Dang, that IXI looks badass!

[dragon1]

I also tossed MB Griffon med. diver (it ran too deep), 3/8 Spro lipless, C'ultiva Zip N Ziggy, Evergreen JT95, Iovino Splash It, and Yellow Magic, (along with a host of 3/8-1 oz typical bass offerings on deeper areas), with no success.

The only baits I didn't bring were my small beetle spins and inline spinners, which I'm thinking may have worked.

[11pounder]

Swim a small grub on a light ballhead?

[dragon1]

Swim a small grub on a light ballhead?

I didn't try that, although that was essentially what was on the 1/8 oz bladed jigs body as there was no skirt. These fish were so keyed on a certain size threadfin, mostly 1-1.5" bait and they would engulf several at a time on a pass, that's why they didn't always eat the bait clean as they swipe at several of these small shad per feed/gulp...I think it's just a matter of casting as much as possible with a small subtle offering in the midst of these fish when they appear honestly, as there was literally baitfish everywhere.

Of note, it has rained consistently for almost two straight days, warm light rain, but enough that the water levels today were coming up 1.5' per hour and the lower end of the lake was low 50s and upoer section of the lake was upwards of 55-56, but muddy. By mid afternoon it was difficult to navigate because all of the debris, flotsam and jetsom that the creeks and rivers brought down to the lake.

[bilgerat]

Trust me on this, these things are money at times. It's a 1 5/8" slow sinking twitch bait that at times slays them. This is unlike many Rebel offerings as this has a color/finish scheme very similar to Yo Zuri's 3D type finishes. There's a lot of subtlety & detail to these that has to be seen in action to be appreciated such as the slight side to side rolling action on the drop on slack line that is visually amplified by the multi layer finish. The stock hooks are meh but the bait itself is a hidden gem. I've caught pretty much everything that swims on it. I recommend a light action rod and a max of small diameter 6 lb test tied to get the best action out of it.

https://discounttackle.com/products/...ght-twitchbait

[dragon1]

Trust me on this, these things are money at times. It's a 1 5/8" slow sinking twitch bait that at times slays them. This is unlike many Rebel offerings as this has a color/finish scheme very similar to Yo Zuri's 3D type finishes. There's a lot of subtlety & detail to these that has to be seen in action to be appreciated such as the slight side to side rolling action on the drop on slack line that is visually amplified by the multi layer finish. The stock hooks are meh but the bait itself is a hidden gem. I've caught pretty much everything that swims on it. I recommend a light action rod and a max of small diameter 6 lb test tied to get the best action out of it.

https://discounttackle.com/products/...ght-twitchbait

Perfect, I'll definitely check these little baits out.

[JohnnyK]

You buddy catch keeper size fish on the shad rap? The only time priest is good to me is Spring time.

[slipknobber bot]

Coming from an ex walleye guy, if you can find the #4 risto rap, buy them. IMO a way better cold water crank than the #5 shad rap!

[dragon1]

You buddy catch keeper size fish on the shad rap? The only time priest is good to me is Spring time.

Several guys out here rock crawl the #5 Shad Rap and have pulled a 19# bag last weekend with big fish over 6lbs. Last two trips out we caught about 20 fish with the largest six between 2.25-2.75, but he is hitting mostly shallow coves in the upper lake area. We did hit Spring Creek a few weeks ago and I caught a 3.25 with a J-11 floating jointed Rapala black back/silver foil, just twitching and letting it sit on top while some good sized fish were busting surface, including some hybrids and rockfish as well.

This is first time I've been able to fish Priest from a boat during late winter, last few times was in the spring and late summer so the patterns were quite a bit different.

FWIW, I use a 15lb Boga, so my increments for weighing is per .25 lbs.

[dragon1]

Coming from an ex walleye guy, if you can find the #4 risto rap, buy them. IMO a way better cold water crank than the #5 shad rap!

This is the Shallow Shad Rap... different depth bait as even the DT4 was digging mud and going too deep, it would be the same with the #4 Risto Rap unfortunately.

[Skeeta]

The discontinued spro prime 25CB would be a good one.

[dragon1]

It always seems some of the best lures are discontinued...

[Mybigfish812]

Megabass Kirashi might match the size. It is a slow sinking twitch bait.
6th Sense Crush 25? Perhaps if you removed the front hook. That will usually reduce the diving depth a little.
Megabass IXI type R was already mentioned above.
Rapala countdown minnow in the size 5 or the Elite 55 may work, so long as it is not allowed to pause/sink too long.
Megabass Griffon Zero or Baby Griffon, if you have/can find one.
Lucky Craft lc 0.7 or lc 0.5 mini square bills. May have to do the same trick as noted above for the nubbin sized Crush bait.
Lucky Craft Tango Shad in the 45 or 55 size. Another slow sinking, lipped bait. I am able to work them shallow by keeping my rod tip up.
Duo Realis made a flatside, shallow crankbait in 48mm and 54mm sizes. They have been good to me. Unfortunately, they are also discontinued.
Mirrolure Mini Dine Skin Series CS14MR in Shad or MirrOglass 9MR. More slow sinking twitch baits. Replace the SW hooks to slow the sink rate.

I have several of the shallow Shad Raps and do well with them. I am very interested to see what other suggestions come up for an alternative

[dragon1]

Megabass Kirashi might match the size. It is a slow sinking twitch bait.
6th Sense Crush 25? Perhaps if you removed the front hook. That will usually reduce the diving depth a little.
Megabass IXI type R was already mentioned above.
Rapala countdown minnow in the size 5 or the Elite 55 may work, so long as it is not allowed to pause/sink too long.
Megabass Griffon Zero or Baby Griffon, if you have/can find one.
Lucky Craft lc 0.7 or lc 0.5 mini square bills. May have to do the same trick as noted above for the nubbin sized Crush bait.
Lucky Craft Tango Shad in the 45 or 55 size. Another slow sinking, lipped bait. I am able to work them shallow by keeping my rod tip up.
Duo Realis made a flatside, shallow crankbait in 48mm and 54mm sizes. They have been good to me. Unfortunately, they are also discontinued.
Mirrolure Mini Dine Skin Series CS14MR in Shad or MirrOglass 9MR. More slow sinking twitch baits. Replace the SW hooks to slow the sink rate.

I have several of the shallow Shad Raps and do well with them. I am very interested to see what other suggestions come up for an alternative

Excellent input, thanks a ton!

I also need to break out more inline spinners and F5-F7 floating Rapalas as well as my stash of Viva pencil baits from the early 2000s...I think the Daiwa Pop Zero may also work.

[Sharpcard]

I took the Micro Flex A-rig out a few weeks ago just to see how it casts and what baits I could use on it. I ended up catching 5 in a little over an hour.
I was using 1/8 oz jigheads and various small swimbaits. The water was pretty clear and I started out using the non-bladed version, once I switched to the bladed version I started getting bit. It was easy to cast on a 7'2" ML rod with 12 lb fluoro

I don't know if it's worth 30 bucks but two of the bass were around four pounds and they didn't mangle the rig the way I thought they would.

Another bait that is a Winter favorite is a small 1/4 oz Scrounger with a 3.5 Jerky J

I still have three Viva Pencil baits, I haven't thrown one in years.

[dragon1]

I took the Micro Flex A-rig out a few weeks ago just to see how it casts and what baits I could use on it. I ended up catching 5 in a little over an hour.
I was using 1/8 oz jigheads and various small swimbaits. The water was pretty clear and I started out using the non-bladed version, once I switched to the bladed version I started getting bit. It was easy to cast on a 7'2" ML rod with 12 lb fluoro

I don't know if it's worth 30 bucks but two of the bass were around four pounds and they didn't mangle the rig the way I thought they would.

Another bait that is a Winter favorite is a small 1/4 oz Scrounger with a 3.5 Jerky J

I still have three Viva Pencil baits, I haven't thrown one in years.

Yeppers thought about a mini A-Rig but I hate tossing it in less than consistent 4-5 FOW, as we were many times literally tossing to less than a foot of water. The Scrounger would be a good alternative but that's still larger than the 1/8 oz mini bladed jigs we had, although still worth a try.

I was thinking Viva pencil because it's balsa and sits almost vertical when not moving, which seems to tempt these fish a bit more since they don't have to break surface as much to take the bait...plus the Viva pencil is very finesse and can spit and move water like a small shad.

[reason162]

Here's another shallow shad rap alternative - https://www.megabass.co.jp/site/prod...xi_furious_05/

It'll only dive 1.5 ft even on a burn. Between this and the IXI Type R, you can close the thread lol