Bass Fishing a Beat Shad with Ike

plastic lure color for summer bass with mike iaconelli

Beat Shad: Noting that this one excels for the middle of the water column, Iaconelli said the Beat Shad is music to a bass’ ears.

“I’ll throw this one anytime they’re on any kind of baitfish,” he said. “On the east coast, it could be alewife and shad, on the west coast, it could be hitch.”

Interesting point: Ia- conelli fishes his Beat Shad on a dart head — a classic west coast staple.

“I’ll fish it on a 3/16- or 1/4-ounce dart head and fish it through the level of the fish,” he said. “So, that’s a middle of the water column bait for suspended fish.

“Usually, this is a little lighter fluorocarbon. On a spinning rod, it’s 8 or 10; but sometimes I’ll throw it on a casting rod with 15.”

Bluff banks top his preference for west coast tar- gets. Sheer rock walls with shelves and other subsur- face contour features make perfect spots for rockin’ the beat shad.

“The thing about that Beat Shad is you can count it down,” he said. “I’ll put it on a 1/4-ounce dart head and if I figure out that the bluff is a sheer 30-foot drop, but

the fish are suspended at 15 feet down, you just count it down. Count 15 sec- onds and you’re in the zone of the fish.”

THE RIGHT LOOK

As for color selection, Iaconelli

keeps it straightforward and efficient.

Bottom line: Impersonate the indig-

enous forage.

Here’s his summary: “With the

Beat Shad

Pit Boss, I like the colors that mimic bluegill or crawfish: on the Beat

Shad, I definitely lean toward the

baitfish colors; and on the Bottom

Hopper, I stick with really basic colors. If you

have something that’s green pumpkin, if you have

something that’s Junebug and if you have something

that’s a little more translucent like a watermelon, you

have everything you need.”

ACCENT COLORS?

Sure, Iaconelli likes the artistic touch, but two dif- ferent objectives will guide his decisions. If he wants to make a wholesale color change to a large section of a bait — tails, pinchers, etc. — scented color dips are quick and simple. But when he wants a more fine- tuned accent like a shad dot or scale pattern, a dye pen affords the precision he needs to optimize those Berkley baits.

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