What is everyones thoughts on a 5 inch boot tail swimbait shad color in lakes that have no shad ( yes I know every bait will work) but I'm talking about being productive enough for a tournament. I live in Iowa, our most common forage is crawfish/bluegill/frogs.

lakes don't get very deep and usually have a thermocline in the summer. 

Cover depends on lake but very basic stuff brush, pond weed, some small areas with rock 

I think it will work, there are probably shiners, suckers and other types of minnows which have the same general color of shad. Even if there aren't any it will still work. Just like other colors which don't mimic natural prey do; chartreuse, hot orange, bubble gum, black blue. 

33 minutes ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

What is everyones thoughts on a 5 inch boot tail swimbait shad color in lakes that have no shad ( yes I know every bait will work) but I'm talking about being productive enough for a tournament. I live in Iowa, our most common forage is crawfish/bluegill/frogs.

lakes don't get very deep and usually have a thermocline in the summer. 

Cover depends on lake but very basic stuff brush, pond weed, some small areas with rock 

Sure, that will work. Depends on the conditions and time of year. Will it be better than other things? Only one way to find out. The lake you describe will have me doubling up on my pitching setups on the deck until the fish tell me otherwise.

To my knowledge I don’t think shiners or suckers or in there but I don’t know for sure. I was thinking it will mimic a baby or smaller bass but is that productive enough. Many people will say try it and I’m going to but I do like to have these discussions to see what people have experienced 

Basstrix hollow body paddle/boot tail was one of the hottest Swimbaits in the country and created a new category of lures. The shad colors are very popular everywhere.

Tom

It should work just fine. There’s only one way to know for sure. If you want to tinker around, try putting it on a swim jig to bulk up the profile to imitate crappie or some other forage

I live in Illinois and I've been using them both on a belly weighted hook and a ball head jig for a few seasons now. They've been very productive in the three sizes that I keep on hand. 

When the head gets too torn up to use that way, I cut it off and use the tail section as a trailer for a SB or swim jig.

10 hours ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

What is everyones thoughts on a 5 inch boot tail swimbait shad color in lakes that have no shad ( yes I know every bait will work) but I'm talking about being productive enough for a tournament. I live in Iowa, our most common forage is crawfish/bluegill/frogs.

lakes don't get very deep and usually have a thermocline in the summer. 

Cover depends on lake but very basic stuff brush, pond weed, some small areas with rock 

I fish non shad lakes, very clear water and have great success w/ shad color variations.  If I have a choice I lean toward the green backs, feels like deep water bream/baby bass to me.  Personally, I think most lure companies do a cartoonish version of bream anyway.

 

 

scott

I would probably choose a different color if it were an option but I wouldn’t hesitate to throw the shad color if it were all I had. I catch plenty of bass on swimbaits that don’t exactly “match the hatch” on various fisheries year round.