Been throwing the 3 inch Easy Shiner for a long time for spotted bass. Have occasionally thrown the Shad Impact on a ned rig. The bodies look identical, with one bait having a straight tail and one a paddle tail. Has anybody fished them both the same way- retrieve, depth and speed, etc- and reached any conclusions about which is best, or equal? Or fished them differently and caught more with a certain technique?

I don't know, and have never caught a spotted bass, but I'd keep both on hand and start with these premises.  Fish are aggressive or water clarity is down; start with the easy shiner.  Water is cold, or visibility is 15 plus feet, start with the shad impact.  Might be worth shaking the impact a bit as well to get some extra tail action, I prefer ballheads, but a ned should work too.  Either way, the fish will tell you what they want and you might find the opposite is true. The bait monkey in me says 4" in both is worth having too, as profile seems more important than action way too often.

 

scott

One's a swimbait and the other is a strolling/twitch bait. 

There s a lot of overlap between the 2, I use both in similar conditions.  You tight line the ES in shallower water because that tail gives it more lift. 

I use the SI with hover rigs, wheel heads and other jigheads that create roll.  The SI is just kind of a more subtle bait than the ES.  I think the straight tail looks and feels more natural to the fish, but I could be wrong.  I do well on both.

Im gonna try the Great lakes finesse hover shads out.  The quality of them looks great and the way belly is shaped should give the bait great action on the fall.