Man these things are awesome!!  Absolutely the best swim bait ever.  I have used many soft plastic swim baits and this is by far the best.  In my opinion, these baits have the most realistic swimming action that really intices big fish to come and get it!  Like I said, a great bait.

ANyone else ever used this or have any opinions?

i have some of the 3.5" version.  Great action.  The crazy thing is, the Crappie love this smaller size swim bait, as well as the bass.

I havent caught anything on one yet. But it is cool how once they are in the water they come to life. They sure don't look like much in the package though.

One thing is for shure, the live magic shad is a lot more durable than the bait it was copied from, the Imakatsu Javallon lasts for about a fish a bait.   :

Bass_Fanatic, do you use the 5.5 and if so, what hook do you use with them?

Yeah the 5.5 is the only one I really use, I bought a pack of the smaller ones one time, but they just dont have teh action the 5.5 have.

For hooks tho, I will use Owner® TwistLOCK Open Gap Hooks - Model 5132 6/0.  Anything bigger takes away from the action of the bait, but anything smaller makes it hard to get a decent hookset.

One thing is for shure, the live magic shad is a lot more durable than the bait it was copied from, the Imakatsu Javallon lasts for about a fish a bait. :

I second that ..... well actually if you happen to skip it all day long, you can destroy a couple without even gettint a single bite.

Killer bait anyway. 8-)

Speaking of Lake Fork's knock-offs, their version of the Java-stick totally sucks

Thanks Bass_Fanatic, I haven't tried that hook. The only one I have found that has a large enough gap and is short enough to fit in the first segment is the Gamakatsu G-Mag Oversize.

Awesome! I was just looking at these yesterday and was curious about their action/productivity. I'm gonna' pick some up................

Awesome! I was just looking at these yesterday and was curious about their action/productivity. I'm gonna' pick some up................

Does gagnon  have them. Brent this should be on your catalouge

One thing is for shure, the live magic shad is a lot more durable than the bait it was copied from...

That's good to know, because I wanted to buy some of the others.  Even so, though, the durability of the Magic Shad is not so great.  Especially the pre-rigged kind you get at walmart, that jighead ruins the bait.  I get a little more mileage out of using a shank weighted hook, but not much more...

That said the bait is fantastic, I have only once used a live magic shad and been skunked.  I catch fish, very aggressive fish, on this bait.  Love it.