Nowadays, you can find all kinds of flavor infused baits including those that use salt, coffee, pork fat as well as other ingredients. These all sound like main entrees but the question today is – Do bass have a sweet-tooth?
Dick’s Sporting Goods produces a line of baits that are all sugar infused which are banking on giving bass that “morning doughnut” they’ve been denied all these years. Under the product label, “Field and Stream”, they are manufacturing a line of baits called Sugar Stix.
How many are there?
This family of lures include the Sugar Shad Soft Bait which is the subject of today’s review, the Sugar Tube, Sugar Toad ( a buzzing frog) , Sugar Trick (a trick worm), Sugar Jerk, Sugar Momma (a creature bait), Sugar Drop ( a small drop shot bait) and Sugar Stick Bait (a soft plastic stick worm).
We ran across these at the Classic. Being the inquisitive types that we are, we had to get a couple to see for ourselves if they could produce fish or not.
Just to clear the air before we get into it, no, we didn’t opt to chew on ‘em to see if we could taste the sweetness. We’re taking the word of Dick’s Sporting Goods in that there is some form of sugar imbedded in these baits.
Since we got them in late February, we’ve been fishing them since we got home. The first one we tied on was the Sugar Shad. A swimbait similar in design to the Skinny Dipper or the Zipper Dipper but with a few differences.
The price for the Sugar Shad is about $5 a bag for 9 baits, the colors are not the same and fairly limited and of course, these use some kind of sugar for the scent and taste.
So what are they like to fish?
Usually we throw soft plastic swimbaits on belly weighted hooks so, to keep things as consistent as possible, we rigged one of these in the Violet Shad color on our favorite hook, got to the lake and started playing with it.
Call this tail design whatever you like, the point is that in the better baits the tail will take very little movement to start kicking. That being our standard, we were anxious to see how this bait would do.
It passed with flying colors. The tail starts kicking almost immediately, has a nice action to it, produces a nice little side to side yaw and body wiggle when paired with an 1/8 ounce belly weighted hook.
The plastic is on the soft side for plastic baits but has proven to be on the high side for durability for this class of lures. We’ve caught up to 6 fish on one bait and as little as two. So carrying out the math, a bag should get you between 18 – 54 bass. Not to shabby for 5 bucks.
The Sugar Shad is designed with a hook slot molded into the bottom of the bait that is approximately 1/4 inch deep which helps in hook sets ‘cause you don’t have to go through as much plastic. The top of the bait has a channel for hiding your hook point. We still recommend skin hooking the bait to make it weedless.
There are no 3D eyes on this bait but that hasn’t seemed to bother the fish all that much. They haven’t had a problem honing on the Sugar Shad for a quick snack, or is it dessert?
Honestly, we cannot in good conscious testify that the infusion of sugar or whatever sweetener is used is making a difference.
What we do know about the Sugar Shad
What we can tell you is that this is a well designed bait. It has all the features necessary for a swimbait and does indeed catch fish.
Is it something entirely unique in the market? Again, we would be hard pressed to put it that way because it isn’t as though when you open the package to take that first whiff (oh yeah, like you don’t do that too!) the aroma immediately brings visions of Grandma’s cookies to your mind.
On the contrary, it pretty much smells like most soft plastics out there. But that’s really not the main point here.
The Field and Stream Sugar Shad has a nice action to it, has adequate color options, holds up well to repeated strikes, draws bites from bass and is moderately priced. This is the main point, or points to be accurate.
Throw this thing on 10# line with a weighted swimbait hook into those areas where you’re a little hesitant to throw a crankbait and odds are, you’ll be rewarded with a bass on your thumb.
The Sugar Shad is just enough of a tweak that we have no doubt you will pick up some fish that you have been missing.
As for our original question, “Do bass have a sweet-tooth?”, we still don’t know.
However, all indications are that at least some of our green backed buddies like to get their sugar fix now and again.
| Field and Stream Sugar Stix Sugar Shad | |
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |    |
| An effective sweet treat for bass | |
See ya’ on the water …
