There is a reason we are fond of fishing soft plastic swimbaits. It’s not a secret, these things catch fish. When a new one comes out, we’re always ready to give it a whirl around some of our favorite lakes to see how it stacks up against proven performers.
The Missile Baits Shockwave was designed by John Crew’s who has a history of coming up with lures that produce fish. So how would his take on a proven genre differ from so many established baits?
“In Between Sizes”
The Shockwave fills a need for an in-between size swimbait that’s been missing up till now. At 4.25 inches, it’s that just right length for those spring time applications when the baitfish have yet to reach their full size.
It comes in colors that mimic any number of forage fish well with all of them having a natural, understated appearance.
The molding of the bait incorporates eyes, gill plates, a belly slot that makes rigging a breeze while allowing easy hook-sets, raised ribs on the top of the bait which is fairly flat as well as the head section being solid enough that it won’t automatically ride up your hook if you choose to fish it weightless.
Of course our default rigging method is with a belly weighted swimbait hook. For the Missile Baits Shockwave, we choose a 4/0, 1/8 ounce version to accommodate the slightly smaller length.
How Does it Hold Up to Bites?
Our first inspection of the bait made us question how durable it could be. The tail is connected to the body with a thin section of plastic that makes you wonder how many hits this thing can take. To our surprise, this has proven to be a complete non-issue for the Shockwave.
What that thin tail section does is allow the tail to start kicking with the slightest forward motion in the water. No wasted effort using the Shockwave to get things moving. Throw it out, begin your retrieve and that tail is doing its thing.
The action of the Shockwave, due to its soft construction is subtle but still gives you that realistic body wiggle along with the tail that kicks at any speed.
With a bait this size, we choose to use a rod that was spooled with 10# fluorocarbon on a 7’ medium action rod with a moderately fast tip. This rig allows easy casting of the bait, gets it down more quickly as well as providing the action that allows bass to take it and really chew on it.
The Shockwave has proven to be an excellent choice beginning in the pre-spawn period through the entire year thus far. We just haven’t found a time where we couldn’t pick up some fish on this lure.
We have caught so many fish by running this through sparse stick-ups, on top of emerging vegetation and weaving it near the bottom around clumps of grass. We have had so much fun fishing it with a swimbait hook that we almost forgot to use other rigging options.
More Rigging Options
One of the features that have really impressed us is how tough this little bait has proven to be. We’ve yet to catch fewer than 4 fish on a single bait with the average being about a half dozen. Not bad at all for about $4 a bag.
We have, with the weather changes, been using them on bladed swim jigs and standard swim jigs where they have been equally impressive. Given a finesse sized jig, the Shockwave is an ideal size to go with them to enhance their action.
At ICAST this year, Missile Baits debuted the Shockwave in a smaller 3.5” version which we haven’t fished yet but will undoubtedly in the future. Can you say A-rig?
The Missile Baits Shockwave is a durable, inexpensive, well executed bait with a good action that has proven to catch fish. It’s size lends itself to other rigging options besides the standard swimbait hook which makes it one of the more versatile soft plastic swimbaits out there. A plus in our book.
| Missile Baits Shockwave | |
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |   |
| An excellent in between size bait | |
See ya’ on the water …
