Strike King KVD Swim N Shiner, More Than Meets The Eye

IMG_2761We’ve been fishing a bunch of new top-water baits lately but as every good angler knows, when you’re fishing top-water, you have to have a follow up bait.

There are times when bass will flat out miss a frog, spook or other bait. When this happens, you need to be rigged and ready to fire right back in there with something that will sink a little bit but still tempt a fish into striking.

Some folks like to use worms or paddle tail swimbaits or a whole host of other plastics. One of the baits that we have found that is very effective as a second chance bait is the Strike King KVD Swim N Shiner.

The Shiner comes in both 4 and 5 inch versions with the color choices identical for either size. The plastic used in making the bait is the Perfect Plastics formula that is rich in salt as well as having the caffeine scent infused to mask human scent and oils. [Read more…]

The Strike King Rage Tail DB Structure Bug, the Best Rage Tail Yet?

IMG_2602Every lure manufacturer has their own version of a creature bait. Some are better than others in our opinion but we are always willing to try a new entrant in this crowded segment.

Why? Cause they catch fish!

The new Strike King Rage Tail DB Structure Bug, (DB being short for Denny Brauer) is the subject of our review today. [Read more…]

Strike King KVD Sexy Shad Kit

Here’s something all of us bass fisherman could use—big value. How about 18 high-performing baits worth $83 for $60?

This is the type of thing that gets be excited and gets my wife upset! [Read more…]

Strike King KVD 1.0

There are times when you need to downsize your offering, so today we’re taking an in depth look at the new Strike King KVD 1.0. We have reviewed the 1.5 and 2.5 and were very pleased with these baits. When we saw the 1.0 at ICAST, we knew that we had to pick up some of these and get them on the water. [Read more…]

Strike King Red Eye Shad

We’ve talked about lipless crankbaits in the past but haven’t done a complete review of today’s subject, the Strike King Red Eye Shad in the 1/4 ounce size. I know that there are plenty of folks out there who are used to using the 1/2 ounce but this is something that you might want to give a go. It is smaller than the original but not by as much as you would think. The 1/2 is 2.5 inches in length while the 1/4 is 2.25. Only a 1/4 inch difference but in profile, especially when the bass are keying on smaller bait, this is a substantial difference. However, not as important to its action as the fact that it weighs half what its larger sibling does!

You can put this bait out there easily for distance with casting gear and due to its relatively light weight, control its position in the water column by either adjusting your retrieve or your choice of line size. In my opinion, this is the single most important factor in our success with this bait as it is what influences the other attributes the most. The baits that we obtained have all run true out of the package as well as all of them having a very consistent action.

While some of the other baits in this class tend to dig down on you, the Red Eye Shad is easier to control horizontally. Another quality of this lure is that the action does not stop when you pause your retrieve. Even on the fall, this bait displays a nice tight wiggle so that when the angler is employing a stop and go, yo-yo type retrieve, you can rest assured that this little crank is still fluttering.

For this review, we chose the rattling version although there is a silent alternative. We did this to see how it performed against other baits in this class which almost all have rattles. The Strike King’s pitch would be considered a mid-range tone. I know that this varies from one manufacturer to the next and can, when the going gets tough, make the difference between getting bit or not. In our time with this lure, we didn’t have any outings where this proved to be a noticeable negative when going head to head with its competitors nor did it necessarily pan out as a shining positive. Really, it didn’t seem to have much of an impact at all.

In my opinion, the attributes that most influenced the bass to hit this bait are its action and ability to remain in the strike zone as well as the proven colors that are available. While the running angle of some other offerings are considerably more nose down, the Red Eye Shad has a slight nose down angle on the retrieve. This may also account for the fact that keeping it running horizontally in the water column isn’t as difficult as when using either heavier lipless cranks or some of its competitors. Either way, Strike King has struck a good balance between size, weight and ease of use for this lure.

One of the things that we noticed is that the paint on the Red Eye is not the most durable out there. Our test baits sustained damage after having caught several fish on them. Of course with this type of lure, the bass tend to mouth the entire package when they hit it. None the less, we would like to see a more robust clear coat in the future. Not that this has made much of a difference in terms of fish being willing to hit the lure. As tends to be the case with reaction type baits, the fish are not really scrutinizing them closely when they hit!

All in all, we’ve been very pleased with this smaller Red Eye Shad. This is a bait that both the novice and experienced angler can use effectively for a good part of the season. Its size lends itself very well to a lot of different situations and it is fairly versatile in terms of where in the water column it can be fished. The angler can employ several different retrieves based on what the fish are wanting and there are color patterns that will mimic most prevalent forage where ever you chose to fish. Add to that a reasonable retail price of about $5 each and you have a lure design that is a good all around value.

If you’ve been thinking about adding smaller lipless cranks to your arsenal or if you’re just getting started fishing this style of bait, this is one that deserves a thorough inspection.

Strike King Red Eye Shad
Overall Ratingwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Reasonable price for a solid bait

See ya’ on the water …

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Strike King Sexy Frog

The Sexy Frog in package

Today, let’s look at another new bait, the Strike King KVD Sexy Frog. This is one of the lures that was introduced at this years’ ICAST and is now available, right in time for the summer top-water season. In my opinion, one of the most exciting ways to catch bass is on top and this new lure was designed to fit that niche.   [Read more…]

Strike King Caffeine Shad

Here at MVF, we really like to keep our reviews in line with the season, whatever that may be. With that in mind and the fact that it is now the first part of August, let’s take a look at the Strike King Perfect Plastic Caffeine Shad.

This is a 5” inch, soft plastic jerk bait that, like all the Perfect Plastic line, is loaded with salt as well as having the coffee scent. During the spring and summer months, soft plastic jerk baits are at their best and can be fished a number of ways. First, let’s look at the most traditional rigging for the Caffeine Shad.  [Read more…]

Strike King KVD Silent Stalker

We’ve looked at the standard Strike King 6XD so we decided to give its cousin, the Strike King KVD Silent Stalker 6XD a go as something different for when the fish shut down on the standard version. What are the mechanical differences between the two? Obviously, the silent stalker is SILENT! Okay, that’s just the biggest one but certainly the most important. The fact of the matters is that fish can get used to and turned off by a bait. That’s when a difference like this can really shine!  [Read more…]

ICAST 2011: Strike King

Strike King is another company that is constantly looking to improve their catalog and for this year they have taken the 5 series crank, added the deep diving bill and created the 5XD. This bait will get down to the 15 foot level while still having the smaller body of the 5 series.

The popular HC (heavy cover) series gets a new size, the 1.0 and they have added some interesting new colors which will be available across the line which includes the new 1.0, the 1.5 and the 2.5. They will all still be available at very competitive prices.  [Read more…]

Strike King Tour Grade Spinnerbait Review

Spinnerbaits have so many applications in bass fishing. One of my favorite is to use a spinnerbait to help me locate where the fish are in the water column.

That is exactly what I intended recently when I took the Strike King Tour Grade Spinnerbait out to Lake Lanier for some testing. [Read more…]