Which Shiner Swimbait?

[MaineBassin]

Hey everyone. Im looking to pick up a shiner swimbait and i would love any and all feedback/opinions on which way to go. I have basically narrowed it down to the RealPrey 7" Golden Shiner (or the jumbo 8.5") or the Savage Gear 10" Roach in Golden Shiner. I know a lot of people always side with the custom baits, but looking for unbiased opinions on the baits themselves for my situation/location.

 

Little background. I'm from Maine and i fish a lot of smaller (under 200 acre) ponds in a kayak. Most ponds around here have a good amount of vegetation. And i do enjoy fishing in and around it. So this is going to be my first season dedicating to bigger swimbaits. In the past i have fished swimbaits a lot (4.5" to the 5.8 Keitechs) on cheaper MH combos. This winter i have purchased an Okuma Guide Select XXH rod (rated 2-10 oz) with a Daiwa Tatula 200HD. Im wanting to focus on lures in the 8 to 10" range. So far i have purchased a BBZ-1 8" slow sink trout and will be buying a 9" MS Slammer soon. 

 

In my reasearch, no doubt the realprey is a nice bait. At $24 the 7" is a good price (so is the 8.5 as well) and i can get the SG 10" for the same price. I like the action i see online with the SG, as it looks like it can be fished like a glide along with the usual "S" swim of a swimbait. I would also think the SG is very durable, as they design their baits to the pike crowd. My biggest concern with the two is the durability from fishing in waters with a lot of pickerel. I have had the 5.8 keitechs tails bit off on one cast. dont want to happen with a $24 bait (so maybe the Gantarel is the better choice??). I also plan to pick up a glide bait as well, so i dont "need" the glide action from the shiner. Just seems like a bonus. 

 

Curious to hear opinions. Thanks in advance. 

[NEbucketmouth19]

The Real Prey baits are some of the most durable soft plastics you can buy. They are made of silicon and will not tear easy like 90% of soft plastics out there. Do mine have pickerel teeth marks in them, sure, but I am not missing tails like I am with Trash Fish, or Keitechs. The savage gear baits are also extremely durable but the action is that serpentine S action, whereas the Real Prey has a very subtle tail action similar to a hudd. Personally I'd go with the real prey and then get some sort of hard bait for when they want that more exaggerated action. 

Edited February 1, 2018 by NEbucketmouth19

[timcauliffe]

The Real Prey baits are some of the most durable soft plastics you can buy. They are made of silicon and will not tear easy like 90% of soft plastics out there. Do mine have pickerel teeth marks in them, sure, but I am not missing tails like I am with Trash Fish, or Keitechs. The savage gear baits are also extremely durable but the action is that serpentine S action, whereas the Real Prey has a very subtle tail action similar to a hudd. Personally I'd go with the real prey and then get some sort of hard bait for when they want that more exaggerated action. 

+100000

 

Reach out to Joe and he will help you get the right bait and color you want. Tell him Tim sent ya!

[bigpoppabass]

Good choices. But the best golden shiner imitation is a 9 inch 1 x Ms slammer in modified hitch with the sides cotton swabbed with chartreuse spike it. It is my all all time best producing slammer on weed edge lakes. It once had my pb that I posted on utube...problem is you can't see the mods in pics or vids weird....once u get hook rash it gets even better cuz it has an orangish look where those orange fins would be imo...

Edited February 2, 2018 by bigpoppabass

[BadChad1983]

Hands down the real prey and it ain't even close with the savage gear.

Smash-Tech also makes a great looking shiner but I have no experience with it.

[BadChad1983]

I was in the same boat less than a year ago and made the mistake of buying into savage gears marketing hype which is where all their money goes into vs actually developing something worth a darn that won't break or fail. Live target is also a similar company but their baits actually catch fish and don't fall apart.

I recently gathered up all the savage gear junk I bought and sold it on a facebook page for the cost of shipping to get rid of it so I wouldn't have to look at it anymore. Even then it wasn't exactly a hot ticket item. Because most wise people know savage gear stuff sucks.

On the other end of that spectrum I have a real prey bass that I wouldn't trade for hardly anything. All the real prey baits are awesome. I've fished the bluegill on up to the 9 inch baby bass and the quality and consistency is unmatched. Not to mention Joe makes each one individually for you! The value is just unreal...

I highly recommend the real prey shiner. I would also encourage you to get a real prey perch in the shiner color to help build confidence in the real prey line as the shiner won't get bit every time you go obviously.

Golden shiner hudd is also an option but for the love of everything decent don't get robbed by savage gear like I did. I know some people catch fish on them but they really are all hype and no bite.

[MaineBassin]

Thanks for all the input guys! Some good info. I think I'm going to go with the 7" shine glide in golden shiner pattern for fishing around weedlines and over grass (hardbait should hold up to the pesky pickerel hiding in there) and go with the real prey jumbo shiner for more off shore targets. I love the action of the real prey. I know hudds have a huge following and are responsible for some big fish, but to me the RP looks so much better. Plus more durable. Win win. Plus I believe Joe is out of NH so good to support the northeast. I will also pick up a 9" slammer in one of the trout patterns. With those 3 baits I can pretty much cover the entire water column. Only 2 or so more months! Ice can't melt fast enough.

 

Thanks again!

[MaineBassin]

@BadChad1983 thanks for your input. I posted my response before seeing yours. I don't have a lot of Savage gear experience, going by what I see on YouTube for the most part. My thought was that if their baits can hold up to pike, they can last longer with bass and small pickerel.

As far as going shiner VS perch, I have always wondered if a bass would really target larger perch (obviously they would if they had to). I would think they would prefer a nice Chunky shiner first. Most of the ponds I fish have golden shiners and trout. So 2 great foods for them. I have never heard anyone say they were unhappy with a real prey product. So that's great! Looking forward to trying one out.

[danthefisherman]

I'll have to side with Colin on this one regarding Savage Gear soft plastics. The line thru trout was one of my dream swimbaits getting into big bait fishing, and after a long time of looking and being on a low budget I finally acquired two. The first fell apart after one fish and the second I hardly use anymore because of the Hassel of rigging and only having a few rods to utilize. Maybe that first was a dud, but it was pretty disappointing with all the hype wrapped around the Savage Gear products. At least for the soft baits it can be a hit or miss. If you do get a good one though they're great for the price!

[BadChad1983]

@MaineBassin what I was referring to was getting a 5 inch real prey perch bait but in the light shiner pattern that Joe does. In general a 5 inch perch is nothing for a bass to eat and actually preferable due to it's fusiform (torpedo) shape vs whatever shape a bluegill is that is hard to swallow. That 5 inch perch is small enough that dinks can eat it too and give you confidence in getting bit. It's easier for you to get hooked up on the 5 inch perch than it is even his gill.

The great thing about that 5 inch perch is that it fits the shape of things like perch obviously but also shad, a 5 inch shiner, and especially gizzard shad. I don't know exactly what forage species you have in Maine but I would be willing to bet that you have some kind of baitfish in that shape. Joe will paint it whatever you want.

To put it in perspective I can fish that perch in any body of water here in Iowa and get bit even if there isn't a bass over 1.25. It has got me fish on up to 4 (my second best ever and a very large fish for my area). 

I had a savage glide in baby bass and it was about enough to turn me off hard baits in general. Frankly savage almost ruined swimbait fishing for me, thank god for livetarget to keep me going before I tried my first over twenty dollar bait haha.

As someone who recently made the mistake of buying to much savage stuff as a novice I highly encourage you to go with an alternate. Instead of a shine glide get an s-waver. Instead of their line through whatever the heck get a smash-tech line thru shiner. It's a VERY real looking shiner bait. It is also available in a weedless that you can rig on a beast hook.

The little creeper trash fish in a golden shiner I'd also highly recommend, although you may want to be a little more advanced as that was frustrating for me trying to get a hook into fish.

Honestly you can't go wrong with a 6 inch hudd in baby bass, that's about as universal as it gets and yielded me my #1 and #3 fish at 5.48 and 3.94 this summer.

If I could only pick one swimbait for you to get your confidence up and want to keep swimbaiting, which is important, I'd say get yourself at least one of the real prey perch in whatever color you choose. I 100% stand behind Joe and his products and I'm sure with the right marketing campaign they'd be VERY popular, but it's cool that you can still get them and not everybody around will be throwing them. Unless you're in New England obviously.

Good luck to you brother and be sure to keep us posted. I'm chasing probably similar size fish to you here in Iowa and can tell you that if a company markets alot and seems like they have a ton of hype it's usually just that. Hype.

I sincerely hope that if you did get a savage product it treats you well.

Best of luck!

[MaineBassin]

@BadChad1983 thanks for the response. This season coming up will be my 4th bass fishing. IMO i have done fairly well for the short time fishing for bass. I routinely catch 3 to 4.5 pretty much each time i go as well as the occasional 5lber. My pb is a 6lber that i caught last summer on a 10.5" worm. I still get skunked from time to time, dont get me wrong. For whatever reason, i catch few small fish. Maybe its all the reading i do on forums and try to apply as much as i learn every time i go out, but i am usually catching quality fish. My lust for the big swimbaits is for that next tier of fish. I have caught (landed) one over 5lbs. But i know there are bigger out there where i fish. I have seen some. I want to hunt the big girls. Im not concerned with catching numbers, or getting skunked. I have decided to make the committment to big swimbaits. I bought the proper rod and reel and am not starting to shop for the few right baits to learn and throw.

 

I value your experience with savage gear. I have heard enough from you and others to look to a better quality bait, which has me going with a couple real prey lures. Everyone (most) recommend hudds. In my opinion, i would rather buy a real prey. I will somewhat have to disagree with your take on the savage gear shine glide. while i dont have any hands-on experience with that glide, i believe you are the first person i have read that is unhappy with it. Most people recommend it, especially for its price point. My plan is eventually work my way to the Deps, as there is no doubt they are big bass catchers, and are a high quality bait. But right now im looking at a decent affordable option. I have actually read most people saying that the R2S SWaver is very hit or miss quality wise and that you may have to buy a couple to get a good one. If thats true, and to me enough people are saying it to warrant it true, that is not a bait one should recommend. I was looking at the swaver at first until these same experiences began to really add up. As far as your recommendation for the 5" perch, im not really interested. Im looking to get into larger swimbaits. I have fished 5" swimbaits in the past and have had good success with them. But im looking at making the leap to the next level (7" plus baits). Dont get me wrong, i know smaller baits can catch big bass, but im targeting the biggest where i fish. And im just not looking for a 5" bait to do that. I will either go with the real prey 7" Shiner or 7.75" trout. Then i will go with a 9" slammer and probably a gantarel. Ill fish those, learn those and wear those out. 

 

So again, thank you for your advice, and no disrespect what so ever. Im just not interested in catching 1.5lbers. Id rather get skunked. I can go fish a spinner bait, or worm and catch those. Im looking for the big mamas of the water. And im ok with getting skunked once in a while. Good luck to you as well. I will be sure to share my success (and failures) this season. Im just looking to get out there and wet a line.

[Dsouth]

RP 7†gets my vote it’s an awesome bait to skip into lay downs right after ice out in shallow slop ponds that warm up fast. This Mass LM was C+R on March 13^th 2016 3 day before this place was totally locked up with ice. Think Spring.-Dan

[MaineBassin]

I have looked at that pic many times Dan. Makes more and more excited for the shiner. Nearly all the waters I fish have golden shiners (and trout for that matter) so a big shiner should work great. Have you tried dragging it on the bottom (like a hudd)?

[NEbucketmouth19]

I just ordered a couple shmashtech shiners as well, they seem pretty nice but I haven't gotten a chance to fish them. I will post a review on them when I get some water (and fish) time. 

 

Edited February 7, 2018 by NEbucketmouth19

[KSetaro]

Dan, what set up do you like throwing the 7" real prey shiner on?