Shad patterned glides in panfish lake

[MaseMan44]

The lakes I fish the most do not really have any type of baitfish, but we do have bluegill, crappie, other panfish. Would a large bass still be fooled by a shad pattern? I am wondering if a natural looking shad/hitch glidebait would still fool large fish, or if they would shy away from something that looks somewhat foreign. Thanks.

[B_larkin3]

I fish a bunch of lakes like yours, no shad but lots of panfish / perch. In my experience the bigger fish in those lakes eat bluegill, and the panfish profile baits work best. I have caught loads of solid fish 3-4.5 lbs on a gizzard shad color and profile wakebait that doesn’t look like any of the forage in the lake, but the bigger ones only seem to bite the bluegill glidebaits. Match the hatch is real, especially when it comes to the big bass that don’t fall for lures too often.

[MaseMan44]

On 1/17/2021 at 1:06 PM, B_larkin3 said:

I fish a bunch of lakes like yours, no shad but lots of panfish / perch. In my experience the bigger fish in those lakes eat bluegill, and the panfish profile baits work best. I have caught loads of solid fish 3-4.5 lbs on a gizzard shad color and profile wakebait that doesn’t look like any of the forage in the lake, but the bigger ones only seem to bite the bluegill glidebaits. Match the hatch is real, especially when it comes to the big bass that don’t fall for lures too often.

Okay that makes sense. The big bass are big for a reason. Thanks!