Phoney Shiner and Crandown

[jkarol24]

Swimbait Review: Phoney Shiner and Crankdown Shiner

 

I was able to aquire a matching set of Phoney Shiners, and figured 2 for 1 special was in order. The two baits share the same profile, coming in at 7.5" and 3.25 oz. The Shiner Glide is a 2 pc slow sinking glide bait, with a removable pin and adjustable screw eye hardware. I chose to leave the pin exposed as opposed to clipping it short and gluing on the fin... The Crandown is a 3 pc bait, featuring a clear plastic/lean bill. I was able to get it down to about 6 or 7 ft on a super long cast, and 3-4 on a medium cast

 

Starting with the Shiner Glide, the straight swim is fluid and natural, with more of the slalom style back and forth swim. The bait is very smooth on the corners, and turns with a hint of body roll to smooth things out. While the swim is fluid, it still gets pretty wide, as the bait almost gets 90 degrees off center as it swims to either side. Adding more speed tightens thus distance up a bit, and it cruised along all the way to about moderate fast to fast. The bait did lose its stability on a burn. 

 

Adding some input, the Shiner Glide shows off its versatility. Long sweeping reel bumps will get this bait impressively wide for its size, with a nice smooth back and forth glide. The bait stays stable from head to tail, with only a very slight nose up on the end of a longer Glide. There is very little body roll on the transitions, and the bait cuts pretty tight as opposed to looping from one direction to the other. Because of its slow sink rate, it will hang out on the ends of the glides and just suspend also. 

 

Choppy reel hits will get the bait to turn back and forth in a tighter and more aggressive manner, and maintains its action at either a slow or a cast cadence. You can do the chops at longer intervals around cover to keep it in place for a while, or you can speed it up and cover more distance. I also expiramented with rod twitches, and this tightens up the action even more, as the bait just turns on itself. You can over-hit the bait and it will want to nose down, but once you get the feel for it, it's pretty straight forward. 

 

Moving on to the Shiner Crankdown (once I was able to remove the treble from my hand), the straight retrieve causes the bait to dive at a fairly steep angle, with a back and forth head hunt along with some lateral roll. The 2 front sections have an aggressive hinged action, while that smaller tail section sways along behind in a more fluid manner. You can also pause the bait to get it to turn to one side or the other. I was able to crank the bait to about medium, but wanted to pull left faster than that- i need to dial it in with tuning and add a ring up front, both should get it swimming at a little faster speed. 

 

What I was surprised about was the crawl, which produced much more action than anticipated. At this snails pace, the bait stays on the surface, and actually acts like a subtle wake, maintaining that side to side head hunt, with a very natural tail kick back and forth. There is also some lateral roll, but it is not significant. 

 

You can also twitch the bait near the surface, using soft and short rod twitches. If you do this at a slow cadence, the bait will stay up and cause some surface commotion- speeding it up will cause the bait to gain some depth... The twitch causes the bait to nose down at a pretty steep angle, and it's head turns 180 degrees per twitch. This causes the entire body to flash from side to side, creating lots of flash. The bait isn't ultra buoyant, so you can maintain depth at most speeds.

 

You can also employ this technique mid crank, and the bait transitions between crank and twitch with ease. This may be effective when casting past cover, cranking it down, and then twitching it in the strike zone. 

 

I threw the Shiner varieties on both a Dobyns 806 and a Leviathan 7 ft 9 H. These were paired with a Tranx 400 and 20 lb Copoly. Braid, fluro, or mono would be just fine for these baits as well, pick your preference. You may need to be a bit softer with your inputs if using Braid, as it may overpower the bait if not careful. But it should be fine. 

 

Hope you enjoyed Today's Review. Have a great Sunday

 

[Lj17luke]

This man is HEAVILY underrated.

[chevro1et]

I appreciate all your reviews and am sub'd to your YT channel. 

[Bassboydave]

Thanks I really enjoyed it