Plastic trailer is designed specifically to boost Chatterbait bites
Take it from a Louisiana bass angler who relies heavily on a bladed jig and a soft plastic trailer… don’t leave home without a Spunk Shad from Missile Baits.
Derek Hudnall of Baton Rouge threads the 4.5-inch long soft plastic lure onto a Chatterbait Jack Hammer to get the most out of vibration and color. He’s been using that Spunk Shad as a trailer for about a year and it has paid big dividends, such as accounting for at least half the bass he put on the scale in February in the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament at Lake Seminole.
Hudnall fished all the way through Championship Sunday. He finished fifth in the star-studded field with 72 pounds, 9 ounces, to win $20,000.
The 42-year-old Elite angler said about the Spunk Shad, “It’s been a long time coming. Not many companies make one (soft plastic) special for a Chatterbait. They made all the colors match exactly. John created his own colors, too, to match the Chatterbait.”
John is fellow Bassmaster Elite Series angler John Crews from Amelia County, Virginia. Crews, who owns Missile Baits Co., convinced a friend of his, Scott Schauwecker, Hog Farmer Bait Company owner, to go into a partnership to market Spunk Shads under the brand Missile Baits, which uses its colors and packaging.
Hawg heaven
It’s been a match made in “hawg” heaven. Spunk Shads’ popularity showed right away with sales in Europe, Canada and Mexico, Crews said. They‘ve been popular on the market domestically for several months.
“It’s really helped them (Hog Farmer) as a company,” said Crews, who fished with the Spunk Shad designed by Schauwecker for a long time before contacting Hog Farmer.
“It’s a good bait,” he said. “You saw what Derek did with it at Seminole. He caught a good number of fish on it. Anybody who catches fish on a Chatterbait needs to look at the thing.”
The licensing deal took some persuading, Crews admitted, adding his company did the calling.
“It was 100% us. We had to talk him into it. It took us about a year to talk ‘em into letting us do it. Last fall he agreed,” he said, adding he believes Hog Farmer also makes the best umbrella rig on the market.
Hudnall and Spunk Shads have made a great team since 2022. That was most evident when the bass chomped on it and the Jack Hammer it was attached to at Lake Seminole.
He smacked bass on the ½-ounce BHite Delight Jack Hammer with the matching 4.5-inch green pumpkin delight Spunk Shad. Those soft plastics also are available in 5.5 inches.
“The 4 ½-inch is the perfect size and action for the Chatterbait,” Hudnall said.
This perfect
How perfect? The combination gave him a 12-pounder the last day of pre-fishing the 2022 Elite opener at St. Johns River in Florida. While practicing for this year’s tournament at Lake Okeechobee, he caught an 8-pounder.
The Spunk Shad swimbait has a thick-ribbed body and a small pintail that creates a tantalizing shimmy on the retrieve.
The 5.5-inch long Spunk Shad can be substituted for the 4.5-inch long model when a bass angler wants to keep a bladed jig up in the water column, he said. That’s beneficial particularly in shallow water.
Crews Texas-rigged a 5.5-inch long Spunk Shad on a 5/0 flippin’ hook under a 1/8-ounce weight in this season’s first Elite tournament at Lake Okeechobee in Florida. That helped him finish 33rd with 46 pounds.
While Crews doesn’t put a Spunk Shad on a spinnerbait, he knows many bass anglers are doing so successfully, he said. It’s something that can add to your catches, whether you fish for fun or competitively.
For more information on the Missile Baits Spunk Shad and other Missile Baits products go to missilebaits.store or call 855.HOOKSET, or for information on other Hog Farmer Bait Co. products go to hogfarmerbaits.com or call (423) 595-6525.
