About a decade ago one of my good friends Cameron was fishing with me out on my boat, I was using my traditional Bomber, Rebel, and Strike King crankbaits. I'd say I was doing ok, until I saw how many smallmouth bass he was catching on the Berkley Flicker Shad. Look, I'm no amateur and I was having a tough time keeping up with my friend who is bit of a newb, lol. Am I allowed to use that type of terminology in the fishing world or is that strictly for gaming? 

I'd say Cameron is a decent fishermen, but he definitely is still in the amateur phase and isn't as experienced as I'd say as me. Hopefully I can change that this year and get him more out on the boat. But truth be told, I couldn't believe how many bronzebacks he was pulling in with this pretty basic fishing lure called the Flicker Shad. I mean it looks pretty basic, but believe me, it isn't, this is a fish catching machine!

The next day I went to Lakeside Fishing Shop where my friend originally bought the crankbait and bought a slew of these hard baits. The color that he picked out and still seems to work the best for me to this day is purple tiger. This color just pops and I think when it's dipped in the water, it's even more radiant. I'm not quite sure what the Lake St. Clair smallmouth thinks this crankbait resembles, but who cares if I'm catching me bass hand over fish, ?, I mean fist!

Another color that I've caught a lot of smallmouth bass on and is quite vibrant is the rainbow trout. I actually caught a giant sunfish on this crankbait right from the boat near the 400 club in 10-12 feet of water, I was blown a way to see a panfish out in that deep of water and actually hit a hard bait this size, so I could see the much smaller version like the 4cm or 6cm work really good for panfish.

However, there seems to be a drawback in this lure, and really it's the only one that I can see. Some actually come out of the box defective, they won't run straight. I think this has to do with the very narrow lip, where if it's tilted to the left or right more from the factory, it won't run straight. What's weird is, I've never had one start doing this over time, even when I slammed one off of the breakwall. It usually just happens when they are defective straight from the factor.

However, I think that narrow lip, along with the shape of the narrow body of the Berkley Flicker Shad is what makes this hard bait so unique and attractive to smallmouth bass out on Lake St. Clair. It has a really tight, fast wobble! And it also has some rattles in there that I think will attract smallmouth from the deepest parts of the lake. I think both the action and Berkley's unique bright vibrant colors is what makes this crankbait unique.

Here's a shot of the 9cm Berkley Flicker Shad compared to the 7cm Flicker Shad, a lot bigger. I've used the 9cm in deeper water out on Lake St. Clair like 15-20 feet deep, it's rated on 11' 13' feet deep, but I think if you keep your rod tip down to the water or even in the water, reel at faster pace, you can get it to run around 15 feet plus. I've even used the 7cm Flicker shad around 10-15 feet of water, remind you the rattles and hard hitting tight wobble will lure in smallmouth bass from the deep.

And really, I can't see why you couldn't rip this lure kind of like a jerk bait to induce strikes, I've kind of done that a little over the past, but more with a faster paced retrieve, and it really seems to make the smallmouth respond when they're in a very active state.

I'm a huge fan of the curled treble hooks, they work great, a lot better than standard treble hooks that come on traditional crankbaits. However, just be careful you don't hook yourself or your leg, there's been numerous times I've lifted smallmouth bass into the boat with my rod, the bass starts flopping around and the crankbait flies off hits me in the leg, then the hooks get embedded in my leg. It's a bitch to get the hooks out, doesn't feel to good either.

Just like the Johnson Beetle Spin, I'd say even though this is one of the cheapest fishing lures in my tackle box for smallmouth bass, it's still one of the best go-to baits in my box when the bronzebacks have lockjaw. And believe me there's times on Lake St. Clair when smallmouth won't hit anything, but soon as I tie one of these crankbaits on, they become irresistible to the bass, I don't think there's been a day where I went home skunked when I was using the Flicker Shad. Read the reviews on the internet and you'll see it's one of the best crankbaits on the market for the money.

Remind you Gander Outdoors is having a sale which includes 70% off all fishing tackle, so basically if you live in Michigan you can get a whole batch of these crankbaits for dirt cheap.