“Catching Everything on Mepps and Mister Twister Lures with Kraig Albright”

Part 5: Hottest Swim Bait on the Market? The Sassy Shad

Editor’s Note: Kraig Albright of Dayton, Oregon, a competitive bass fisherman, also fishes for rainbow trout, salmon and steelheads.

Question: Kraig, what other secret technique do you use that most folks don’t know or understand?

Albright: I get a real kick out of everyone talking about swim baits, like they’re some revolutionary, new type of fishing lure or way to fish for bass. The word swim bait is a relatively new term for a really-old tactic. The Mister Twister Sassy Shad has been around for years, and if you look at the design of the bait, the water depth you can cover, the action of the lure and the tactics you use to catch bass with it, the Sassy Shad may be one of America’s first and greatest swim baits. You can swim the Sassy Shad with a jighead just under the surface of the water, in the mid-water depths, along the bottom or by hopping it on the bottom. This soft-plastic, rubber bait has a side-to-side swimming action the bass-fishing world really has begun to rave about and tag as a swim bait.

Question: What size Sassy Shad do you like?

Albright: I like the 4 or the 6 inch. These are the bigger Sassy Shads that look quite a bit like the new lures being brought to the market as swim baits.

Question: What colors do you like?

Albright: I prefer your basic shad colors – either white with a black back or solid-pearl colors.

Question: On what size jighead do you put the Sassy Shad?

Albright: I prefer to fish it on a 3/4- to a 1-1/2-ounce jighead on 20-pound-test fluorocarbon line. I like to fish these Sassy Shads on flats and main lake points where I can cover a lot of water and find a number of fish. Unlike other baits, I prefer to fish the Sassy Shad on flat water when I don’t have any current. The big Sassy Shad swim baits catch really-big bass. I’ve caught a 7-1/2-pound largemouth before, which is a really-big bass for our section of the country. Remember that I live in Oregon, and although a 7-1/2-pound largemouth may not raise any eyebrows in southern lakes like Lake Fork in Texas or the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Florida, when you catch a 7-1/2-pound largemouth in Oregon, that’s a huge largemouth for our state.

Question: When did you start fishing the Sassy Shad?

Albright: I really started fishing it about 3-years ago. I’d fished the Sassy Shad for years in the smaller sizes, and when the swim bait craze began to hit the bass-fishing world, I already knew the smaller size Sassy Shad would produce bass. Most of the swim baits I looked at were just bigger versions of the little Sassy Shad. When Mister Twister came out with the bigger Sassy Shad, because I already had confidence in the bait, I upsized to try and catch bigger bass. I’ve learned that when I upsized the Sassy Shad I’d fished for years, I caught bigger bass. So, instead of choosing a swim bait made by another company with which I had no experience, I knew I’d be more productive fishing the Sassy Shad I’d been fishing and catching bass with for years but just in the larger sizes.

Question: Do you swim the Sassy Shad just under the surface like most people use a swim bait?

Albright: No, I’m not. I fish it like I’d slow roll a spinner bait. I want to swim that big Sassy Shad just off the bottom. If I can find rocks or stumps on points or brush piles and logs on flats, I swim that big Sassy Shad by them. Using the Sassy Shad in the larger sizes is an excellent way to cover a lot of water and find really-big bass.

Question: At what time of year do you fish the big Sassy Shad?

Albright: Primarily I fish the Sassy Shad from February through October. However, this swim bait will catch bass at any time of year. In the waters I fish, I also catch monster rainbow trout when I’m fishing the Sassy Shad for bass. Those trout don’t know that the Sassy Shad is a bass lure. This past spring, I caught a 24-inch rainbow trout that would’ve weighed 6 or 8 pounds.

Question: How did you start fishing with Mister Twister and Mepps lures?

Albright: I started fishing the Mister Twister Phenom Worm and the Mister Twister Curly Tail Grub years ago, and I’ve always caught bass with these products. I’ve always had a lot of confidence in these lures. So, as Mister Twister and Mepps developed new baits and introduced them to the marketplace, I’ve always tried their new lures because of my confidence in their old lures. I’ve learned that the new lures from Mister Twister and Mepps are as productive, if not more productive, than the lures I’ve always relied on from this company for years.