5 Things You’ll Like About the NEW Bandit Walleye Shad

As dusk settles on calm nights the surface of lakes and rivers around walleye country comes alive with dimples, flicks and splashes as young-of-the-year shad swarm on the surface. You’ll see this on the Columbia River out West, on the Susquehanna River back East, and on countless lakes, reservoirs and rivers across the continent. And wherever shad roam in waters harboring walleyes the ‘eyes are sure to take notice. This walleye/shad interaction is nothing new and is behind an entire category of walleye crankbaits.

Shad baits have been around for decades, evolving to exhibit certain defining characteristics: Narrow diving lip, flat sides, rounded belly, and a lightweight body. This set of characteristics has been pumped up a notch by one of the best-known walleye lure companies – Bandit Lures. Bandit, which arguably has become the most popular maker of long-bodied walleye lures like the Walleye Deep and Walleye Shallow, has upped the ante on the shad bait front. 

I got the prompt last summer: Would I be interested in testing a new not-yet-released Bandit crankbait? After more than 40 years as a walleye specialist I jumped at the chance. I live for walleye fishing. I’ve written a few walleye books; held a handful of now-eclipsed Freshwater Hall of Fame line class catch and release walleye world records; notched top ten finishes on the national walleye circuits from the Great Lakes to Lake Mill Lacs in Minnesota to big reservoirs like Lake Oahe in South Dakota; emceed for the Governor’s Cup walleye tournaments in Washington, Oregon, Montana and Wyoming; conducted walleye “barnstorming” seminars in 27 states and five provinces.… I’ve been around the lake a few times, and I must admit, it was a bit surprising to find that what I’d be testing was not a long-bodied Bandit lure but a new Bandit shad bait. COOL!

After a few months fishing the new Bandit Walleye Shad I can confidently confirm that this is not “just another shad bait.” It’s got MAJOR upgrades that you want at the end of your line. And more than just the features we’ve all come to expect from Bandit like the rugged molded-in lip, sticky sharp hooks, and a body that stands up to my errant casts to bounce off rocks without harm. Here are my top 5 features setting the Walleye Shad apart from other shad baits.

Many so-called suspending baits are just slow rising or slow sinking. The balance on the Bandit Walleye Shad is truly close to perfect. It hangs without sinking or rising better than ANY lure I’ve ever used, and that’s saying something. 

When casting and retrieving, you can stop at any time and hover in place. This is a great trigger for following fish. This also makes the Walleye Shad a force with forward facing sonar. Reel it to your target and stop it right in their face, and it stays there. Even the smaller sizes show up clearly on sonar. Shoreline anglers will love the suspending effect without the lure eventually dropping to the bottom. I cast both rocky points and bridge abutments for my initial tests, and the old problem of snagging when fishing from shore is pretty much a non-issue. My ability to control the depth is better than normal since this lure doesn’t change depth on the pause. 

Trollers may think suspending baits don’t matter so much on the troll. But wait! One of the top tactics for triggering fish when trolling is to speed up and slow down by dialing in a surging trolling speed either manually or with a trolling system like Troll Master or iTroll. The Bandit Walleye Shad maintains consistent depth when surging thus keeping baits in the fish zone. Another approach to get surging movement is to steer in S-curves to speed up outside lines and slow or stall inside lines. And those of us fishing tight contours along meandering weed lines or in jagged shoreline stretches will find that the hard cornering needed to follow contours just maximizes stalls and surges without the old problem of lures dropping to the bottom or floating on top. They suspend! At least they do so until a walleye smashes!

Enhancing the castability of shad baits is a big deal. With pinpoint sonar tactics being so important, it’s also critical that our lures can be delivered precisely to the spot. The light-bodied shad bait category has always been problematic for casting duty. Other shad baits tend to tumble on the cast and really struggle casting into the wind. Not this new Bandit!

Weight-transfer casting systems are commonplace on high-tech jerkbaits for bass fishing but have been pretty much non-existent on shad baits for walleye. Bandit did it right with a through-body casting system that channels a heavy round pellet to the tail of the lure on the cast. That pellet then rolls forward in the channel to serve as a rattle while retrieving. 

You’ll feel the difference, the first cast. The Walleye Shad flies tail first without the tumble issue. Without the tumble, not only is distance greatly improved, but accuracy as well. And I’m personally a bit different than most walleye anglers in that most of my casting duty is done with baitcasting rods and reels. And casting reels just don’t like lightweight lures that tumble on the fly, especially when you’re casting into the wind. I’m casting comfortably with the size 3 and 4 Walleye Shads whether using my preferred casting rods or my sniping sticks when throwing spinning tackle. Sizes 1 and 2 are too light for my skill level on the casting tackle but with the weight transfer system they cast better than other small shad baits on standard spinning rods.

The through-body casting system provides a fairly heavy and deep-toned rattle. But that’s only part of the story. Each size of Walleye Shad has a unique rattle set-up. You’ll find not only the casting system pellet working as a thumping rattle, but also at least one other rattle contained in a chamber, plus additional body rattles. The bigger sizes have more and larger rattles as well as more chambers with rattles.

It’s important because this design produces multiple tones and at a differing frequency depending on where the rattle is placed in the body. I don’t know about you, but I’m never entirely certain whether the fish will trigger better with thumping rattles or clicking rattles or high-pitched rattles or whatever. All sizes of Walleye Shad create a cacophony of sounds to make sure they catch attention and trigger strikes. 

With the near perfect hovering of the neutrally buoyant baits there’s a little trick that Livescopers have figured out. While the Walleye Shad hovers in a fish’s face on the pause, give it a twitch or short snap to cause it to rattle in place. And don’t wait to see it on the scope. Set the hook NOW!

At first glance you may think the Bandit Walleye Shad is built to look like shad as seen in other shad baits—NOPE. This new design is based on anatomical study of shad species most common in walleye territory. Not all shad look the same. The typical shad in walleye country are quite a bit different than Alabama shad, for instance. 

I’m just nerdy enough to use my research skills to look at anatomical studies of several shad species. Wow. I never realized how much variability there is in shad species. Clearly, the shad in walleye country have some differences that are reflected in this new Bandit lure. One of the noteworthy specifics you’ll find is that shad in walleye country not only have the deep rounded belly we expect to see in a shad bait. They also have a high arched back which you’ll note on this Bandit lure. The line of the back is rounded rather than straight, and this is a big visual distinction.

Shad in walleye waters also have their eyes located lower on the head and closer to the lateral line or midpoint of the body. Again, unlike previous attempts at shad baits on the market, the Walleye Shad has the eye in the right place for Northern shad species. 

Having the body shape right and the eye placement super realistic is a big deal the pickier the fish get. When they aren’t very cooperative, having nearly perfect anatomy on your lures increases the number of fish that are willing to snap. And in comparison to baits made to mimic Southern shad species, which include virtually all other shad baits on the market, this new Bandit is dialed-in entirely to match the shad in walleye waters. Even when walleyes are on a suicide bite, the accurate profile and eye placement help them make an instantaneous decision to strike. They don’t need to contemplate biting when it's so realistic.

It’s common knowledge that shad have a tight swimming pattern rather than a wide ambling gait. The narrow diving lip and flat sides of the Bandit Walleye Shad create that tight wiggle. But it’s more than that. The tight action also helps the lure dive with a steep dive curve to get to and stay in the strike zone. Couple that lip design with the through-body casting system and you get some interesting options. 

It’s particularly noticeable on sizes 3 and 4 when you compare them. The size 3 model has such a tight action that when you burn the retrieve or troll at high speeds it almost vibrates rather than wiggles. It’s a nice hard dig with minimal wandering. When you crash it into the bottom it barely deflects and keeps digging with that hard vibe action.

Contrasting that is the size 4 action. Its narrow lip and flat sides also create a tight action. But the HUGE size 4 rattles and weight transfer pellet for casting plus larger body throw a change-up. The extra heft of those internal rattles kicks hard as the lure wiggles back and forth. That rattle weight causes a slight pause in the wiggle. This makes the size 4 Walleye Shad wiggle a little slower and wander a little more and deflect softly off bottom with a delayed timing to get back to digging. I won’t call it “hunting” action, yet It's very noticeably less aggressive than the size 3. That gives me two different choices of action, both reaching similar very deep running depths. Note: I’ve trolled both size 3 and 4 to more than 18 feet deep and I can’t wait to see the scientific depth figures when the running depth apps get the tests done. 

While comparing sizes and actions, I have to mention the size 2 and how well it works at slow speeds. Every lure has a bit of a sweet spot where it hits its most fishy action. The size 2 Walleye Shad is a killer cold water weapon because it dives and runs great even at a creeping retrieve or trolling speed. Coupled with the true suspending nature of the lure, this size is a dynamite lure for stop-and-go retrieves or extended stalls when trolling. Stop, take a bite of a sandwich. Start again reeling so slow you barely feel a wiggle. Pause to open a pack of cookies. Get going again SLOWLY. Then stop to text your buddy to move off your spot because you are fighting another fish!

Chances are good that you haven’t tried the new Bandit Walleye Shad lures yet. They are so new you might not find them at your favorite tackle stores. Yet! But you can order ‘em up on Lurenet until your local shop gets them in stock!

Bandit Walleye Shad