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Lure Review


FW Installment #3 : What's a Shrog?

 

Date: 9/15/13
Tackle Type: Lure
Manufacturer: Various
Reviewer: Team TackleTour






 

 

Introduction: A third classification we have for topwater frog baits are for those that look somewhat like frogs but are called something else entirely by their manufacturers. These are the topwater hollow bellied shad baits! Granted one of the baits we're reviewing today does look like a shad, but the other more closely resembles a traditional frog save for a couple of tweaks. Let's take a look!

 

Dean Rojas has another hollow bodied frog bait on the market...

Spro Bronzeye Shad: The Spro Bronzeye Shad is the latter bait we referred to in the introduction. At first glance, this bait looks like any other frog, but upon closer inspection there are a couple of differences. The first being the belly on this frog that's more of a keel than a belly. The second is the arrangement of the bait's legs, they're rotated ninety degrees more in the shape of a tail than two legs on either side of the bait. How does this all translate out on the water?

Spro Bronzeye Shad Specifications

Frog Type Shad
Length 2 1/2"
Weight 1/2 oz
Colors/Patterns 8
MSRP $10.99

Action: The Spro Bronzeye Shad is one of the easiest baits to walk out of the box. The keel serves to direct the bait side to side with each twitch, and the rotated arrangement of the bait's legs cause less resistance when the bait is moving, yet keeps it from sliding forward too much so you can almost walk this bait in place. It's a bait that even those uninitiated to throwing frogs can appreciate.

Introducing the Spro Bronzeye Shad.

Weedlessness: The hook arrangement on this bait is pretty standard as is the soft hollow body. Weedlessness of this frog as a result is very good as it slides across matted vegetation very easily. The bonus comes when you find that small open pocket and make this bait dance in place for a few seconds before advancing.

What makes it a "shad" instead of a frog? Check out the orientation of the legs...

Taking on Water: If there was one downside to our bait, it's that it seemed to take on water a little more frequently than other baits we were testing at the same time. The odd thing was though, this wasn't consistent and we were unable to determine the factors that contributed to the bait taking on water more frequently versus on average.

... as well as the deep keel design of the bait's belly.

Hookup Ratio: The Bronzeye Shad is smaller than a traditional frog type bait yet it's still equipped with a 4/0 frog style hook. Hook up ratio with this bait is very good because it's so easy for a bass to inhale this smaller profile.

As compared to a more standard hollow bodied frog bait.

Durability: This bait has been out with us on several trips over the Summer of 2013 and has held up very well. The hooks remain sharp and the body holds its shape well before and after hookups so we have little concern over the Bronzeye's Shad ability to hold up over an even longer term.

This bait is relatively compact with a soft body.

Availability: The Spro Bronzeye Shad is set to retail for $10.99 and will be available in eight different colors all mimicking some type of bait fish rather than being in frog like colors.

The Spro Bronzeye Shad is among the easiest baits of this type to work.

 

Ratings:

Spro Bronzeye Shad Ratings (?/10)

Construction/Quality Seemingly simple bait put together well 8
Performance Among the easiest to walk 8
Price On the pricier side of this class of bait 6
Features Small size, soft body, stout hooks 8
Design (Ergonomics) The keel belly and vertically orientated hooks make this frog/shad like bait really easy to use 8
Application The best thing about this bait is how easy it is to walk and how slowly you can work it through the strike zone 8

Total Score

7.67
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable!
For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

 

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus

Minus
+ Smaller size seems to translate to better hook up ratios - What happened to the sub $7 frogs? All of our test baits seem to be well over this threshold.
+ Super easy to walk  

  

Next Section: That frog sure looks like a shad

 

   

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