When Mike Iaconelli springs forward to re-set his clock for daylight savings, it’s time also to upsize the treble hooks on his Shad Raps.

“Really small modifications can really be the difference in triggering a bite, especially in the cold-water, spring time,” says the Rapala pro, a Bassmaster Classic champion and Bassmaster Angler of the Year.

A Rapala classic, a Shad Rap is among the best baits of all time for targeting winter-to-spring transition bass.

“Not only can you trigger the bites, you can also cover a tremendous amount of water,” Iaconelli says. “It’s a bait I can throw and reel back slow and really find the fish.”

Ike throws a Shad Rap to target hard-bottom areas on main and secondary points. Areas that transition from one hard-bottom type to another - from pea gravel to chunk rock, for example - are often best.

He replaces the VMC treble hooks that come on Shad Raps in the package, upsizing to VMC trebles that are a half-size to full size larger, depending on what he wants the bait to do. “Go a half size up and you can get the bait to neutrally suspend,” he explains. “Go a full size up and you can get the bait to slowly sink.”

A No. 5 Shad Rap comes with two No. 6 treble hooks. Ike replaces the belly and tail trebles with No. 4 and No. 3 trebles, respectively. “And then I’ll play with it until I get the bait to do what I want it to do,” he explains. “By doing that, you’re actually able to get that bait to suspend slightly. And it’s just a super way to catch them.”

That’s “the beauty” of Rapala balsa baits, Ike says. “You try to do that with a plastic bait, it’s very hard to accomplish,” he explains. “With the balsa baits... it’s a lot easier to customize those baits to get different floatation levels.”

After upsizing his Shad Rap’s hooks, Ike works it with a slightly different retrieve than usual.

“I’m actually using the rod tip to pull the bait, more than I am reeling it, putting a lot of pauses in the retrieve,” he explains. “When you do that, it’s a great way to imitate shad.

It’s also a great way imitate crawfish, he says.

“When crawfish are rooting around on the bottom, they kind of crawl along the bottom and then they stop, then they pull along the bottom and stop,” he explains. “And so that technique with a No. 5 and a No.7 Shad Rap is a great way to locate bass and a great way to catch ‘em.”

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