Best Emerald Shiner Imitation for Niagara Lakers

[wschinke]

Hey guys:

anyone have any suggestions on soft plastic emerald shiner imitations out there? Niagara lakers love live emerald shiners, but in Kitchener it's like $8/dozen. So a decent soft plastic imitation would be nice. White/smoke tube jigs work fine in the tea-stained water in Northeastern Ontario. But Niagara is pretty clear. I'm guessing some decent detail would be better.

Best I've found so far:

http://www.berkley-fishing.com/berkley-bait-soft-bait-berkley-powerbait/powerbait-minnow/1317175.html

 

[lucario]

i hear these are really effective https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00CJJ794A/ref=twister_B00G4VKR4I?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[MuskieBait]

I used to see these a lot...but haven't noticed them lately since the stores seems to favour the Gulp! products now...

http://www.berkley-fishing.com/berkley-bait-soft-bait-berkley-powerbait/powerbait-power-minnow/1285509.html#sz=16&start=128

There were lots of colours to choose from in the past, and there was a colour that has green back, clear belly, with reflective material inside the plastic (can't remember what it was called). That was an awesome Emerald Shiner imitation, especially the 2" and 3" size. Used to catch Browns and Steelheads with them in slower stretches under the float, or jigging with a heavier jighead around the eddies of boulders in faster stretches.

Since the colour options are limited now, the Smelt pattern may be your best bet to imitate Emerald Shiner.

The first time I saw it used was one guy fishing next to us down at the Glen, drifting the Power Minnow under a slip float. There were some fish holding between two VW Bug size boulders. He landed a dozen Steelheads and Browns between 5-12lbs within the 1.5 hours we watched him hook up. I remember distinctly both the current and wind that day pushed a lot of shiners toward the Canadian side of the river, and fish were jumping all around us pushing bait school toward the surface. We caught a few using small 2" crankbaits...but with our limited casting range on those small lures we couldn't get it further out where the main group of fish was feeding. The guy using the slip float and the Power Minnow did a lot of damage.

See if you can find them on other online stores. Some places may have old stock around. The plastic does degrade after a couple of years...my stockpile had basically disintegrated into fragments of plastics now. :roll:

 

[wschinke]

Awesome - thanks guys! I'm gonna give the Gulp Alive Watermelon Pearl ones a try next time I'm down at the glen. These things look nice too, so I may give them a try as well (green mist, ghost ayu or light hitch):
http://www.berkley-fishing.com/berkley-bait-soft-bait-berkley-havoc/havoc-sick-fish-jr/1311913.html

 

[trouttamer]

Berkely powerbait minnow, colour is emerald shiner comes in 2 3 and 4 inch, Bass pro and sail carry them. great for steel and walleye. berkely used to make one called realstix which were my goto for spring walleye on the kawarthas. both closely resemble an emerald shiner.