9" Tsunami Swim Shads, my weapon of choice in May since the very first year they hit the market. At least as deadly as live lining in upper Narragansett Bay in the spring. I don't think I've ever noticed liveliners catching when I'm not and there's plenty of times I catch when they don't; I don't think it's related to anything other then the fact I'm working deep when they're working shallow. I pick a lot of fish out of the 20 to 70 foot range in May.
It's odd though, on many days I've had trouble getting the bass to eat most plugs. I sometimes think the bass have a LOT of options to eat at this point in the season and get real picky. I don't know if this effect holds true every where though. Only on certain days can I get them to touch a Danny. Swim it over breaking 20 pounders and it gets denied.
Spooks will have their days, but that swim shad is just magic. Maybe it's as simple as the fact that it works the bottom and not the top...