Mike Bucca's Bull Shad 5" Custom Series by Bait Werks Review

Bait: Bull Shad
Manufacturer: Mike Bucca
Length: 5"
Weight: 1.3 ounces
Type: Slow Sink
Price: $65

The Bull Shad is three joint, hard resin swimbait that fills a niche roll in the swimbait market: shad imitator.  There are very few true shad imitation swimbaits on the market, and even fewer good ones.  As the roots of swimbaiting lie in California's trout-plant lakes, most swimbaits are trout imitations.  Long, cylindrical missiles with a wide s-pattern swimming motion, trout baits do not accurately capture essence of a slab sided shad.  Gizzard Shad, and the smaller cousin threadfin, are the number one meal of our bass.  It makes sense that a large portion of bass lures mimic directly, or indirectly, the shad.  This is why I find it odd that relatively few swimbait makers offer a large, shad pattern.  Triton Mike's Bull Shad is one of those few offerings that is geared to those of us who do not want to throw trout imitations.  It is not that the 8" trout patterns won't catch our bass, but large, shad patterns will produce more fish, including the giants, on a consistent basis.  I feel that it will be an excellent tournament bait that tightropes the fringe between a crankbait and a swimbait; producing size and numbers.

The bait in discussion is the 5" Bull Shad Custom Series painted threadfin by Dwain Batey.  The Custom Series upgrade comes with a true, custom paint job and a thick, protective clear coat.  A glance at Batey's site, Bait Werks, shows that his work is outstanding; this bait is no exception.  Silver sides fade into a black back with yellow fin accents and a hint of blue, glitter flake in the clear coat.

In the water it is a dead ringer for a threadfin shad.  The four section bait swims in a tight wiggle that gives the impression of a tail driven kick.  One of the drawbacks of a trout plug is that they typically swim in a wide, lazy s-pattern.  Like a cruising trout.  The Bull Shad holds that tight pattern at all speeds, from crawl to hyperspeed, only rolling over when it breaks the surface.

Aside from being visually pleasing, this bait plain gets bit!  It gets crushed at a lazy crawl.  It gets crushed on a burn.  It gets bit with a frenetic, stop and go.  My favorite technique is a lazy swim past cover.  A plump morsel, oblivious to the fury about to be unleashed upon it.  The "burn and kill" is a technique I used to draw a reaction strike from noncommittal bass.  If a strait retrieve does not produce, I will speed the bait up, simulating a startled baitfish, and then kill the retrieve.  The Bull Shad folds nose-to-tail like a lifeless baitfish and drifts listlessly toward the depths.  I employ this at the end of every retrieve, drawing many strikes at the bow of my boat.

Durability wise, this bait will take a beating.  Errant tosses into rip-rap left my bait unharmed thanks to the protective clear coat.  There were a few complaints about the Generation 1 Bull Shad, but Triton Mike has cleared all that up with the Generation 2.  The Gen 2 Bull Shad is solid!  Furthermore, Triton Mike's customer service is exemplary.  I ordered a 6" Bull Shad in anticipation of a three day weekend and emailed Mike about it.  I assumed there was no way I would get it in time, but he took the time to personally pick my bait and ship it out.  He even left a personalized a message on my bait package.  T.Mike is well known for his customer service and has been extremely pleasant to talk to and do business with.  Another fellow swimbait junkie, I enjoyed a prolonged email correspondence with him. 

Original 6" in gizzard versus Baitwerks 5" in threadfin

In conclusion, the Bull Shad fills a niche in the swimbait market that is relatively untapped.  One of the very few affordable, large, shad imitations, the Bull Shad is an excellent interpretation of a shad that flat out gets crushed.  The Bull Shad has a permanent place in my box and will stay on my deck during tournament season.  I think the 5" will be a perfect tournament bait that produces larger than average fish without shunning the smaller ones; a numbers and trophy bait all in one.   That sounds trite, but bass of any size will go for a 5" shad.  The only detractor to the Bull Shad Custom Series is the price.  At $65, it is too steep for many casual anglers.  Swimbait aficionados, on the other hand, are accustomed to high price baits.  Considering how effective this bait it is, $65 is not too steep for a hand crafted, custom painted swimbait.  All told, this bait is a real keeper that stays constantly tied to my swimbait rod.  It is my go-to, number one bait right now that, hopefully, will carry me through the 2012 tournament season.

LIKES:
-Quality hardware: owner hooks, spro swivel hook hangers, hyperwire split rings
-Custom paint: exceedingly high quality paint scheme under a thick clear coat
-Swimming motion: a very tight, realistic shad swimming motion at all speeds
-Performance: numbers and quality, this bait attracts both the giants and the two pounders
-Tournament bait: this bait produces enough strikes to be leaned upon during a tournament

DISLIKES:
-Price: at $65 it is not for the average angler, but the performance is worth the price in my opinion