Real World Tests: I fished my Bull Wake on board a Gancraft Killers Ground Trick casting rod matched with a Shimano Bantam MGL spooled with 50lb Finatic Pro Series Braid and a Sunline 16lb FC Crank top shot. If you're wondering, the Ground Trick is a JDM rod measuring six feet, seven inches in length with a lure rating of three quarters to three full ounces. I purchased it while in Japan back in 2013 with the intention of writing it up, but it somehow got lost under a pile of other priorities and didn't resurface until about a year ago when it worked its way into being one of my do-anything, big bait sticks.

The bill is placed in optimum position to deflect the bait off limbs and other obstructions

Castability: I've yet to met a +2oz bait that doesn't cast well. Ok, sure some might tumble a little bit, but that's usually the result of casting motion that's too quick. The Bull Wake does not have a moving balancer system to aid with casting, but it does have plenty of mass making it easy to get moving provided you employ the proper, smooth casting motion. Casting distance for this bait is about average and accuracy can be affected by wind direction.

The bill itself is made from a thick, clear piece of lexan

Quality of Movement: The real treat with any wake bait, of course is that commotion it creates once you click over your reel and begin to crank it back to the boat or your position on shore. The Bull Wake swims true and creates a very nice v-wave behind it. You can swim this bait at any speed and if you point your rod tip towards the water, the bait will swim subsurface to maybe about a six inches. Greater depths can be achieved if you stick your rod tip in the water, but the Bull Wake feels more at home on top.

Each bait is outfitted with Mustad KVD Triple Grip trebles

As long as you land the bait in the water and not on top of a branch, if you're brave enough to cast it into a laydown, the Bull Wake will swim over obstructions and come out relatively unscathed. That oversized square bill on the front of the bait acts like a football player's stiff arm blocking branches or rocks, and allows the bait to kind of pivot and vault over the obstruction. I tried this once, just to see if the bait would come out of that mess and it did, but I don't quite have the nerve to continually throw a bait this size into trouble like that.

The brush tail is a signature feature of Bull Shad baits

Another trick some people like to do with their wake baits is to work it like a walking bait. I've had very good success with this in the past, but couldn't quite get the Bull Wake to behave how I wanted using the setup I did. I think this retrieve requires a more stretchy line like nylon monofilament. The zero stretch of braid coupled with my very stiff casting rod didn't allow for enough give for the bait to walk.

Conclusion: Imagine a nice, calm surface. You cast your bait out off into the distance over what you know to be a large weed bed. The bait splashes down and you pause a bit. Take a sip of your coffee, breathe in the fresh air. As the ripples settle from your cast, you click your reel over and begin a slow to medium rate retrieve. The bait responds by swimming back to you and that once, calm surface of the water is now interrupted with the wake of your bait. A white water vortex appears under your bait as it is simultaneously sucked down and exploded upon! SLURPOWW!!

Wake baits are addictive, and the Bull Wake by Bull Shad Swimbaits effectively feeds into that addiction.

Wake baits are addictive, and the Bull Wake by Bull Shad Swimbaits is fun to throw because it is not too big, yet it elicits ferocious strikes. Because it's not so big, it's easy to throw all day long. If you're hunting for just one bite, that one big bite, try a wake bait like Bull Shad Swimbaits's Bull Wake. But be careful though, that adrenaline rush will hook you.