After reading countless positive reviews of the bull shad, I finally decided to purchase them. I purchased a 6" and 9", both slow sinking models. I knew what I was getting into so the crude appearance of the baits were not an issue. But what I noticed right away was that the hooks are NOT owner treble hooks. I suspect the split rings are NOT owner hyper wire split rings either. I normally replace the hooks and split rings with owner components if they do not come with them, especially with hard body swimbaits. However, the bull shads are marketed as coming equipped with owner treble hooks and owner hyper wire split rings. The baits were purchased brand new from a reputable online tackle store. Part of the my decision to purchase these baits were knowing that it already came with quality owner components, therefore I would not need to swap them out.
I am not exactly sure what the brand of treble hooks are on the baits I received. The 6" appears to have Mustad wide gap hooks. The 9" appears to have VMC or Gamakatsu treble hooks. Another weird thing was the 9" came with the same size split rings as the 6". I would expect the the bigger bait to come with beefier split rings.
Was it misleading marketing or did I get a bad batch? Or is this how they are normally? For those who have bought bull shads, did yours come with owner treble hooks and hyper wire split rings? Mine did not. Anyways, I am going to swap out the hooks and fish them. I hope to catch some nice ones this upcoming summer!
This post is not meant to bash or should be taken that way. Let us keep it that way. This post is meant to inform potential new buyers, and I am asking a legitimate question.
Bull Shad stock hooks?
- Phantasy_Fishing
- Senior Angler
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- Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:52 pm
- Location: Minnesota
Bull Shad stock hooks?
In Pursuit of The Ultimate Fishing Experience...!!!
Re: Bull Shad stock hooks?
Hi Phantasy, I'm the owner of Bull Shad. You are 100% correct the hooks we use aren't Owner and the rings we use are also not owner. I do not mean to misrepresent our products in anyway. I have found over the years that the hook business is very volatile. At the very beginning we did use Owner products. I have nothing bad to say about Owner products. Great hooks and rings. But at one time I couldn't get hooks from them to save my life. i was left hanging with 100 baits with zero hooks.. On this particular occasion I bought every Owner hook TW had just to fill these orders that I had. This was a good while back and I haven't gone back because it left a bad taste in my mouth but I can honestly say they aren't the only ones.. I'm not picking on just owner here but it's every hook company that I have done business with. I've gone from Owner to VMC and now Mustad for the simple reason that the hook companies seem to struggle bad in keeping their hooks in stock. I buy thousands of hooks a year so I 'm speaking from experience here. Right now I'm struggling to get certain Mustad hooks. I apologize for any false advertising you may have seen. But next week it might be a different brand of hooks. Just being upfront and honest.. It's a big problem atleast for me. I plan on attending Icast this year and trying to peg down exactly what the problem is with in stocks on hooks.. And also yes I've tried Shortys.. I hope this clarifies the situation that I am in.
Dobyns Rods, Lucky Craft, Triple Fish, Bull Shad
- GOOD YEAR 71
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- Phantasy_Fishing
- Senior Angler
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:52 pm
- Location: Minnesota
Re: Bull Shad stock hooks?
Hey Mike,
OMG, I can hardly believe I got a reply from the creator of the bull shad! Thanks for the clarification and I can completely understand the position you are in. It must be hard keeping up with the demand for the baits! After all, swaping the hooks is no big deal. I rather have a bull shad then no bull shad at all. I am looking forward to the first fish I catch on them. I am fairly confident the 6" will get bit, and get bit a lot. The 9" might not get bit a lot, but I am still going to throw it a lot. It would be great if I caught a nice bass on the 9", but the intended target of the 9" is rumored to take 10,000 casts.
OMG, I can hardly believe I got a reply from the creator of the bull shad! Thanks for the clarification and I can completely understand the position you are in. It must be hard keeping up with the demand for the baits! After all, swaping the hooks is no big deal. I rather have a bull shad then no bull shad at all. I am looking forward to the first fish I catch on them. I am fairly confident the 6" will get bit, and get bit a lot. The 9" might not get bit a lot, but I am still going to throw it a lot. It would be great if I caught a nice bass on the 9", but the intended target of the 9" is rumored to take 10,000 casts.
In Pursuit of The Ultimate Fishing Experience...!!!
Re: Bull Shad stock hooks?
Phantasy, I donno about 10,000 casts without a bite. Thats a pile of casts. Just keep at it bud. The first few are always the hardest ones to catch. After that it's all downhill . Good luck bud!!
Dobyns Rods, Lucky Craft, Triple Fish, Bull Shad