bronzefly

Thanks guys! One great thing about all this, to keep things in perspective, is the gear he used to catch this true river monster. A beat up G Loomis MBR 783 GL3 (6'6" MH), a beat up old Curado CU 201, and some nice 50lb power pro braided line He's one hell of a fisherman and the dedication and skill it took to make this happen is a testament to that fact. The bait used shall remain a secret, but it wasn't a "swimbait."

Yes, absolutely. I can make the Hyper Herring "tail slap" or "walk" nicely! There are a couple different bill versions out there and each one is a little different, but the floater can be made to dive a little similar to the way the baby wake will. I think it's a VERY under rated and often overlooked bait.

No problem. They're both very nice looking baits and I don't blame you for keeping them. That shad bait in particular looks VERY interesting!! Hit me up if you ever want to sell or trade them I'd wear the paint of that shad bait

I use a couple different Costa del Mar glasses... both with 580 Glass. They are hands down the most crisp and clean lenses I've ever used.

I've lost two 3:16 hardbaits to big muskies over the past few years. Funny thing is that we always catch more of them with traditional bass tackle than with big swimbaits or musky baits! At any rate, my fishing partner and good friend landed this absolute beast of a musky last night. The fish was 53" long and estimated at 40lbs - it wasn't far from a Tennessee state record fish, but he wanted to get it back in the water alive, so it was released. He's been having second thoughts all day after taking all the measurements and running them through calculators... he may have just released the new state record!

I don't know, but I want them both

The baby wake isn't meant to be burned... it can do some sweet tail slaps, walking, and a few other tricks, but burning isn't what that bait was designed to do. I wouldn't be drilling holes in a baby wake bill - it does its intended job beautifully in my opinion...

I have some Hyper Herring floaters without holes in the bill and some with holes in the bill. I like them both a lot! They are definitely different than the freestyles and certainly do get bit!!

SS - Green Shad Floater - "most" conditions - any with a white belly.

I'd put my money on DB

That's one opinion. The way I see it is that if someone wants to pay 10x retail for something they want and can afford, that's their business, end of story.