Following the groundbreaking 2021 release of the Hybrid Hunter, Strike King is back with two new twists to the innovative hard plastic lure. Introducing the Shallow Hybrid Hunter and Shallow Hybrid Hunter Jr.
“With so many companies out there, it’s rare that a truly remarkable lure comes along and catches anglers by surprise, but that is exactly what the Hybrid Hunter did,” said Strike King Product Development Director Todd Castledine. “The design and action are simply like no other.”
Like the original, the Shallow Hybrid Hunter and Shallow Hybrid Hunter Jr. are designed to excel around vegetation. The Hybrid Hunter is built with an unmistakable L-shaped bill, allowing the bait to achieve depth and run horizontally unlike any crankbait on the market. Additionally, its flat-sided body is designed with a high level of buoyancy, allowing it to rise out of vegetation quicker than other lures, greatly reducing grass snags and hang-ups.
The Shallow Hybrid Hunter and Shallow Hybrid Hunter Jr are crafted with the best attributes of a traditional crankbait, but can be fished well with a jerkbait and square bill technique. “That’s why we call this little guy the hybrid,” explained Castledine. “It’s not really a crankbait, and it’s not really another lure. It performs like a hybrid of several exceptional lures in one.”
Though the original was built for fishing vegetation, the Shallow Hybrid Hunter has a growing reputation of performing well around timber and rock, as its bill design allows it to deflect off cover, veer off course, and smoothly correct. “We call this hunting,” explains Castledine. “And as the name implies, the Hybrid Hunter can hunt like no other.”
Another stand out feature of Shallow Hybrid Hunter is the amazing sound chamber that emits a rattle like few baits on the market. Castledine explains: “Fishing around dense cover, like the Hybrid Hunter is engineered to do, requires you to call fish out of the grass. We built this bait to really get their attention.”
