2026.10.21

Duel Sonic Boom SB Wake 165F: A Lunker Wake Bait for the Autumn Gizzard Shad Pattern

minagiman

Autumn seabass means gizzard shad, juvenile mullet and spawning sweetfish. With big bait around, it is the season when you are closest to a lunker all year.

Right on time is Duel’s Sonic Boom SB Wake 165F – a wake bait for lunkers only, with a metre-class seabass already caught on it in Kumamoto. Here is every feature. (Duel is known as Yo-Zuri outside Japan.)

The SB Wake 165F is a big wake bait Duel released in 2026 for large seabass – built to draw lunkers feeding on gizzard shad and mullet up to a surface wake, with plenty of big-fish results.

Contents

Specification
What is a wake bait?
Features
How to fish it
Colours
Tackle
Compared with similar lures
Minagiman’s take
Summary
Read next

Specification


Length	165 mm
Weight	48 g
Type	Floating
Depth	0-50 cm
Max distance	65 m
Hooks	#2
Rings	#4
Colours	10
Price	Open price (around 2,600-2,900 yen street in Japan as of 18 October)

What is a wake bait?

A wake bait swims just under the surface, pushing a V-shaped wake as it moves slowly. It looks like weakened bait struggling on top, and its great attraction is big seabass that are watching the surface smashing it from below – especially strong in the autumn big-bait patterns.

Features

1. MAG BULLET system – up to 65 m

Distance comes from Duel’s MAG BULLET weight-transfer system. The weight balls move as a single mass, adding momentum for much longer casts. After landing the weight moves to the belly and a strong magnet locks it – so it starts swimming immediately and keeps a consistent balance.

2. SB System – Real Lens Finish plus SB Unit

Technology	What it does
Real Lens Finish	Realistic scales that scatter light widely. Being inside the body, the shine survives hook marks and tooth marks
Hologram inner sheet	Light reflected off the internal sheet spreads further through the real lens
SB Unit	The MAG BULLET as a unit wrapped in hologram sheet – absorbs shock and strengthens the body

Keeping its shine even when scarred by lunker fights is a real plus for a big bait you will use for a long time.

3. Fishes from the surface to 50 cm

Depth is 0-50 cm, controlled by retrieve speed and line angle. Rod high and slow: a wake on the surface. Rod low: it dives slightly. One lure covers the upper layer in detail.

4. Dive and rise for reaction bites

Beyond a straight retrieve, sweep the rod to dive it, then stop and let it float up – topwater-style. Diving it 50-60 cm, jerking, then letting it drift up is effective too, repeated to trigger fish striking from below.

5. Hook tuning changes its character

Tuning	Effect
Smaller hooks	More buoyancy, tighter action, shallower
Remove the centre hook and upsize front and rear	Heavier, runs deeper, different hook-up

It is a high floater, so hooks change its behaviour. After changing hooks, always check how it floats and swims at your feet first.

How to fish it

Rod high, slow retrieve – the basic wake. Start here.
Retrieve plus dive and pause – sweep to dive, stop to float.
Dive, jerk, rise – take it down 50-60 cm, work it, let it drift up for fish below.

Target river mouths, canals and harbours where gizzard shad and mullet gather, and lower rivers where spawning sweetfish drop down. Cross current seams and light-and-shadow lines slowly with the wake.

Colours

Colour	When (per Duel)
Clear Chart	Clear water, sun; low-key appeal for tough conditions
Chart Head Bora	Mullet days; the chart head helps you track it
Iwashi	The core natural
Kei Red Shiner	Low light at dawn, dusk, overcast
Akahara Iwashi	When realistic colours need a bit more appeal
Matt Chart	Very muddy water, night
Matt Kei Blue Konoshiro	Gizzard shad pattern; when fish shy from strong flash
Matt Pink	High pressure, low activity
Pearl Chart	Dark nights, stained water – most visible of all
Pearl Red Head	Night standard; smaller-looking silhouette

For the autumn gizzard shad pattern, start with Matt Kei Blue Konoshiro, plus Pearl Chart as the night standard.

Tackle

Item	Guide
Rod	Seabass rod (MH-H) rated to about 50 g
Reel	Spinning around 4000, or a powerful baitcaster
PE	1.5-2
Leader	Fluoro or nylon 25-35 lb

48 g exceeds the upper rating of many seabass rods – always check.

Compared with similar lures

Lure	Length	Weight	Type	Key point
Duel SB Wake 165F	165 mm	48 g	Floating	MAG BULLET, 65 m, 0-50 cm
Daiwa Burst Upper 180F	180 mm	60.5 g	Floating	Giant topwater for 80 cm+ fish, 63 m
Daiwa Soft Wake 150F	150 mm	33 g	Floating	Elastomer body, dives to 0.6 m

The Burst Upper 180F is bigger and heavier and needs a strong big-bait rod; at 48 g the SB Wake is manageable on a strong seabass rod. Lunkers on your usual tackle: SB Wake. Only the biggest fish on dedicated tackle: Burst Upper.

The Soft Wake 150F draws bites with a soft body; the SB Wake draws fish with shine and distance. Pressured, slow days: Soft Wake. Searching widely to pull in a lunker: SB Wake.

Minagiman’s take

Autumn seabass are building condition on big bait, and when gizzard shad and mullet hold near the surface, lunkers are often looking up. The SB Wake is specialised for exactly that: fly 65 m, show it slowly with a wake, draw fish with shine. Reaching distant lunkers on big estuaries and harbours is its biggest weapon. But 165 mm / 48 g can be too big on small-bait days – switch back to your usual minnows and sinking pencils then.

That moment when the water bulges up behind the wake – that thrill is unique to wake baits.