Ask a severe bass angler catch a real trophy largemouth, and there’s a powerful risk that glide baits are going to return up. These giant and jointed onerous lures symbolize mammoth prey like shad, trout, and juvenile carp.
Between manufacturing fashions present in sort out outlets and customized lures handmade by unbiased builders, glide baits for bass can be found in a plethora of shapes, sizes, and patterns. What all of them have in widespread is their motion—underwater, they gently glide back and forth in a large, sweeping sample, which superbly mimics a carefree or injured goal. In different phrases, it appears to be like like a simple meal for a giant, lazy bass. It’s honest to say that glide baits are one of many trendiest lures in bass fishing proper now, besides there’s actually nothing new about them.
Greatest Glide Baits for Bass
The Rise of Glide Baits
Glide baits have existed for many years within the muskie world. Nevertheless these previous muskie lures often have picket our bodies and rounder shapes and look vastly completely different from the glide baits for bass that we see at the moment. The second coming of those lures began in Japan within the early 2000s. To outsmart the large bass in locations like Lake Biwa (which might ultimately cough up the present world-record largemouth), anglers started eradicating the lips of their giant swimbaits and tinkering with the interior weights to make the lures droop and glide by the water. This class of lure has come a great distance since then. Glide baits have been as soon as in excessive demand, however now there are simply attainable glide baits made by a handful of corporations. However earlier than you possibly can harness the ability of the glider, there are some issues it’s essential to know. Listed below are some key suggestions for catching bass with glide baits.
Learn Subsequent: Best Swimbaits for Bass
Fish a Glide Bait Slowly
I just lately had an opportunity to hang around with Keith Thomas, the person behind Pennsylvania-based Black Talon Custom Lures. His glide bait, the Donk, is likely one of the most coveted glide baits in the marketplace, in the event you may even name it “in the marketplace.” To attain one, you should be one of many first few individuals to remark when Thomas posts a bait drop on his Facebook page. If you happen to get in, you’re paying north of $200 for considered one of these small-batch baits. Based on Thomas, there are individuals who have been attempting for years. So, what units the Donk aside? It’s the eye to element that comes with artisan craftsmanship and the lure’s capacity to droop within the water column. It’s this suspension that makes the Donk so deadly, however Thomas says that reality typically falls on deaf ears.
“Individuals are likely to need to overwork a glide bait,” he tells me. “They need to see it darting back and forth in these huge, large, sweeps. I’m not saying that received’t set off aggressive fish, however the actuality is that many of the greatest bass I’ve caught on a glide bait hit when the bait was doing completely nothing.”
Make the most of a Glide Bait’s Versatility
Glide baits are versatile. Level the rod tip on the water and reel in brief, quick bursts and the lure kicks forwards and backwards shortly and erratically, an motion often called “chopping.” Reel slowly, imparting mild downward strokes of the rod tip, and the lure ought to softly glide backward and forward. However what separates a great glide bait from a fantastic glide bait is its capacity to sink so slowly that it’s barely falling in any respect, and its capacity to twitch, jackknife, and quiver ever so barely with the lightest motion of the rod tip.
To make use of Thomas’s analogy, in the event you’re a giant man sitting on the sofa and a meal you crave is being introduced by a five-year-old that’s working everywhere, there’s a powerful probability you’re not making the hassle to chase it down. Conversely, in case your meal is being carried on the again of a tortoise, you realize you possibly can catch it and usually tend to make the transfer. An excellent glide bait is arguably the almost definitely bass lure to get smashed by a cautious, 5-plus-pound fish when it’s inactive.
Understanding Which Glide Bait to Throw
There are two colleges of thought when selecting a glide bait. The primary falls instantly in step with matching the hatch. In essence, you’ll need to discover precisely what the large bass in a given physique of water are feeding on, after which match that actual coloration sample within the glide bait you’re throwing. For instance, in the event you’re fishing a stocked trout lake, throwing a giant rainbow trout glide can set off the largest bass of your life into hanging.
The second, nevertheless, goes completely towards matching the hatch. Choosing huge, gaudy, and flashy colours might be an effective way to face out from the gang and pull un-pressured bass over to your glide, however it may additionally result in a protracted day of follows with out a single taker.
So you realize whether or not to match the hatch or stand out from the gang? Easy. Let the bass let you know which they like on any given day. If you happen to begin the day with numerous follows however no bites, take that as a transparent signal to combine issues up. Sure circumstances like cloud cowl, water readability, and wind speeds will impact how huge bass need to eat. That can assist you get began, I like to recommend matching the hatch when fishing closely pressured our bodies of water and going with flashy colours if I’m fishing someplace that doesn’t get a lot fishing exercise.
It looks as if bass in closely pressured conditions are more likely to shrink back from a bait until it appears to be like excellent, whereas un-pressured giants will typically let their eyes be greater than their abdomen with out pondering twice in regards to the coloration of your glide.
Discover Reasonably priced Glide Baits
STORM Arashi Glide Bait
STORM Arashi Glide Bait
Customs just like the Donk are coveted for his or her gradual sink charges and skill to be finessed, however you don’t should spend a whole lot of {dollars} to hook up. Glide Baits like 6th Sense’s Flow Glide, Livingston’s Viper, and Storm’s Arashi are all inexpensive and able to placing up your personal-best bass if, that’s, you realize when to solid them.
Fish Glide Baits in Spring and Fall
One other dangle up Thomas has observed with of us simply moving into throwing glide baits is that they need to use all of them season lengthy. Their productiveness all through the season will, in fact, range by area, however as a rule, glide baits are best throughout the spring and late winter pre-spawn months for a number of causes.
Most notably, pre-spawn occasions for largemouth are likely to coincide with actions or an abundance of enormous forage. For example, within the Northeast the place Thomas fishes, gizzard shad are schooled up in spring and the heaviest bass craving huge, protein-packed meals, are tuned into them. Usually, cooler water temperatures make giant bass extra apt to focus on and chase down bigger meals, making glide baits shine early and late within the yr. Just like shad actions, many West Coast lakes are stocked with contemporary trout in spring, and glide baits match them completely. Nevertheless, Thomas hears from individuals in search of recommendation on utilizing his lures in summer season, and his reply isn’t all the time what they need to hear.
“If I’m going to throw a glide bait within the warmth of summer season, I’m solely doing it throughout a selected window,” he says. “Within the spring I do know that bait can produce at any time of day, however in summer season, I’m in search of motion in and above the water … It takes some expertise to acknowledge, however throughout these home windows I’d get a bass to maneuver on a glider.”
Thomas additionally identified that contemplating these lures have two huge treble hooks hanging off of them, they’re not precisely weedless. As milfoil and lilies develop, and as algae and duckweed bloom within the warmth, glide baits can turn into tough to work.
However when glide baits are capable of run clear early within the spring or within the fall, they will rating you the largest largemouth of your life whereas most bass anglers are sofa tripping.
Gide Bait for Bass: Dos and Don’ts
Do: Correctly Match Your Rod And Reel To Your Lure
Although glide baits can be found in a spread of sizes, a lot of them are giant. They’ll weigh upwards of three ounces, which is far heavier than many of the lures you’re used to casting in freshwater. Their dimension creates air resistance and, frankly, they are often moderately cumbersome to solid. With that in thoughts, you possibly can’t merely tie one onto the medium-action spinning rod you’ve been utilizing. Nicely, you might, however it received’t be very efficient. The reply, nevertheless, will not be leaning into an extra-heavy rod both.
Today there’s no scarcity of swimbait-specific rods designed to each ship these lures successfully and can help you really feel bites. One instance can be Okuma’s Guide Select A-Series Swimbait Rod, which measures 7 ft, 11 inches. Most devoted swimbait and glide bait rods are longer than regular bass rods to assist with casting these heavy choices, however they taper to attain a powerful spine and preserve a delicate tip. A reel with a great braking system that enables minute changes, as effectively a excessive gear ratio to crank hooked fish in quick, is a plus. Abu Garcia’s Revo5 X is a good inexpensive alternative.
Don’t: Neglect the Sharpness of Your Glide Bait’s Hooks
By and enormous, anglers don’t pay as a lot consideration to hook sharpness as they need to. This can be a widespread downside no matter fishing model, however sustaining razor-sharp hooks is vital when fishing giant glide baits. We are likely to assume that a big lure is barely going to draw giant fish, and once they hit it, it’s going to be an explosive wallop. That couldn’t be farther from the reality.
Discuss to any glide bait fan and so they’ll let you know even large fish typically come up and barely mouth the bait, simply giving it a bit nip. Between refined hits and the truth that it may take additional oomph to set the hook with a bait that’s so giant, you want each benefit to make sure that a type of factors sticks. Hardcore swimbait anglers examine and re-file their hook factors continuously to make sure that if a bass a lot as kisses that lure, it’s getting pinned.
Don’t: Attempt to Play a Glide Bait Fish Too Lengthy
Given that folks affiliate huge lures with huge fish, it’s pure to imagine a whopper that slams a glide bait goes to take you for a trip. The drag will scream, and it’ll be off to the races.
There’s little question these lures idiot highly effective fish, however if you wish to improve the percentages of placing them within the internet, you need to decrease the combat time. Many glide bait anglers I’ve fished with maintain their drags locked down fairly tight, and when a fish bites, they typically preserve a low rod angle throughout the battle. Utilizing reels with excessive retrieve ratios to their benefit, they’ll simply steadily crank the fish in as quick as doable. Although this methodology could not sound as enjoyable as letting a giant fish run across the lake, it’s crucial contemplating the load and dimension of many glide baits. If a fish is barely hooked, it’s very straightforward for it to make use of the lure’s weight and water resistant profile to achieve leverage and shake the bait free. Giant lures additionally hinder your capacity to take care of strain as steadily as you possibly can when a fish eats a small lure.
The underside line is, it’s straightforward for fish to return unglued from a glide bait. A low rod angle minimizes the flexibility of a fish to leap and thrash, and a gentle retrieve with little motion of the rod does the most effective job of holding strain on as you hustle the fish to the web.
Do: Use a Lighter Chief Than You Assume You Want
Glide baits might be costly, particularly after we’re speaking about these which are customized made. You additionally use them to focus on huge fish, so it is sensible to need to use a heavy chief to ship them. It seems like each an insurance coverage coverage towards dropping your funding and dropping a trophy catch. Nevertheless, most diehard glide bait fans shrink back from stiff, heavy chief because it tends to change the lure’s seductive shimmy.
The seasoned professionals ceaselessly lean on fluorocarbon leader as gentle as 15 or 20 kilos. You’re, in any case, attempting to imitate a big stay baitfish that’s both swimming naturally or seems injured. These huge previous fish that glide baits are supposed to idiot didn’t get huge by making numerous errors. Heavy chief can’t solely mute the motion of those lures, however it may also be observed by discerning fish extra simply than thinner chief. That is very true in clear water. Assuming you’ve used a strong knot like the FG to attach your braided line and chief, 20-pounds of breaking energy is a lot to horse in a feisty goliath with out fear.
Last Ideas on The best way to Fish a Glide Bait
Glide baits might be intimidating for anglers who’re used to throwing lures smaller than a 1/2 ounce. Nevertheless, with the fitting rod, reel, and line mixture, glide bait fishing will not be solely an extremely enjoyable time, however it may allow you to land your private greatest bass.
Whereas it may be an funding to get into glide bait fishing, I’d advocate beginning out with just a few cheaper choices simply to get your toes moist. After just a few days on the water and some bites, you’ll then have a greater grasp on what sort of customized glide is perhaps up your alley.
Ultimately, it’s necessary to keep in mind that glide baits sometimes received’t result in a ton of bites all through a day of fishing, however if you lastly trick one into consuming, it’ll possible be one price touchdown. Experiment with completely different retrieves, colours, and sizes to search out precisely what works effectively for you and the bass you’re chasing and keep in mind to have enjoyable with it.
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