Every few years we have a “hot bait” phenomenon to come on the bass scene. It was a zoom brush hog, then a reactions innovations sweet beaver, then West Coast swimbaits, then chatterbaits and now it is the Glide Bait.
A glide bait is usually a two or three segmented section hard plastic bait that slowly glides and swims in a hunting motion. Most baits will “glide” when they are retrieved slowly and have a slow rate of fall. Glide baits are best when fished softly and methodic. They are not like Jigs or other power fishing baits. You will need to learn to kill um softly with a glide bait.
I will go over my personal favorite glide baits and the tackle I throw them on. I will also give you some tips to catch more fish on them so you will have the confidence to throw them more.
I essentially throw 3 glide baits.
Ok, now let’s talk tackle for these gliding swimbaits.
I personally like a fairly heavy action rod with a long handle. For all of the above mentioned glide baits I throw an IROD Genesis II 7’8” Jr. Swimbait Rod. It will accommodate baits up to 4 ounces and has enough backbone to make the long casts you need to throw these baits.
Now, when it comes to line there are many schools of thought. You can throw braid with a leader, straight braid, straight floro or even straight mono. I feel as though you should throw what YOU have the most confidence in. I personally throw 20lb floro 90% of the time. I feel as though it gives my bait plenty of action and the line is still virtually invisible. However, a good friend of mine Matt Newman who owns IROD, throws straight braid in California’s crystal clear waters and catches some absolute water donkeys on braid. So, you need fish what you feel the most comfortable with and stick with it.
Here are a few tips in general for first time glide bait fisherman.
Well, there you have it. The next time you are wanting to catch the biggest bass in a school or your new PB, tie on a glide bait and be patient. This is not a 20 bites a day bait, but rather 0-5 a day. However they are usually the bites that win tournaments and put those monster bug-eyed bass on the deck.
Shane Smith