RyanPerrey Posted December 4, 2013 Report Share Posted December 4, 2013 A bunch of people have been asking me about the Hiroshima Customs 8.5'' Glide Bait so I'll do my best attempt at a review: Mine is in slow sink. As I eagerly opened the packaging it came w/ 2 Owner Hyper wire split rings (80# if I were to guess) and 2 Owner ST-36 hooks. I believe 2/0. I was very impressed with how it looked immediately. If you slowly turn the body from top to bottom, you'll see it reflects a very natural light in a silver to light purple hue. I scaled it with my digital scale and it read 4 oz. I've put that scale again certified weights a local club uses and it typically ready 1-2 oz light so I would say it's a hair over 5oz. So the first thing I look for in a new swimbait is action, quality and what we all want... DRAWL! Action: The action is really unique. On a slow steady retrieve it does a nice S-action. It has a subtle difference I have not seen in others but they all swim slightly different. It typically swims side to side in a 1-2' wide path depending on a few variables. I put a 80# split ring on the nose and found it gave it a little more action. This lure really comes to life the more you play with it. It's action is very much dictated by how you retrieve it. My favorite thing about this guy is fishing docks. you can double pop it inside a dock, double pop it right back out (similar to a spook) between pilings along the entire dock. Quality: This is a very durable swimbait. My first trip was during a cold front where the high's went from 75-80 for a month into low 50's w/ 14 mph sustained winds and 20+ mph gusts. It was tuff fishing from my little 11' fiberglass boat. I made an ambitious cast to parallel a dock as a big gust of wind caught it and sure thing... it SMASHES!!!! against the dock. I was positive it was cracked, broke in half, an eye fell out as I discovered the dock had a metal trim right where it landed. Some minimal paint chipped but it was so miniscule to some other swimbaits I've owned. I once had a certain swimbait (which will remain un-named) do something similar and break in 2 on a easier cast. I think I have about 15-20 hours of fishing this lure under my belt and I've beat the crap out of it. I included some pictures so you can see it's current condition. I'm impressed w/ how many dock's and tree's I've run it into on porpoise or not lol. Drawl: My first day fishing it I had a dozen fish in the 3-5 lb range follow but they were not committing. I honestly think that was due to the cold front. I got out for a few hours the next trip after the cold front passed on a high pressure, windless day and didn't even see a fish. Also most likely weather related. My 3rd trip was bitter sweet! I had hurt my back at work a month prior so I ripped a big cast past a dock's end to parallel it and a brush pile adjacent that had nice deep water access. What I didn't know was I was also casting over a huge laydown. After casting I got on my knees to stretch and I am not paying attention at all as my buddy and I are laughing about a bad joke. I stood up as the swimbait is 10' from my boat. I had what I think were two 7lbers and a 9lber racing almost vertically off that tree towards my lure. The big one committed at the boat. A few pop's and a figure 8 and she eventually spooked. My next trip I only fished for 2-3 hours and I got the cast to catch footage up on here. Dumped one that would have pushed 7lbs and landed a 6.1. My last trip before my favorite lakes closed for the winter.... ugh!!! Long story short. The lakes look turned over. I cast to parallel the deep end of a good dock and from the shallowest part of the dock, an easy 10lber missiles after it, circles it. Gave it a pop and she bit it super hard but didn't open her mouth very far. No hook up. As the wind blows me on top of the fish she was still committed but eventually looked at me for a second or 2 before slowly swimming off. I think it's an amazing lure, I have a world of confidence in it! For the price, it may be your best bet on the market IMO for a Giant. If you are interested in one, all you have to do is msg Brock on facebook. Look up Hiroshima Customs and go from there. Enjoy! bluegill70 and 253caster 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanPerrey Posted December 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2013 Sorry for all the typos. To correct myself, an eye did not fall out. That's just what I imagined as it slammed the dock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorCalBass Posted December 6, 2013 Report Share Posted December 6, 2013 Been wanting one for a long time, don't know if I like the 6-8 week wait he told me he has a couple weeks ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 What i dont like is he said he had no video of it swimming yet. I would like to see that before dropping the green on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwimbaitsatLMV Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 What i dont like is he said he had no video of it swimming yet. I would like to see that before dropping the green on it I have video of snapping one off, does that help? It has a glide that is slightly tighter than the Deps, and much more subtle, but it draws fish like crazy and gets them to commit. I snapped off my buddy's 8.25" and I immediately messaged Brock to get another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorCalBass Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 What i dont like is he said he had no video of it swimming yet. I would like to see that before dropping the green on it I have no clue how different his bait swims now since he has been tweaking it for a couple years now but here's a video from a couple years ago. I'm assuming its only better now and it looks sick to me bluegill70 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted December 10, 2013 Report Share Posted December 10, 2013 I made this 8.5" kokanee bait to chase the giant smallmouth in lake pardee. I wanted to have a bait that you could cast well into the wind and not have it thrown back at you. I also wanted a bait that would stay at the end of the cast and need very little line pick up to get it to move or twitch when chasing spooky fish. Most traditional glide baits will have a higher line tie position to keep the bait wandering on the pause with this bait I wanted to have the line tie lower to keep the bait down better on the countdown. Also most glide baits will have a tighter hinge for a wider sweep as well as have a soft tail. I wanted to have a hard tail to accommodate for an extra hook if need be. I've changed up quite a few things in the last 3 years but always kept the action real similar. On the screw eye version I opened the hinge up to give it even more action with less line pick up. This didn't translate to some as they'd already established their confidence bait. I've also been shaving the anal fin to allocate more weight on both the screw and door hinge versions. This allows me to tune the bait better. I have to say this bait has given me a new perspective on what I think a bait should be and what the fish actually want. Some of the most productive versions were the ones that were slightly off balanced. This would allow you to wash or blow the bait out into a very non mechanical trigger. Much like you see when a trout is pinned at the bank by a big bass. I've recently come to the conclusion that I should just make these in batches and let the angler have more options to show the fish. I appreciate you guys being patient my intentions weren't to create a demand by not making them available. Unfortunately my indecision gets the best of me at times. BigBaitThirty and Dmthompson44 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aasenke Posted December 16, 2013 Report Share Posted December 16, 2013 Those old school glides look pretty sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Posted December 26, 2013 Report Share Posted December 26, 2013 I have 3 on order, can't wait to get them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanPerrey Posted December 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 I have 3 on order, can't wait to get them. Fish with confidence! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomhb33 Posted January 4, 2014 Report Share Posted January 4, 2014 I got one for Christmas...Cant wait to throw it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanPerrey Posted February 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 I'm sure quite a few of you have yours in by now. Any of your southern gentlemen sticking em on this guy??? Man, I'm itching for some windy spring days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttholebill Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 is that hudds mouth open? did u cut it to be like that because that's sick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttholebill Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 also on the tail can you attach another hook? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nol Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 Sweet review! I was thinking about picking one up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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