FishDr Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Solid review! Thanks for taking the time to put it together. I too have used the Hard Gills and they definitely have a place in my swimbait arsenal. Here at 5200' they are deadly in late fall as a deadstick bait, but I discovered last year that they can also do deadly execution on fish when waked and paused slowly at night. Most of the time it's bass (sorry, our bass aren't normally that big). Sometimes it is something other than bass! My bait (so far I'm still throwing the original one I bought a couple of years back - I have another spare) has taken some damage to the pelvic fins, but it doesn't seem to affect the fish catching ability one bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason Posted November 26, 2014 Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 The floating hardgill has been one of my most productive baits the last couple of summers. I've been using it in heavily fished small lakes mostly and some large reservoirs. Where as I use a lot of big baits as search baits, I've been using this bait as more of target bait. I like to find bream beds and fish any kind of cover in the area. Whether it be docks, trees, a single stick or a shade pocket. My best retrieve has been very slow and steady after letting the bait sit for a few seconds. I've also caught fish dead sticking the bait over bream beds. This kind of fishing requires a lot of stealth because the fish are so shallow. It's obvious, but stay back if you're in a boat and stay out of sight if you're bank fishing. I'll often stand behind trees or make long casts parallel to the bank. As stated before, durability has been an issue on the early baits, which is what I have. I added a coat of DV2 and that seems to have helped but I've still repaired the tail multiple times. The newer ones are supposed to be much more durable and I got a slow sink from the most recent release but I haven't got to fish it yet. I will say that as good as the old paint jobs are, the new ones blow them away. The colors really pop in the sunlight. Most of the fish I've caught have been short and fat or long and extremely skinny. I dont know why this is. Most of the other fish I catch in these lakes are fat. I have pictures I planned to post but I can't seem to upload them from my phone since I updated to iOS 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
everythingthatswims Posted November 29, 2014 Report Share Posted November 29, 2014 I have a 3 piece floater, love the bait and it has produced for me but it does plane to the left when I cast it. Kind of hard when you are trying to get a bait inches from a piece of cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunkerglx10 Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Has anyone had good experiences with the 2 piece wakes? Just picked up a used one in the Black Market in the male gill color, and it looks amazing. I'm planning on casting it over bedding areas, and dead sticking it with the occasional crank of the reel to piss the big girls off. I'd love to hear about preferred retrieves or observations about the bait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskid95 Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Great reviews everyone. Maybe I missed it it but, do you guys swap out the hardware? If so, what hook and split rings work best? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbasser Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Some hard gill fish this year! First year throwing them have lost a few fish over 10 at the boat! Great swim bait! Will even catch gills occasionally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsricketts Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 Curious from some of you guys who are regular users what your most productive color is. Male or Female? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmayer88 Posted November 19, 2015 Report Share Posted November 19, 2015 Curious from some of you guys who are regular users what your most productive color is. Male or Female? Don't really think it makes a difference, whichever one you can get your hands on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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