Glide distance

[Process77]

I you’re opinion what is the main factor in getting good glide bait distance? 

1. Weight distribution? ( Even vrs. Nose weighted, tail weighted, etc.)

2. Joint position (ie. the distance from tie eye to the pivot point)

3. Or the tail swing? ( ie. how far the tail jointed segment swings side to side)

A k9 has a wildly different joint articulation compared to a phoney shad. But both swim Productively.

[Spencer_518]

something I've struggled with now for a while. Gave it a break to focus more on wakes and cranks but wanting to give some glides a go again. Following

[Jinxd12]

All of the above.

If any one of those are off your bait will not be consistent, if your looking for a reliable 1 reel left, 1 reel right glide.

Can't compare any drt baits to glides because that's not what they are or even intended to be!

I'm not perfect but learning quick. If I had to pick one for a wide glide it would be joint placement and type. 

Go look at all the wide gliding baits and view the similarities/differences and start from there.

[Rogervang]

Like @Jinxd12 said, all the above. Every signal one of those have their part. It's like a balancing game. You can't have too little or too much of each. Just the right amount. Or somewhere close it to. But to answer your questions:

1. i weigh the first half a slight bit heavier so it won't nose up on a pause or twitch.

2. I like to have the first half a bit longer than the second half. When I first started I had a swaver168 and I studied and did the joint placement off that. 

3. The tighter the joint the tighter the swim. The looser the joint the more the bait will bent but too much it'll just bend. Haha sometimes the bait looks cooler with no gap but you'll learn the love the bait with the joint gap as you go.

I hope that made some kind of sense. This is all just in my experience, someone else might have a different encounter. Plus, tuning a glide is a pain in the......... 

Edited April 15, 2022 by Rogervang

[JustinHill]

13 hours ago, Process77 said:

I you’re opinion what is the main factor in getting good glide bait distance? 

1. Weight distribution? ( Even vrs. Nose weighted, tail weighted, etc.)

2. Joint position (ie. the distance from tie eye to the pivot point)

3. Or the tail swing? ( ie. how far the tail jointed segment swings side to side)

A k9 has a wildly different joint articulation compared to a phoney shad. But both swim Productively.

Longer the bait longer the glide you aren’t going to get a 3ft glide to one side on a 6” bait. 

[danthefisherman]

I echo what the above gentlemen shared…it is about finding the right balance between all these (and more) factors. I have struggled to build a glide that I am 100% happy with for many years, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t figure it out right off the bat (I sure haven’t). Be realistic with your expectations and take good notes of all your prototypes.

One thing that you didn’t list that I think is critical to consider if you are shooting for gliding distance is body profile. Bait size will play a huge factor as this correlate with the bait’s forward momentum. Small baits will typically have short, choppy glides while large baits can obtain those long, meandering glides. How streamlined your bait is will also affect the gliding distance. A trout profile with smooth sides will experience less resistance than a bluegill glide with lots of fins protruding from it. How well the bait balances and “drifts” will also play a roll. Try to stay clear of any nose up or nose down phenomena.

I like to think of glides as arrows. You want more mass in the front for forward momentum and a properly placed tail to act as fletching. The more streamlined the bait is the farther it will tend to travel.

I can ramble on and on about my theories about glide mechanics, but that’s all that they are: theories. It’s good to try and take people’s advice and incorporate it into your build, but I will say that a lot of stuff that I found on the internet and tried for myself didn’t work. At the end of the day you will have to put in a lot of time and tweaking yourself to figure out what makes your baits tick.

Happy building!

[Process77]

Appreciate all the feed back a lot of good advice here. 
I think for me the biggest takeaway is bigger bait bigger glide!!!

[Mason]

I always try to make sure my baits are balanced evenly. Slightly head down but the front and back sink at the same rate and at the same angle. I try to keep my joint slots narrow to eliminate up and down movement. But I’m always experimenting with different designs. But I don’t like super wide glides. I prefer consistent decent distance glides. With lots of control 

[Process77]

2 hours ago, Mason said:

I always try to make sure my baits are balanced evenly. Slightly head down but the front and back sink at the same rate and at the same angle. I try to keep my joint slots narrow to eliminate up and down movement. But I’m always experimenting with different designs. But I don’t like super wide glides. I prefer consistent decent distance glides. With lots of control 

The joint spacing makes a lot of sense, I notice wakes/ rats have typically have very sloppy joints. 

[Process77]

On 4/15/2022 at 12:41 PM, JustinHill said:

Longer the bait longer the glide you aren’t going to get a 3ft glide to one side on a 6” bait. 

On point as always!!!

[Mason]

Another thing is the tail shape and how much resistance it creates when the bait pivots.