DRT K9 LO

[Spencer_518]

Ok, I want to hear some feedback on the DRT K9 LO float. I got one and have fished it a handful of times. Put a tracer on top to keep better track of the bait in the water. Is the bait just not user friendly or what? With all the hype and big fish catches on this bait I was very excited about it but honestly I am not impressed with the bait at all. I tried all ways... Lip in, Tail flipped around. "glide mode". The only thing I havent tried is a little lead tape in glide  mode. I really want to like this bait. Any help is appreciated!

Gear I am throwing it on. 

Rod: 8ft Leviatham Omega Swimbait Heavy 

Reel: Daiwa Lexa 300 6:3

Line: 25lb big game

[Jinxd12]

Go watch all the videos on you tube, and read all the articles on here about TK and K9. It is not a straight retrieve gliding bait.

It's a 9" 2 piece jerk bait, that can be modified on the fly. Took me 2 weeks to figure it out. If you bomb cast while your learning to fish it, goodluck.

Pitch it around in clearer water and work on reel/rod twitch cadences. The faster the reel the better. Anything in the 5s simply won't do the bait justice. 

Rod type didn't matter to me, I caught fish on whatever rod I had it tied into, but need a faster reel to get the best out of it.

Throw it and throw it and throw it some more, you will buy many more if you spend the time with it.

[PKNNH]

Here's an article with everything you need to know about the K9. 

As for myself, I mostly fish with no lip and tail down. It's not like a traditional glide where it will glide naturally while you turn the handle, rather you have to use quick turns of the reel to get it to glide side to side. It's a little different but once you get it down you can really get the bait to swim in and out of stuff.

[Spencer_518]

37 minutes ago, Jinxd12 said:

Go watch all the videos on you tube, and read all the articles on here about TK and K9. It is not a straight retrieve gliding bait.

It's a 9" 2 piece jerk bait, that can be modified on the fly. Took me 2 weeks to figure it out. If you bomb cast while your learning to fish it, goodluck.

Pitch it around in clearer water and work on reel/rod twitch cadences. The faster the reel the better. Anything in the 5s simply won't do the bait justice. 

Rod type didn't matter to me, I caught fish on whatever rod I had it tied into, but need a faster reel to get the best out of it.

Throw it and throw it and throw it some more, you will buy many more if you spend the time with it.

 

6 minutes ago, PKNNH said:

Here's an article with everything you need to know about the K9. 

As for myself, I mostly fish with no lip and tail down. It's not like a traditional glide where it will glide naturally while you turn the handle, rather you have to use quick turns of the reel to get it to glide side to side. It's a little different but once you get it down you can really get the bait to swim in and out of stuff.

 

 

I fully understand what this bait is meant to do. Ive seen all the videos. I know it is not a straight retrieve bait and it is similar to a big jerkbait but in my honest opinion it does nothing well so far for me. oh well

[Jinxd12]

Also, fishing on 25" seems heavy, drop down to 20# and see if it reacts better for you. I dont run flouro at all, im assuming sinking line changes the action a tad bit as well.

 

[Spencer_518]

33 minutes ago, Jinxd12 said:

Also, fishing on 25" seems heavy, drop down to 20# and see if it reacts better for you. I dont run flouro at all, im assuming sinking line changes the action a tad bit as well.

 

big game is mono

[Jinxd12]

1 hour ago, Spencer_518 said:

big game is mono

Missed that! 

[manansalsa]

downsize your line, the lowest i'll go to for k9 is 17 cxx. you realize that 17 is plenty for these baits after fishing the mother and ghost. also see if you can get your hands on a faster reel. these baits are designed by dudes who use extremely high gear ratios (8.1:1 etc). 

[Jim137a]

@Spencer_518 I fished the bait a bit in the 2021 with very limited success and really didnt have much confidence in it.

this season I was determined to but more time into and the results are starting to pay off.  

My fav set up has been a 6.2 :1 reel cause thats what most of my big bait reels are. Early in the season I was fishing braid to leader and then switched to using 20# Izorline copoly so either braid or copoly will work for me - I actually prefer the copoly now since I just need to tie one knot - mainline to the bait  

I do use the split ring / welded ring supplied with the bait as I like the way the bait moves with it  

I set the bait up with 2 grams of weight and Whale tail in mode B  if I want more of a gliding action and tips up if I want more of an erratic action when doing a slow retrieve. If I want the bait to ride a bit nose down I put 2 grams in front of the forward hook and for a more level action I put 1 gram ahead of the front hook and 1 gram right behind it. 

I have never caught a bass on my K9 perch but that rotten freaking kid @NJSwimbatslinger seems to slay on K9 perch - hopefully he’ll chime in and throw his tips out there. 

Not the biggest fish out there but hell I’m in NJ -lol. 

Don’t give up on the K9 !!!!!

[NJSwimbatslinger]

Thanks @Jim137a I’m that rotten Jersey kid lol and I’m more than happy to elaborate on how I fish my k9

To start off I fish my k9 on a 7.4 gear ratio, I believe the faster ratio will give you better control over the bait while gliding it, and a braid to leader connection (although I plan to switch to a copoly or flouro, for the same reason as stated before) I fish the low floats and when they are stock they float of course. They have a decent glide stock but when you tune them to suspend or xxs float that’s when the magic happens! To get them to this point I use some Storm suspend strips (2 infront of the front hook hanger, 2 behind the front hook hanger, and 3 infront of the back hook hanger. I also fish it w/ a decoy #3 snap

i have had my best action or fish commitment using it in the glide mode. Glide mode would be no lip and the smooth side of the tail facing up. Very versatile glide as you can extra slow glide it or get it to a very fast choppy glide without having it blow out. I’ve been doing pretty well w/ this tactic this year with 3 over 5lbs and my new pb already. Hope this helps you out! If you have smallies around you they will merc this thing too lol you know when they hit it! I’ve Caught 5-6 over 3lbs on it

[BayAreaAngler]

First and foremost… if you don’t want it I’ll take it. Send me a pm we can make a trade or I’ll buy it from you. Also I throw my K9s on a Lexa 300 HSL-P 7:1 with a Phenix M1 inshore. I’ve only had some problems with the bait in current if you are fishing with the current it’s almost impossible to keep it gliding other than that it works great. I only fish glide mode though 90% of the time rarely do I fish lip in

[chevro1et]

2 hours ago, BayAreaAngler said:

First and foremost… if you don’t want it I’ll take it. Send me a pm we can make a trade or I’ll buy it from you. Also I throw my K9s on a Lexa 300 HSL-P 7:1 with a Phenix M1 inshore. I’ve only had some problems with the bait in current if you are fishing with the current it’s almost impossible to keep it gliding other than that it works great. I only fish glide mode though 90% of the time rarely do I fish lip in

I'm waiting for some high current situations to set up during the rainy season this summer and am planning on using the transfer tail / lip out for burn / pause action. 

OP - There's no magic bait. If you are frustrated or unhappy with the bait, then either put some time into it or move it along through your rotation.

I've just started fishing the K9 about a month ago and it just takes some time to get a feel for the bait. So far I've found that reel chops with varying cadences work best for me to manipulate the action of the bait with the lip out. If you're really having a lack of confidence with the bait try using lip in / mode A as a crankdown. It's got a lot of natural action in that configuration without requiring a lot of inputs. 

[Spencer_518]

16 hours ago, NJSwimbatslinger said:

Thanks @Jim137a I’m that rotten Jersey kid lol and I’m more than happy to elaborate on how I fish my k9

To start off I fish my k9 on a 7.4 gear ratio, I believe the faster ratio will give you better control over the bait while gliding it, and a braid to leader connection (although I plan to switch to a copoly or flouro, for the same reason as stated before) I fish the low floats and when they are stock they float of course. They have a decent glide stock but when you tune them to suspend or xxs float that’s when the magic happens! To get them to this point I use some Storm suspend strips (2 infront of the front hook hanger, 2 behind the front hook hanger, and 3 infront of the back hook hanger. I also fish it w/ a decoy #3 snap

i have had my best action or fish commitment using it in the glide mode. Glide mode would be no lip and the smooth side of the tail facing up. Very versatile glide as you can extra slow glide it or get it to a very fast choppy glide without having it blow out. I’ve been doing pretty well w/ this tactic this year with 3 over 5lbs and my new pb already. Hope this helps you out! If you have smallies around you they will merc this thing too lol you know when they hit it! I’ve Caught 5-6 over 3lbs on it

I thin you answered some of my questions. I'm going to pick up some lead strips and play with it some more. 

 

Any experience with a hi float model?

 

Thanks for the info

[BayAreaAngler]

All in glide mode, mix of fish all fished with no modifications to the bait. They get bit modified or not. My reel is 7:1 and fish it with quarter or half turns on the reel to make it glide. Can also add rod twitches to get more action or make it 180 when you have a follower. My next goal for TK and K9 is 8 trapping a fish 

[chefchris]

im with you, this bait is an odd ball to me, the TK crushes and i fish it everything but glide mode 

the k9 not even a hit, i plan on putting more time in with them this season, but no love this spring where the TK shined. 

the action looks great in almost everyway you can fish it but i cant catch a cold on the freaking things. maybe ill throw it at night and see what happens