Reel ratio for glide baits

[FOX941]

I mostly throw wake baits.  So I use a Tatula 5.3:1.  Is that going to be too slow for say a doomrider or other similar baits?

[SwingAway]

I prefer a low 7 gear ratio for my glides. I'm generally throwing them on a 7.1 tatula. I'll use the 6.3 in a pinch or with smaller glides where there's not as much line to pick up. Also just kind of depends on how you fish them, slowrolling and more subtle presentations, slower ratio is fine, if you're imparting a lot of action with bumps and erraticness, you'll want something faster. Atleast that's how I approach it...

[urbanhick]

I prefer a faster reel for glides. 7:1 ish.

[DEPS_250]

First off, don't look at gear ratios. Look at Inches Per Turn or Line Pick Up Per Turn when deciding on a reel for any technique. IPT or inches per turn will give you a better gauge  of how the bait will perform when paired with different line diameters while fishing the bait in different depths and varying conditions/situations. 

A 5.3:1 is going to be too slow to properly work most glide baits. The only time a slow gear ratio like that would work for glide baits is if say your trying to work a small glide bait by a piece of cover and your trying to keep it in the strike zone for as long as possible. But even then, you can still do that with a fast gear ratio too while also getting the added benefit of getting more casts in too. 

In my opinion, a 6.5:1-7.5:1 is the most universal/optimal for glide baits if you're going by gear ratio. When going by Inches Per Turn, I have found that 28-32 inches per handle turn feels the best and allows for the most flexibility. 

As far as the optimal reel ratio/IPT for glide baits goes, it basically comes down to 3 things...

1. Size of the glide bait. Basically, how much water the bait displaces and pushes. The bigger the bait, the more water it displaces and therefore the more drag it has in the water. The more drag the bait has in the water usually means requiring a higher IPT along with the help of a larger/longer handle in order to get enough torque to overcome the drag coefficient the bait and the line puts in the water and therefore get the bait to turn efficiently and quick enough to put 'slack' in the line and therefore get enough inertia/momentum to go into its next glide. 
2. The weight of the bait and therefore how much distance/ground will the glide bait naturally want to move from one side to the other side on a quarter turn, half turn and/or a full turn of the handle when using the proper line diameter and as intended by the bait makers intentions/ideal action for the bait. Basically, the heavier the bait, the more inertia/momentum the bait can generate on a glide and therefore the more ground the bait wants to cover on a glide with a quarter, half or full turn of the handle. The heavier the bait and the more ground it wants to cover on a glide, usually means requiring a higher IPT. 
3. Your own personal fishing style. Do you like to fish fast or slow? Do you like to fish fast, twitchy style baits that allow you to manipulate them at will and force them to do some cool/interesting stuff or do you like fishing slow and methodical baits that require more patience and discipline? 

Personally, I currently use a 7.3:1 Daiwa Tatula 200 that has a 30" IPT and a 100mm handle. I have found it best for glide baits in the 4-7"/1-3oz range. Any larger/longer than 7in or 3oz and the 7.3:1/30in per turn along with the 100mm handle is too slow. I am planning on getting a larger/longer 110-120mm gomexus handle and seeing if that will give me more torque on a reel handle turn and therefore might allow me to fish some 8"/3-4oz baits more effectively.

Personally, I am a power fisherman and I love to fish fast. I have tried some of the lower tier mass produced glide baits on the market. I prefer the ones that are very fast and twitchy and that allow me to input my own action into them and force a reaction from a bass. For mass produced baits, I love the Savage Gear Shine Glide 185 for a shad/bluegill profile bait and the Baitsanity Antidote for a 'traditional' trout/bait fish profile. I am currently working on getting some custom glide baits, which is why I joined SU in the first place. Other mass produced glide baits on my radar are the Bass Pro Shops XPS Swerve, Baitsanity Explorer Gill, Savage Gear Magnum Shine Glide, Megabass islide 187r/262t, G-ratt Sneaky Pete/Poppa Pete, Imakatsu. 

Although I have no experience with them, the DRT Tiny Klash and the DRT Klash 9 are my dream/end game baits as far as glide baits goes since I already know they are going to work perfectly for my style of fishing and my preference for fast and twitchy baits. On top of that, the DRT Klash baits allow for the most flexibility of any glide bait on the market with the interchangeable tails and bills, therefore allowing me even more customization and input of any kind of action I want into the bait. 

With that said, I am definitely planning on getting a Shimano Scorpion MD 300 or a Daiwa Tatula 300 next for 7.5"/4oz+ glide baits. The Scorpion and the Tatula have a 42in IPT and when paired with a longer handle like a 110-120mm gomexus handle, should help with generating enough torque to put slack in the line and therefore get those heavier and larger baits like the Gancraft 230 Mag and Deps 250 to turn and glide properly. 

[danthefisherman]

Ditto to the above post!

Different glide baits can and will fish differently…I like reels with a 30-35ipt retrieve for slinging those traditional 8-10” glide baits. This allows me to pair one directional change of the bait with roughly one half-turn off the handle.

Smaller or ”Choppier” glides (with say a bluegill profile) are better fished on a slower reel as they do not cover as much distance for each directional change.

[DEPS_250]

45 minutes ago, danthefisherman said:

Different glide baits can and will fish differently…I like reels with a 30-35ipt retrieve for slinging those traditional 8-10” glide baits. This allows me to pair one directional change of the bait with roughly one half-turn off the handle.

Smaller or ”Choppier” glides (with say a bluegill profile) are better fished on a slower reel as they do not cover as much distance for each directional change.

Bro, you summed it up perfectly too. 

With the smaller, faster, 'chop' and 'twitchy' style baits like the Savage Gear Shine glide, I have found that the 30" IPT of the Daiwa Tatula 200 along with the stock 100mm handles gives the perfect 'HALF TURN' of the reel handle for each direction change. It honestly feels like a 'dance' and I always get a feeling of being 'one' with the bait. I get so 'in the zone' and lose track of all sense of time and logic when I get the what I call...'THE HALF REEL HANDLE TURN DANCE'...dialed in and going at the correct speed and cadence. It honestly is so mesmerizing watching the bait glide left and right so gracefully with the perfect amount of sink rate too and just hanging there for a bass to come and SMOKE IT! I honestly feel like I am always going to get 'HAMMERED' so bad by a bass when I feel at one with the bait and have the dance on lock and in the zone. I am planning on putting a 110mm handle on my 7.3:1 Tatula and seeing if that will give me a slightly longer glide with each half handle turn and get a slightly longer time in the strike zone. 

You bet damn well that the newly released Spro KGB Chad Shad is also on my 'mush have list' of glide baits too! It will be a killer chop style glide bait when paired with a 30" IPT reel and 100mm handle like my Daiwa Tatula 200. I honestly think it will take my number one spot for fast, twitchy chopper style glide bait and force the Savage Gear Shine glide to take the back seat. I am also hoping the Bass Pro Shops XPS Swerve will be very choppy and twitchy as well. I have high hopes for the BPS swerve. 

This is one reason why I have fallen so in LOVE and so ENAMORED by glide baits recently. I honestly feel so bad for taking a small hiatus from fishing a couple years ago and missing that EPIC Gancraft 230/Deps 250/Megabass Islide glide bait bite that was happening at an all time high/prime a few years ago here in SoCal! Damn, so many regrets! Oh well, better late than never as they always say. Now a days, I will honestly fish a glide bait over any other hardbait any day of the week, 365 days out of the year! I am seriously thinking of replacing all of my crank baits and jerk baits with just glide baits haha LOL!

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by DEPS_250