Wide glide

[Mossypumpkin]

So the 250 has a super wide glide. My 11" glideator is pretty dang wide too. We are all looking for a glide that has a huge side to side movement. The swaver...not quite so much, but we shave it to glide wider. And some other lower end glides dont glide very wide, but stick fish. Actually the swaver 200 sticks A LOT of fish, even when fished stock.

 

Now, I havnt even really fished my 250 or rago, but I have a serious question. Has anyone ever wondered if a wider glide even catches more fish? Everyone is trying rings and shaving and other mods to get the widest glide, when I doubt there have been studies on whether or not a wider glide even catches more fish. Someone explain the SG glide and the swaver 200....those baits really catch insane numbers of fish, including some big fish. At least they do here in the northeast for many people. The glide is not very wide at all. Now, I am certainly not doubting the Deps, Rago, Hiro, etc. I believe my new deps will stick my biggest fish of the year. That being said....I still wonder. Is a wider glide THAT big of a deal for sticking fish?

[mnbassman23]

I've been pondering this myself.  I've done really well on my GC 178 and I know that is far from gliding as wide as some of the baits mentioned. Interested to see the responses. 

[MichiganBassman]

Raise a good point. Like to see what people with experience with all these baits say

[bassbass]

I think it depents on what the fish are doing, not how far the bait is gliding. There are some guys that swim the 250, not really letting it glide and catch monster fish.

[F.Rizzo]

Good question. Overall, I think, we as consumers tend to see a wide glide as being a better bait. I don't necessarily agree with that tho. And between some baitmakers, it almost seems like it can be a dick measuring contest to see who can make a bait with the widest glide.

 

In my observances tho, slow wide gliding baits get more followers than a tight glide bait, but maybe not more bites. And it also depends on how you retrieve either glide bait, ie; long darting dive/glides, tight erratic twitches, slow slalom, etc.

 

So, I don't know if there's a right answer to this question. I feel like it's more about knowing what the fish wants any given day, and that could be either type of glide.

[Urban]

When I started really slowing down, which caused the 250 to have a much less side to side action, I started catching alot more fish.  But thats just how I fish, I would think a wide side to side erratic swim has its time and place.

[Brock]

Good topic... 

 

I've been building two piece baits for a long time and have been fortunate to have worked and fished with some of the best smallie/spot and largemouth fishermen I've come across. Whether these guys were throwing my baits or others I've always been interested in learning how the fish are behaving, eating, staying hooked, etc... 

 

There really are two classes of two piece baits. The slalom baits (Gancraft, R2S,FLT Zillva,Jackal 180, Evergreen ES Drive,RM Negotiator). Most of these with the exception of the bigger Gan Craft don't veer too far off the straight line. Glide baits like the Mother and Deps normally continue on the pause with enough line out or slack. 

 

In my experience the fish are keying in on the directional changes. There's something about the constant head moving off axis that trigger fish. As far as a wider glide being better it's a bit subjective. Based on my research the faster or wider a bait travels the more likely it's going to foul hook the fish. The slower and more a bait moves in a straight line or stays in place I feel allows the fish to get the hook/s better. That being said speed can be a trigger for the more active fish or stripers so it's good to have baits for certain situations. Also bigger baits that glide further can cover more ground and are also great at calling fish or reaching under docks, under buoy lines, over/under tree's,etc.... So again there's a time and place. If you watch videos of guys catching big glide fish it's really a more subtle presentation, the bigger fish don't want to chase normally.

 

Two piece baits are much more versatile than a chuck n' wind bait. In one retrieve you possibly have a suspending subsurface deadstick bait, turn wake bait with the tip up, turn jerk bait, into a slow swimmer, to a fish running frantically getting chased onto the shore. 

[Mattlures]

I believe glide get bit because of their directional change. So whats better? slow, fast, wide, tight, smooth, sharp. ???? Etc. I don't think its as simple as one or the other. Each glide is its own combination and when you factor in size, shape, color, realism, etc you have countess combinations. So as its always been in the swimbait world, two baits may seem very similar but one has the magic and the other doesn't.

[BigBaiter]

My experience: A wider glide has more drawing power compared to a tighter action but produce a lot of follower (Not really a bad thing because now you know where the fish is and what you can expected. So it works pretty good as a fish finder). A tighter motion works better in warmer water when the fish is very active/aggressiv whereas a very wide glide produce more fish in cold water conditions.

I have also to mention that glide baits with a narrow s-motion are usually better for aggressive presentations like twitching and jerking.

[Mossypumpkin]

Very good responses, guys! Like someone said, there really isnt a right or wrong answer here. Generally, I fish my glides super slow with pauses. Then on really windy days I fish them super fast. And I normally dont use them a lot in the summer. But I will be trying the 250 this summer, just due to its drawing power. Should be a huge learning curve for me.

[SPEEDBEAD]

For me, a wider glide has brought more looks. A slower, more consistent "swim" has brought more bites.

 

That being said, the ability to do multiple things very well with one bait is a great thing to have. When I get a follow that I can see a ways out, being able to speed up and make quick directional changes and change the action is important to me. This is true for both green and toothy fish.

 

It's almost like a "hey, what's that?" with a wider glide vs a "hey, I'm gonna eat that fish" thing with a tighter glide.

[wallyc]

For me, a wider glide has brought more looks. A slower, more consistent "swim" has brought more bites.

 

That being said, the ability to do multiple things very well with one bait is a great thing to have. When I get a follow that I can see a ways out, being able to speed up and make quick directional changes and change the action is important to me. This is true for both green and toothy fish.

 

It's almost like a "hey, what's that?" with a wider glide vs a "hey, I'm gonna eat that fish" thing with a tighter glide.

X2, I was in a boat at the time & my biggest swimbait smallie came on a s-waver 200, AFTER I saw three smallies folowing. I went down the shore a little ways, flipped the waver back in the area, made it do a little dance with the rod tip, and, wam.....4 LBS 8 Oz...I really think these fish follow wondering " what the hell is wrong with that baitfish swimming like that"....

[derds126]

For me, a wider glide has brought more looks. A slower, more consistent "swim" has brought more bites.

 

That being said, the ability to do multiple things very well with one bait is a great thing to have. When I get a follow that I can see a ways out, being able to speed up and make quick directional changes and change the action is important to me. This is true for both green and toothy fish.

 

It's almost like a "hey, what's that?" with a wider glide vs a "hey, I'm gonna eat that fish" thing with a tighter glide.

 

For me, a wider glide has brought more looks. A slower, more consistent "swim" has brought more bites.

 

That being said, the ability to do multiple things very well with one bait is a great thing to have. When I get a follow that I can see a ways out, being able to speed up and make quick directional changes and change the action is important to me. This is true for both green and toothy fish.

 

It's almost like a "hey, what's that?" with a wider glide vs a "hey, I'm gonna eat that fish" thing with a tighter glide.

I feel like this is why glides are so productive.  In Doug Hannons book he discusses mechanical versus non mechanical action. Mechanical action draws fish while non mechanical erratic action triggers fish. We're all pretty familiar with this concept in directional changes around a key ambush point just as Bill Siementel says also. Glides have the versatility to do all sorts of retrieves mechanical or non mechanical just by varying cadence, retrieve speed etc. Like speed said the wider more predictable action draws fish in and the tighter erractic retrieve triggers fish.

[Mason]

I like wider glide baits because of the sharp directional change associated with them. It gives me the ability to steer the bait around, into and back out of cover.

[chefchris]

the thing ive noticed with the wider glide baits like the 250 and the gildeator is they have more options as far as fishing styles, these are just my findings 

 

was playing with the 250 a lot yesterday, you can burn it, wake it, swim it, glide it, pause it, twitch it, 180s, use the rod, use the reel, etc, seems like almost any techinque works. 

 

where the tighter glide baits like the r2s 200 have limited options, they work better for me on a slower retrieve and cant burn em or wake em like the 250. Ive never been able to turn a follower into a biter on the r2s 200. 

 

i feel the wider glide baits will give me more options when theres followers behind it, being able to make that bait shoot out to the side if youre swimming it tighter, or being able to make it do a 180 then glide off, thinking that anything i can do to help trigger the bite from a follower is what im hoping for. 

 

plus i like the applications brock has been showing on his IG/Fb accounts, throwing a wider glide along the docks and having the bait actually swim under the docks instead of just swimming along it seems like a great application for those types of baits