Wide glide

[Mossypumpkin]

Interesting you say that about the swaver, Chris. I would say nearly half of the fish I catch on it are followers. Kill the bait....let it go to bottom if need be. They'll come scoop it up

[waynem]

Mossy- you brought up a great topic!

[Mossypumpkin]

Mossy- you brought up a great topic!

 

I have to do something while we STILL have 20" of ice....

[Nufo]

there is more to it than just how wide or narrow the glide is.  How tight it turns is a big factor which adds a 3rd element to the swimming action.  you  can have a tight wide S or a loose wide S,  A tight narrow S, or a loose narrow s and anything in-between.

 

 

The Dynamics of glide baits is what makes them such cool and productive baits.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Nufo

[s.lillywhite]

just reading this is making me a better fisherman

[Urban]

Damn, Brock hit the nail on the head with a statement that Ive definitely seen with how I fish.  With a wider glide I get alot more fish that rush in and dont really get the bait in their mouth well, which leads to foul hooked fish and many, many barely hooked fish that are lost at the boat.  Once I slowed down and the left to right movement was less more fish ended up well hooked and in the boat.  My theory is since there was less movement and the bait was moving slower that they have a much better shot at it and tend to get it better in there mouth.  But really, who knows.

[Dsouth]

Great topic and read guys.

1 of the best visual hits of my life was a few years ago on a extra slow sink 8.5†Brock bait on a cold Mass North Shore trout stocked lake its was a calm afternoon clear water place so I got to see her total commit about 35’ from my boat. I believe the slow and steady retrieve with short pauses was the key in seeing her take the bait that day. A hit I will never forget, last spring I also C+R a similar LM on a BB 250 doing the same kind of retrieve but that 1 hit about ½ way in on a soft pull and pause. I didn't fish the Glides in the summer months + feel it was a mistake after watching the videos of guys working them deep with faster retrieves and fast stops mixed in so I’m going to give that a try this summer around deep structure areas along with a little after dark Glide-Bait fishing. Anyone have any luck working them after dark in the summers?

 

 

[wallyc]

I have to do something while we STILL have 20" of ice....

Jesse, I thought youd be out there jigging a weighted down slammer....

[Mossypumpkin]

Jesse, I thought youd be out there jigging a weighted down slammer....

 

Ice fished 3 times and then we got 4' of snow....eff that. Im not wading around in that to catch a yellow perch. Iv waited this long, I can make it another 2 weeks lol.

[s.lillywhite]

Just talked to a buddy who makes baits and he said that baits with a wide glide swim a longer distance for a given cast distance (i.e. for a 50 ft cast, a bait that does 10 wide glides will travel greater distance than a bait that does 5 narrow glides).  This gives the fish a longer time to see the bait and also to be fished very slow.  He designs all of his baits to be fished VERY SLOW.  He also said to pay attention to what Urban and Speedbead said on this thread, haha.

[Crazybassfisher]

Damn, Brock hit the nail on the head with a statement that Ive definitely seen with how I fish.  With a wider glide I get alot more fish that rush in and dont really get the bait in their mouth well, which leads to foul hooked fish and many, many barely hooked fish that are lost at the boat.  Once I slowed down and the left to right movement was less more fish ended up well hooked and in the boat.  My theory is since there was less movement and the bait was moving slower that they have a much better shot at it and tend to get it better in there mouth.  But really, who knows.

This seems really accurate... It kind of reminds me how fish can sometimes miss a spook or a punker just because I moved it from where they tracked it a half a second before I glide it to a different spot. The rushing part also makes sense as well with all the gliding back and forth, I feel like with at least smaller fish, they cant track it well and eat it where we want them to eat it. But, it does seem that if I slow down the back and forth, I get better eats or working the bait and putting a slow long glide followed by a pause can result in a better eat. Overall, both wide and short glides can be effective, but who knows, good topic though

[R8R]

Great topic, some good insights from bait makers. To what I find that a wide slow glides on the retrieve seems like the fish track it better when the bite, witness a few of those and the hooks are hook in the mouth as to faster retrieve I see the hook miss the mouth just like Urban mention. For me I like to use a faster retrieve on windy condition and slow and wide retrieve on calm conditions and has work well in lakes with trout. Also when I fish waters with no trout I like the tighter glides due to I think it mimics a bait fish style of swim and has worked both conditions. To the bait makers how do you decide between a wide glide compare to a tighter glide when you guys make them.

[Brock]

For me it depends on the specific fish and if I'm working with someone. Without trying to sound like an infomercial here are some of the intentions behind my baits.

 

The 8.5" Kokanee I made had a tighter slalom on a slow wind but with a wide gap so the bait would have action AND stay out on the end of the cast for weary smallmouth. I sacrificed the glide aspects by making it nose heavy so it'd stay down better in deep water. Intentions were to have a search bait that casted well in the spring in heavy wind on Lake Pardee. 

 

The early 10"ers were in the same vein since I've always liked fishing deeper. Sacrificing the glide for a more nose heavy bait that stays down. The 10" soft tail floaters are surface twitch baits with a wider gap similar to the 8.5. It wasn't until probably 3 years ago I started weighting and shaping 10"ers to "glide" wider and stay up. Working with an angler in mind baits were setup to be more compact, smaller hooks, aimed at chasing trophy spotted bass. These same baits were a lot of fun and just light enough to pitch docks and reach underneath. 

 

12" and 13"ers were made to draw, be wider swooping, and slow baits to increase the hook up ratio. Since most are fishing 250's now I've decided to make my bigger baits slow roll but also be more zippy and cut sooner, more to cater to how people want to fish. 

 

As cliche as it sounds the fish are the real indicator imo. If you're pulling them on docks with a lot of vegetation or thick wood and running out of room sometimes a real slow sinker with narrow action that stays in their face can work great. Where as a wider action would be great fishing over submerged weeds/wood. LOL so to answer your question for me it's not so much about mimicking a fishes action but more about application.. drawing power, space to work with, etc.. I gotta slow up on the coffee ha

Edited April 10, 2015 by Brock

[Ceaser]

Ive had less success with glide baits than any other hard bait. Ive caught a few over 8 and smaller fish.. but for the time ive spent fishing those things from shallow to deep its the worst catching bait for me. I mean I can catch a ton on the 168 swaver, but that is a pretty small bait I fish on 12lb and a spinning rod, numbers type bait. For the bigger glides tho, they just havent paid off. Brutal

[derds126]

For me it depends on the specific fish and if I'm working with someone. Without trying to sound like an infomercial here are some of the intentions behind my baits.

 

The 8.5" Kokanee I made had a tighter slalom on a slow wind but with a wide gap so the bait would have action AND stay out on the end of the cast for weary smallmouth. I sacrificed the glide aspects by making it nose heavy so it'd stay down better in deep water. Intentions were to have a search bait that casted well in the spring in heavy wind on Lake Pardee. 

 

The early 10"ers were in the same vein since I've always liked fishing deeper. Sacrificing the glide for a more nose heavy bait that stays down. The 10" soft tail floaters are surface twitch baits with a wider gap similar to the 8.5. It wasn't until probably 3 years ago I started weighting and shaping 10"ers to "glide" wider and stay up. Working with an angler in mind baits were setup to be more compact, smaller hooks, aimed at chasing trophy spotted bass. These same baits were a lot of fun and just light enough to pitch docks and reach underneath. 

 

12" and 13"ers were made to draw, be wider swooping, and slow baits to increase the hook up ratio. Since most are fishing 250's now I've decided to make my bigger baits slow roll but also be more zippy and cut sooner, more to cater to how people want to fish. 

 

As cliche as it sounds the fish are the real indicator imo. If you're pulling them on docks with a lot of vegetation or thick wood and running out of room sometimes a real slow sinker with narrow action that stays in their face can work great. Where as a wider action would be great fishing over submerged weeds/wood. LOL so to answer your question for me it's not so much about mimicking a fishes action but more about application.. drawing power, space to work with, etc.. I gotta slow up on the coffee ha

Most informative post I've seen for anyone making their own glides/slaloms. Lots of info on tuning, design, and the actual physics behind how the baits work. It's cool to hear an opinion from someone who actually builds the baits as well. Brock you are the man!

Edited April 10, 2015 by derds126