Illude/Lunker Fighters Grenade Gill

[jkarol24]

Swimbait Review: Illude/Lunker Fighter Grenade Gill

Seemingly, the Gill profile wake n crank has become bigger and bigger, both in desire and also in heft.  The Illude/Lunker Fighter Grenade Gill is no exception, weighing in at 6 ounces of solid resin. The baits length is only 7ish inches, bit it gains considerable size due to its robust width. The profile of the bait is only slightly taller than it is wide, and also features a clear plastic bill and a hand-poured tail.

Starting at a moderate straight retrieve, the Grenade Gill wakes in a fluid manner, with a slight side to side head knock and a head and body roll. The front section seems to roll most, offering some flash and fluidity, and the rear section stays relatively upright as it kicks back and forth. The head pushes a moderate sized bulge, and creates a similar V wake. Most action and surface disturbance is caused by the rear section and super soft hand-poured tail, which stays about 1/3 out of the water. The tail has a natural back and forth kick, and causes a secondary wake on the surface. The sound of the bait is mostly water slosh, but there is a subtle resin knock as well.

The bait will swim down to about slow, but it does require some speed to kick properly. The crawl produces a more inconsistent swim, but does still create some surface disturbance.

Alternatively, the bait will crank down to about 1 ft on a short cast (2-3 on a long cast) at speeds faster than moderate, but will often swim with a lean beyond about moderate fast. The action of the bait becomes slightly wider in terms of both head hunt and tail kick, and also transitions easily from wake to crank. The Grenade Gill does float pretty hard, so underwater twitches are difficult, but also not impossible.

The last retrieve is the walk, of which the Grenade Gill accepts very nicely.  The fast walk allows the bait to stay very horizontal, turning an easy 180 degrees while having a noticeable amount of body roll. Splash and commotion is created, as well as a tail slap as the bait turns. The pivot point is slightly behind the head, as the bill catches water and causes the rear section to be thrown behind. The slow walk is slightly more finicky, as a short and firm twitch can cause the bill to catch and dive- I didn't have issue once i went to a slower and easier pull for the slow retrieve. I also expiramented with fast walking the bait with the reel only, and with a bit of practice it works nicely. You do not get the full 180 degree turn as there is less slack on the line, but you can dart it back and forth with much less effort then the traditional rod twitches.

I threw the Grenade Gill on a Leviathan XH, Tranx 400, and 20 lb Copoly. Although the bait is large on paper, it doesn't feel massive when fishing, hence I chose the low profile tranx over a round reel. This results in much easier walking, and less general fatigue overall. Many folks will jump to 25 lb line for a 6 oz or larger bait, but it felt fine on 20, and because it floats I certainly was much less apprehensive. I prefer copoly, but mono would be fine, as would braid if that is your preference. Fluro would make wake and walk retrieves difficult, but if you're only wanting to crank down, ya might get some more depth out of it.

I hope all of the Dads reading this have a wonderful Father's Day with family, and I hope you enjoyed the review. See ya next Sunday for another review!