Primus

I wanted to add one more thing regarding Glide baits. The River to Sea S Wavers are a proven bait but are very inconsistent especially with the buoyancy of their baits. I've had some float up and others sink out of the package . Don't be afraid to make adjustments by changing out the hooks to a heavier wire or slightly larger hook to help a bait sink more if you have one that rises too fast. I have one in the 200 size that has a beautiful custom paint job but unfortunately unless I fish it ultra slow it it pretty much runs on the surface. With this particular bait I added a second split ring to each hook and replace the treble hook with Decoy quad. Now this bait looks and swims great. I also did this with a Baitsanity Antidote that I recently purchased . There have also been a couple of baits where I have taken a knife and lightly shaved the joint for a wider swing, that said be careful not to overdue it .

If you can , utilize a side arm roll cast to minimize a loud splash and utilize a rod suited for your Glide Bait if that is a concern. Different glide baits behave differently , it's best to experiment and observe how your bait behaves in the water when reacting to manipulations of your rod or reel. Here are different things I do with Glide baits depending on the model and mood of the fish. The most basic approach is a slow steady retrieve, you will see your line move back and forth and feel them turn if using an appropriate speed for the lure. Every so often about 2-3 times per retrieve pause the bait, with most of them it will cause your lure to shoot off to the side. Now with some baits especially the Evergreen ES Flat which is a favorite of mine I will often utilize quick chops of the reel, meaning that I will quickly use 1/2 to 3/4 quick turns and stops of the reel. This will cause the bait to behave a little more aggressively , I will often throw a little slack in the line after a pause or a couple of light twitches. With certain reactive lures like the Storm Arashi Glide ( excellent lure by the way ) you can often get the bait to turn around and look back at a potential following Bass which might provoke a strike. Another thing I do with certain baits are utilize quick burst, which would be 2-3 fast turns of the reel handle. This will sometimes cause a Bass that was following your bait to strike, again the Arashi Glide along with the G Ratt Sneaky Pete work well when I do this and tend not to blow out which will happen with a lot of other Glide baits. Certain Glide baits are slow and lazy glides ( which can also be effective ) , some others tend to be more reactive which means you can manipulate it more by fishing it more aggressively to try to trigger bites. Lastly , with the Arashi Glide , ES Flat and a couple of others I will often twitch the bait like you would a jerkbait though you generally can't jerk too hard as it will cause the hooks to foul. Fisherman that have experience fishing jerkbaits will quickly adapt to the more reactive Glides. Always assume a fish is following your glide and whether it's a pause, quick burst of the reel or a twitch do something during the retrieve to try to get your fish to react especially when approaching cover such as the corner of a dock, weed edge etc. I've had a very good spring so far using these baits and look forward to learning even more about how best to utilize these lures . I will conclude by saying to fish these lures with confidence, if you take the time to learn them you will get bit .

I feel I'm proficient at many of the baits & presentations that are out there though using spoons & blade baits are a couple of presentations that I don't have a lot of confidence in . Swimbaits/ Glidebaits are my favorite baits to throw for horizontal presentations and jigs are my favorite for pitching around cover. That said I try to be versatile , in almost any category I like to use larger profile baits whenever possible.

I use that too along with the Zako and the Strike King Blade minnow.

Here is a short video by Matt Arey talking about the Lunkerhunt Fetch ...

This bait is a knock off the 3:16 lure company 5.25 " Minnow , both are excellent lures when fished according to their intended use. The Lunker Hunt is 4.5" in length, slightly smaller than the 3:16 bait that inspired it. When fishing this think topwater. Use the heavy wire Superline version of a Gamakatsu 6/0 EWG without any added weight. Throw it out and reel just fast enough to get the tail kicking and to keep it on the surface similar to fishing a Zoom Horny toad except this offers a baitfish profile. Obviously you can fish it subsurface as well but keeping it high in the water column is where this bait shines . I like to throw this around shallow weeds, lily pads , laydowns and similar cover. When used at the right time this bait will get destroyed I promise you. The lunkerhunt is readily available at many tackle shops, here is where you can get it's slightly bigger counterpart from 3:16 lure company ... https://www.316lurecompany.com/525-Minnow-4pk_p_19.html 3: 16 also makes a little bigger bait which is called the Weedless Rising Son , this tutorial would also apply to the Lunker Hunt Fetch and the 3:16 Minnow in terms of the technique when fishing these type of baits except with the Rising Son he is using an Owner Beast Hook.

I've heard a lot of good things about using the Frenzy baits Wack a Sack, I have some on order and look forward to trying them myself. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Frenzy_Baits_Wack-A-Sack_Wacky_Jig_w__Round_Bend_Hook/descpage-WACR.html

Early to mid spring I tend to catch most of my fish on jerkbaits, lipless crankbaits, chatterbais, jigs & swimbaits.

One of the real over looked gems for guys that want to get their feet wet with swimbaits in my opinion is the Evergreen ES Flat. That bait has been money since I've had it and weighs about 2 ounces so it doesn't take a real specialized rod to throw it. 6TH sense offers a similar looking lure but I like the action of the ES Flat better. I usually use a slow retrieve combined with quick 1/2 turns of the reel and sometimes light twitches of the rod. This bait gets a lot of bites and will quickly help you gain confidence in this style of fishing.

x2 on the Bass Pro Crankin sticks, I would probably get a Medium Heavy if you want to throw crankbaits up to the 1 oz range. I have not used it for chatterbaits so I can't offer any feedback for that application.

I've had sporadic success with Blade baits in cold water, I know others who are very successful with this presentation so I know I need more time with it to improve my consistency.

Here is a good video on the Magdrafts, interesting how Chris Zaldain weights the 6" model ....

Regarding the Ned rig it's cool that throwing small soft plastics on light mushroom heads with small hooks have caught on and are catching people a lot of fish. That said I was throwing 3" Senkos & other small soft plastics on 1/16 oz Gopher Tackle mushroom heads with number 6 hooks on it at least 5 years before this became the Ned rig became a big deal and I'm sure there were others doing something similar. By no means am I taking credit for it as Ned and his gang have refined this where in my case it was something I would resort to when the fishing was tough and my usual methods were failing me. It definitely was a great way to get a lot of bites and I would on occasion be surprised with a bigger fish.

I have not tried it but the River to Sea ICBM120 Glide bait might be worthy of consideration. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-RVRTCBTS.html?from=basres

Try a Bluegill color spinnerbait, throw it when it's cloudy & windy. Fish it threw the weeds and around laydowns. Definitely throw it when it's raining, when it's on which won't be everytime you can load the boat and often times catch some of your biggest Bass of the year.

I would throw throw them on a crankbait rod.

Thanks Bluebasser, I've got 2 on order ?

Bluebasser86 how do you like the Magnum Shine Glide ? Catch any bass on it ?

1/4 oz might be the way to go at times especially with straight tail worms as they tend to fall a little faster. That said 3/8 oz is usually where I start with the larger ribbon tail worms and on occasion I will use heavier sinkers. One of the earlier posters mentioned the Magnum title shot jigheads which is another effective way to fish these worms.

Lots of good info in this thread, I definitely will be trying some these baits this upcoming spring.

x 2

If Michigan counts as being up North I can assure you that we have Bass up here that have no problem hitting 10" plus worms. I'm partial to the 10" Big Bite Kreit tail worm and for a straight tail the 10" Xcite Maximus has also produced.

Caught this SW Michigan prespawn fish last May on a 4.8 " Kietech style swimbait threaded on a 1/4 oz. Vike weedless Underspin .

Enjoyed the video, thanks for sharing.

3:16 Wake jr so far this this year