I have not really had much of a chance to get into the big bait craze because of financial limitations and the areas I have available to me don't really support the big bait big fish theory (if anyone here has fished the tidal chickahominy or pamunkey rivers you know exactly what I'm talking about)

But there are two large lakes I fish every once in a while and wakebaits have been gettin it done every time I've been this year. So I am looking to upgrade my limits and try out some monster wake baits, i.e. Monster Jack or 3:16 Wake jr. And I am wondering what kind of tackle yall prefer for throwing these big baits and what techniques or conditions have produced best for you?

I would throw them on a shimano 300series reel or equivalent and a rod rated to at least 5oz for baits over 7".  For line i would throw with 20lb or better mono, fluro, or copoly  or 50lb or better braids.  

the conditions don't matter (well they do like any other situation, i like low light) as much as sticking with it.  to gain confidence and get bites you need to stick to it.  I started taking only my swimbait stuff when i fished to gain confidence and catch a few

Those baits are both really good choices. The Wake Jr. will last 10X longer though. You must have a dedicated rod for these baits. I will second the Cardiff 300 recomendation. I use 20lb CXX or Elite for these baits. If you cant swing a dedicated rig financially, you could throw a bait like the 3:16 Baby Wake on a heavy flipping stick. For that bait i absolutely would NOT go heavier than 20lb line.

as far as conditions go, the nastier the better. Low light/dark, good chop on the water, rain. Fishing these baits during a downward trend in barometric pressure is a big +. That being said they can work under just about any conditions. I have caught fish on these when there are solid 3ft waves, fishing off my knees with a blast off mask on ,  all the way to bluebird skies, glassy water, 100* temps, and 20 ft visibility. I dont think i have fished a single trip in the last two years without giving a wake bait a cast or two.

financially, you could throw a bait like the 3:16 Baby Wake on a heavy flipping stick. For that bait i absolutely would NOT go heavier than 20lb line.

i throw it with 25lb and its fine, to tell you the truth i think the action is a little more erratic with the 25lb as opposed to the 20lb

All i know is i caught twice as many fish after i switched to 20lb.

any thoughts as to why?

In my experience, with both the baby wake and the wake jr. 25lb just seems to really dull the action. I only have 1 baby wake, but i've got 4 wake jrs and its the same for all of them. Also, but not nearly as important, you can cast a lot farther with 20lb. I saw you referencing steve's wake bait article on nef. he and i fish together and we decided together that 20lb works a lot better for us. If 25 works for you, more power to you, and im not saying that sarcastically. But in my experience 20 is much better and for someone trying to build confidence, they need to stack the odds in their favor whenever they can.

cool, I just like to get all perspectives when big baiting.. might have to try 20 again on my smaller baits... are there more baits that you have seen where 25 dulls the action?

Not really, not right off the top of my head anyways. Ive gotten to where i only fish the 3:16 wakebaits, but i would be vigilant with other small wake baits like the slammer mini, rago rat and mouse, monster jack &jr, etc. I have discovered that I really dont like throwing the 6" hudd on 25 though. obviously doesnt affect the action, but 25 casts poorly, and it is harder to maintain good contact with a bait that has such low water resistance. I really want to be able to feel pushing bites and i think the 25 makes that harder.

I think so far most of the suggestions are good. I would go on to say you should stay away from flipping sticks if at all possible and stick to a SB rod. Okuma makes reasonably priced rods (around $100.00) that perform better then any flipping stick. As for reels you can get away with any good quality large spool baitcaster until you can replace it with a shimano 400B or T.

My 2 cents.  8-)

Tight lines

Where are you guys finding the 3:16 baby wakes at? I been looking for awhile and cant locate them. Do they have to be purchased direct?

www.316lurecompany.com Buy direct, they have both wake baits.  Plus you can get a free bottle of soft bait glue with a purchase of $40.00.

www.316lurecompany.com Buy direct, they have both wake baits. Plus you can get a free bottle of soft bait glue with a purchase of $40.00.

x2 their customer service is great!

www.316lurecompany.com Buy direct, they have both wake baits. Plus you can get a free bottle of soft bait glue with a purchase of $40.00.

x2 their customer service is great!

316's customer service is awesome, guaranteed.  Sent an email to them and about an hour later got a response from Mickey's (owner) wife explaining everything to me.

Doesnt get much better than that.  You wont believe what those things look like in the water until you see it for yourself...

Good gawd, cant wait for Christmas to get here to justify another purchase....    ;D

They ship fast thats for sure. I ordered a baby wake perch late sunday and got it on wed from cali to wis thats d**n fast. It looks real good but I'm waiting on a rod and real to get here so I can throw it.

www.316lurecompany.com Buy direct, they have both wake baits. Plus you can get a free bottle of soft bait glue with a purchase of $40.00.

x2 their customer service is great!

316's customer service is awesome, guaranteed. Sent an email to them and about an hour later got a response from Mickey's (owner) wife explaining everything to me.

Doesnt get much better than that. You wont believe what those things look like in the water until you see it for yourself...

Good gawd, cant wait for Christmas to get here to justify another purchase.... ;D

Haven't you heard of PRE Christmas presents?????

Yep.  Unfortunately, so did she..... :-[     ;D

Haven't you heard of PRE Christmas presents?????

Thanksgiving presents? The bait monkey knows no season!

Come on! You guys are going to far out! Halloween is right around the corner!  "Trick or Treat"!   ;D  

Awesome posts guys thanks so much for the info.

I have one other question for fourbizz and any other big bait regulars, what attributes do you look for in a rod for these big wakebaits?

I know a lot of companies now make "swimbait" rods but I want yalls incite on what the ideal wakebait rod should have pertaining to length, power, action, weight etc.

Thanks again.

8ftish tons of backbone, softer/slower tip for casting and keeping hooks planted.

For the smaller wake baits:

Okuma 7'11 MH

Okuma 7'6" H (little on the beefy side, will allow you to throw bigger baits down the road)

Shimano Crucial Swimbait 7'11 H ( same as the Okuma 7'6")

GLoomis 955C (by FAR my favorite wake jr rod)

i did really well with the perch wake jr last weekend.  After throwing them for a lil while you'll find the wakejr looking small and not so "monster" in no time lol.

ive been throwing it on a rainshadow 967 blank that bends really nicely for those trebled baits.

Alright thanks. I've got my eyes on a Dobyn's swimbait rod and I'm about to place my order for a 3:16 Baby Wake and a Fish Arrow Wake Jack Jr.

But I have one more question, have any of yall ever done much with a black wakebait during daylight? I usually only use black wakebaits at night but that black baby wake really caught my eye

Cue LBH response in 5....4....3....2....1..

After throwing them for a lil while you'll find the wakejr looking small and not so "monster" in no time lol.

This is so true.  It finally dawned on me yesterday.  Don't get me wrong, it catches tons of fish, but in the water it just seems so small.  I really wish mickey didn't disco the bigger "Wake Bait".   No matter what, it's still the best $70 I've spent on a bait.