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| I'm not a "walk the dog" surface bait fan, but love to work a good sub-surface glider. When times are tough, it seems that the most productive method for my buddies and I has been "sniping" glide baits into pockets in the "slop". Very slow and meticulous presentation, but often worth the effort. Here is my dillemma:
I prefer an erratic glide bait that dives up, down, and side to side. I also like a bait with flash and moves a lot of water. A very slow sink rate is pefect for probing an opening in the weeds too. Unfortunately, none of these qualities are desirable for efficiently fishing heavy weeds..... unless you you have absolute control over the lure. What are some of the more "predictable" yet wild (not rythmic side to side) glide baits out there today? I've been narrow minded and have stuck with the trusty Reef Hawgs and homemades. I've tried the Manta, but have personal issues with that one.
Any recommendations?????? |
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| my VG! I hate to brag but that one does exactly what you describe here. |
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| Read the Chat with Doug Johnson, he talks about how he works a suick that may apply to your situation
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| look at the pic. The hardest part is weighting it! |
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| I remember reading something about someone who put their glide baits in plastic bags and sucked all the air out of them. The plastic bag clinging round the lure and hooks was supposed to make it pretty weedless. Can't say I've ever tried it, or wanted to, but the author seemed to have faith in it.
Tim |
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| Jasonator
you need to try a 6inch Phantom,,,not 8 but 6 very different action,,,you can quick hop it right through most slop except milfoil and it will hang for a 1-2 seconds on pause in open spots and not tumble,,best fished with a titanium or very straight leader has they are so wild the front hook will catch,,bet its your bait |
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| I use both 6 and 8 inch phantoms in the slop and both work pretty good for me. They dont' seem to hook weeds very easily, and if I do a little twitch will usually take them off. Also, an undertaker has an inconsistant up and down and side to side action. I haven't tried it in the slop though. |
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| I think you are on the right track with the Reff Hawg, try a Squirko to add a "tail twist" to the Reff Hawg type action.
My personal fav. is an undertaker for the side-side, up-down action all in the same retrieve, but reefs and squirko's will push more water if that is what you need. |
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| the 6" phantom doesn't snag weeds easily but the 8" one does. |
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| You guys have no idea what "slop" is. Come on down to the Fox Chain in Illinois and i will show you the "WALL O WEEDS" we call the slop. You can walk across this crap it is so thick. A glide bait would get swallowed like a plane in the Bremuda triangle in the stuff. [:p] |
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| I have a Undertaker Brian gave me that is lightly weighted, and MAN can I work that thing through the slop! It will wiggle through some pretty mean stuff (ask Beav) then with a twitch, I can make it dive to about 4 feet. It took awhile to get the hang of it, but I have it now!
One caution, it WILL wear you out if you try to fish it all day. I will second Divani's remark, he also has a great slop glider. Get ready to WORK!! |
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| MMMMMHH MMMMMHHHH. Sounds like a true dilema to me Jason. From my personel history files I believe you are not fond of suicks. You have previously and publicly endorsed the manta as a "quality bait" but have personal issues with them?(LOL) so that leaves you pretty much with a handful of reef hawg. Two that I like and can work over wood are the Blitzn Shad and the dancin shad, with the dancin shad probably the more controllable of the two. I think leaving suicks out of the mix is foot shooting but if you don't connect with the bait it won't connect with you. Also how about the small fooler. It has a nose up rise when unweighted that makes it very controllable at weed or timber edge.
www.rufishnwillowflowage.com[:)] |
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| 6" phantom, wild but controlable [:bigsmile:] nuff said!
steve |
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| The viper works good in this situation as well. So does a power probe, that one will push some water for you too. |
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| FSF, I don't consider the Suick a glide bait... so not applicable to my question.
Secondly, I must admit I used SLOP in the title to get some attention. I consider slop totally impenetrable (is that a word?) with lots of emergent weeds to boot. Where I have been using the glide baits is in cabbage beds that have topped out with the tell tale seed tops breaking the surface. Technically NOT slop by my standards.... but you get the point. That is slop for a glide bait.
My objective is to STEER the lure in and around the cabbage stalks.... with the ability to dive into pockets at will. Thus... total control of the lure is what I'm looking for.
The Manta is VERY predictable and can be steered quite easily due to its consistent side to side action. But, I fail to get them eaten.
I've tried the 8" Phantom. It is a little sluggish and really grabs the weeds with three hooks. The Jerko is another favorite of mine... but it runs too deep for the sight fishing I am doing here. The squirkko is an option.... but most of my buddies already have one on their rod (same with the Reef Hawg).
Reef Hawgs have been my mainstay... and I don't really any complaints. Just looking for more "flavors" to mix things up with. I picked up an Undertaker and 6 inch Phantom today and look forward to "testing" them out real soon. Any others I should be considering?????
Thanks for the recomendations made so far!!!
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| Jason, you will be quite happy with a power probe. They sell them at smokeys. www.smokeysmuskyshop.com They are wedge shaped with the head being the big part. They really push water. |
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| Todd M,
I have a question if you have used the PP quite a bit. Are the Power Probes pretty much side to side or do they wander after the pull? Haven't heard much about them. Too cheap to buy one. |
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| Jlong,
I have used the little Reef Hawg for years, and love the bait. I use it in scattered to moderate weeds, but have never been able to get it to nose up enough to keep it out of the thicker stuff.
Beav throws the little reef Hawg more than I do in the stuff, maybe if he sees this he can give an opinion.[:)]
Another slop glider...don't laugh.. is the big Sluggo. If the slop is REALLY thick, like dollar pads, but has open water underneath which holds fish, try twitching one across the top of the stuff. When the bait reaches the edge, twitch the Sluggo one time and let it settle, then work it to the boat like a glider. Give the fish a 3 count on the strike, or there will be alot of splashing and very little CPR.[:bigsmile:] |
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| I sure am glad Sworral steped out front and got shot instead of me.
When it comes to "SLOP" REAL SLOP not that whimpy stuff, anything with exposed hooks just won't get through! That is where Soft Plastics come into their own. There is just NOTHING that can go through that stuff and still hook-up except soft plastics rigged weedless.
You can rig and weight them to do just about anything you want. The big tubes have great action in their skirts with very little movement which is important when you are hitting a hole 3 or 4 ft. and working over weeds to the next one. I am talking weeds to the surface with holes spaced tight enough that you have to work "OVER" the surface weeds to get to them. A lure with exposed hooks just won't cut it. [:devil:] Or maybe you boys up north just have it to easy. [:bigsmile:] |
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