Wake Baits

[Matthew2000]

I'm trying to get into wake baits but don't know where to start. What rods, line, and brands do you use?

[Weld's Largemouth]

Bettencourt baits dying bluegill, that's it

[Comfortably Numb]

Ima roumba. medium 

Strike King Wake shad Medium heavy

[JeziHogg]

I use the same rod I use for my square bills, TBC78MHM. Try the Arashi wake bait, works for me.

[Bluebasser86]

I use the same rod I use for traps (7' M/F 6.2:1 reel and 15lb copolymer) because I'm usually fishing them around fairly heavy cover. I really like the Arashi wake bait. 

[WRB]

I guess you can call a shallow running crankbait a wake, you are waking a crankbait.

Most wake baits are design to wake just below on on the surface.

Rats, Slammer's, Jointed bluegills come to mind.

BBZ-1Rat, Black Dog Shell Cracker or G2 , Matts hard gill, MS Slammer etc., that weigh over an 1 1/2 oz to 2 3/4 oz, require heavier tackle than your standard crankbait rods.

So what style "wake" baits are you interested in?

Tom

[Sam]

As Tom said, you can purchase wake baits out of the package or throw an unweighted Zoom trick worm as a wake bait.

 

Since the lure is just under the water's surface you may want to consider monofilament line as it floats better than fluorocarbon.

 

If you are fishing over and between grass and pads you can use braid if you think the fish will run deep after taking your wake bait.

 

I use my crankbait setup with 8 to 12 pound test monofilament line on a medium heavy bait caster with a 6:1 style reel.

 

I usually throw crankbaits out of the box. if I do modify them I will change out the back treble hook and replace it with one that has a feather.

[Matthew2000]

I was leaning more towards the square bill style

[ColdSVT]

I just ordered a jackall cherry 0 footer...cant wait to try it out

My buddy does very well on the arashi wakes

[J Francho]

Lucky Craft LC Wake 3.5 in MS Am. Shad is my favorite.  I throw it on a Saint Croix LTB70MF, JDM Zillion spooled with 12# P-Line CXX.

[ColdSVT]

Lucky Craft LC Wake 3.5 in MS Am. Shad is my favorite. I throw it on a Saint Croix LTB70MF, JDM Zillion spooled with 12# P-Line CXX.

I looked long and hard at the LC wake...ill probably succumbto the pressure and pick one up on my next TW order lol

[J Francho]

Get the big one. 

[Catch and Grease]

I use the same rod I use for traps (7' M/F 6.2:1 reel and 15lb copolymer) because I'm usually fishing them around fairly heavy cover. I really like the Arashi wake bait.

Same here except I use braid, the arashi wake baits are great. Probably aren't gonna use them again till spring though...

[Master Bait'r]

Depends on the size of the bait.  

 

The smaller ones up to about .75ozish I'd throw on my regular moving bait rod.  

 

Wakes up to ~1.5 I'd put a heavy flouro leader on my frog rod and roll with that.  Bigger baits and bigger hooks need big backbone to set properly.  

[ChrisD46]

Surprised no one here mentioned BPS's "The Egg" , Manns -1 Minus One or the Bandit "Footloose" wake baits ...All are awesome !

[ww2farmer]

 For application specific type baits, last Fall I threw the new SK KVD shallow 1.5, and the Arashi Wake bait. The 1.5 dives a little deeper and has a tighter wobble, and no rattle, worked good once the water dipped into the mid/low 50's and cleared up. The Arashi has a very wide wobble, and a rattle, I was using it when the water was warmer and dirtier. I caught decent fish on both.

[primetime]

I have a box full of wakebaits from almost every company, I like the Roumba for a smaller look and it is good with a trick worm on the  rear treble which is something I stole from their site...I would say I have learned that a dressed treble is the key to success many days with topwater/wake baits...If fishing over grass, you often can't move your bait much, and that is where you want to fish em, in the places everyone else is throwing flukes, frogs, and worms, modify the hooks a bit, short triple grips on the front, and on the back an EWG with dressing usually, I like Marabou and flashabou and it gets wrecked but I only throw one wake bait 90% of the time and I do better with it than any other..

 

Ripplin Redfin in gold and one in silver blue, Regular 4" and 5" Red fin, key is to make sure you are going slow enough to keep the shiner s wake, I like the Storm's, Footloose, Mann's, Roumba, LC's, Rapala Dt Fats etc...Get a Red fin in 4", 5", and 7" if you are in an area with big fish, and then one gold and one shad colored Ripplin Red fin, and shorten the hooks, and you will be amazed out how well that lure produces when they won't touch other square bills, fish like the minnow shape better these days...I just ordered 10 Ripplins, 12 Redfins for myself for xmas and some Triple grips, Owner Stingers, and t3 rotating although they come with good hooks, I don't like silver for fresh water, but that is just me...

[Brnnoser6983]

I use the mad dog g2 on an Abu Garcia vendetta/cardinal setup with 30lb braid, but I don't have a lot of different rods for specific presentations so I also use this combo for my frog.

But there is the Rapala side walker I think it is. That has a great natural walk the dog presentation. Matt lures makes a hard (the soft blue gill). And the BBZ1 rat as mentioned just won a 2014 Icast award for hard baits, and rightfully so in my opinion. (At 10in and I think close to 2oz though, this lure will require a little better rod set up.)

[tomustang]

We use the BPS XPS Egg the most, in Chrome/Black Back.

Bomber Shallow A in Baby Bass.

[flipin4bass]

LC Wake in MS American Shad.

[aavery2]

Would you consider the Deps Buzzjet a wakebait?

[gulfcaptain]

Would you consider the Deps Buzzjet a wakebait?

it would be in that same catagory as far as I'm concerned.  As for the OP, your squarebill rod should work fine for you fishing wakebaits.  Also forgot to mention the H20 line of wakebaits, affordable yet very nice as well.