What is your favorite wakebait?

[freelancer27]

Hi all,

just fished my new BBZ- Rat1 this past weekend and had some good success with it.

I love the price to performance ratio that this lure gives, but I am curious to see what other people like to throw and what other wakebaits are out there that a step up from the BBZ. I am not necessarily talking here about size (I would like to stay around 2oz) but would be interested in a better action, better materials and a more realistic look.

Thanks.

-Seb.

[Bluebasser86]

7" Slammer and it's not even close.

[Big Bait Fishing]

looking forward to the new Savage Gear rat !! i'm thinking as soon as i get it i'm taking off the bottom hooks and eyelets , recess a neo magnet into the back and rig a ST-41 on top, gonna be a beast in slop and any matted vegatation !!!!!

[freelancer27]

3 hours ago, Big Bait Fishing said:

looking forward to the new Savage Gear rat !! i'm thinking as soon as i get it i'm taking off the bottom hooks and eyelets , recess a neo magnet into the back and rig a ST-41 on top, gonna be a beast in slop and any matted vegatation !!!!!

That looks good. That is a complaint that I have with the BBZ. The back hook catches the tail too often. Which is annoying.

[smalljaw67]

I don't throw the large swim bait type of wake baits, but I do throw, and have success with, the crankbait style. My favorite is discontinued but I bought a large amount so I have enough but the Mann's Waker Elite is a killer. It is a big body that is loud and produced a wake at much higher speeds as it only dive 3" below the surface. I've been coming to like the Storm Arashi Wake Crank a lot more, it doesn't work at high speeds like the Mann's does, but it is loud and it gets bit.

[Senko lover]

If I had some money to drop that THKO custom wakebait would get some serious attention. Love the paint jobs on those things.

[addicted2fishing]

15 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

7" Slammer and it's not even close.

+1

The 9" MS Slammer as well. 

[CarolinaBoy4Life]

Slammer, CL8 baits baby possum

[Crankinstein]

Megabass Gong hands down. This is the bait that has the gorilla face but don't be fooled it's a top notch wake bait and not just for show. It has a blade on the back of it that looks like a Colorado blade from a spinner bait and when you wake the lure it clanks back and worth with the body and the back hook. It has a very wide action as well, swinging back and forth when retrieved. I bought it because it looked really unique but I hooked up with a fatty the very first time I used it and that fish wanted it bad, he bit the front treble and got all 3 points. The action is great on these things and they can draw strikes very well. I'm going to make a post here soon with some pictures of the baits as theres not a whole lot of info out there on them.

[evilcatfish]

MS Slammer, I've had success with most all sizes. Plus various rat baits

[Master Bait'r]

Bettencourt jointed rat.  Man that thing is cool!  

 

Hoping the Deps Silent Killer I got over the winter is as good as I think it will be though!  

[McKinneyLonghorn]

Finally a thread I actually know something about! Like smalljaw67, I don't throw larger wakebaits, but I do throw the crankbait type more than any other lure because the ponds I fish are filled with vegetation and subsurface lures have to be weedless or else they hang up. The wakebait is perfect and catches fish like crazy. With that out of the way, I will say the Academy-brand H2O XPRESS wakebaits are great and are my favorite lure, you just need to switch out the hooks (they say they come with VMC hooks, and while that may be the case, they must be bottom of the barrel VMC's because they are awful). The larger Bass Pro Shops Egg works well, but the smaller one won't stay on the surface so don't really consider it a wakebait. My favorite BPS wakebait is the Super Shallow Crank, which works great as a wakebait or as a subsurface lure. 

Just tonight I was at the store and the Storm Arashi wakebaits were on sale for half off so I picked up two of them. Hope to give them a shot tomorrow night and see how the $9 baits do compared to the $3 Academy brand ones.

I also use the Baby Minus 1 and the Mann's Waker Elite from time to time, and they work great, they are just not in my regular rotation. Finally, the wakebaits you can buy blanks of all over the Internet (don't know who makes them but if you Google wakebait blank they will come up with a ton of hits) are great. They run about a foot deep on a fast retrieve and wake nicely on a slower retrieve, and they create a ton of commotion with their internal rattles. If you want to try painting your own, give them a shot. 

[ww2farmer]

I also don't throw the large swimbait/rat type wake baits. I use the Arashi and it is a good bait.

[Evan K]

23 hours ago, Senko lover said:

If I had some money to drop that THKO custom wakebait would get some serious attention. Love the paint jobs on those things.

Yep, this. I have one and have caught good fish with it.

[primetime]

w1-Red Fin

2-Bomber Long A-Bomber Fat A, Mann's wakes all sizes, sometimes the tiny one, and the BPS EGG, Yo-Zuri SS minnow since it has saltwater grade hooks for heavy braid over weeds...

3- Ripplin Red Fin, Smithwick Floating Rogue.....If I really need a fish...the Original Rapala is the best on light line, it is the Senko of hardbaits imo, I never get to working it, they smash it as soon as it hits the water, the AC Shiner made from balsa on light line will get bit all day long mid summer as well.....