How effective is “wake lure”?

[Eddie101]

Do you throw it in lieu of, say, buzz bait? And when?

[jimmyjoe]

   I use a wake bait over shallow (Less than 6') water, and I fish it SLOW. It's pretty effective considering it follows a spinnerbait in my methods. The only one I use anymore is the 5/8 Mann's 1 Minus.    jj

[suzuki2903]

Very effective, especially over grass.   I used them in a few shallow spots as well and worked great.   Used strike king and yo zuri brands .    Bass pro has a cheaper house brand wake bait as well

[scbassin]

Very effective. I use them on the flats & in ell grass. I use the Bagley Balsa ones. T/W has 4 of the best colors on it's site now. The Chart/Black is money

 

[Eddie101]

59 minutes ago, scbassin said:

Very effective. I use them on the flats & in ell grass. I use the Bagley Balsa ones. T/W has 4 of the best colors on it's site now. The Chart/Black is money.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i

• 
• Model No. BW1-CSD
  Chartreuse Shad

This one?

[scbassin]

YES

[WRB]

You can "wake" any floating diving lure, just adjust the speed so it wakes.

Tom

[Cdn Angler]

I'm a huge fan of the Rattling Roumba wakebait. 

 

This one runs side to side on / just under the surface with a lot of action, but must be retrieved fairly slowly. 

 

This is my go to topwater in clear water for smallmouth when the surface is like glass. Caught 2 4 lbrs like this yesterday. I think the more subtle action and slowness helps generate bites whereas a spook or whopper plopper might be too much. I often notice that the roumba will get bit deep into a retrieve whereas louder options tend to be shortly after hitting the water or not at all. Also seems to get bit more when they are chasing bait for whatever reason. 

 

Because it has a ton of action but is "slow" and doesn't spit water, it also seems like the entire bait gets engulfed whereas other topwaters often only a single hook. So I land more fish. 

 

So yeah I'm a fan, at least in that scenario. 

[GreenPig]

7" Redfin in white is nice on a Blueback lake when they want it slow on top. Just give enough speed for a V - wake.

[Jason.Domingo]

Big rats..late evenings or early mornings or I’ll be stubborn and just throw them all day. Shallow flats, over grass or up in coves. Nothing like a big one hammering a rat wake.

[ChrisD46]

Bass Pro : "The Egg" (larger size) , Strike King KVD 2.5 and  Mann's Minus 1 all produce ... For easy top water throw & wind - I rotate with the Choppo or Whopper Plopper .

[Mr. Aquarium]

Ive caught wakebait fish from winter water temps in the 40s to summer water temps. They work!! These are big swimbait wakes! 

[Eddie101]

9 minutes ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Ive caught wakebait fish from winter water temps in the 40s to summer water temps. They work!! These are big swimbait wakes! 

In 40's???? You must be kidding me. What brand are you using?

[Mr. Aquarium]

Last February I got 2 small wake bait fish, 1 was on Matt’s 7 inch strong shad, the other was on a 9 inch slammer.  This was up here in MA. February 9th I believe. I was shocked. But I’ve caught  swimbait wake fish in mid November here in MA as well mostly at night. Some ponds are better then others for topwater baits, especially at night, in the cold. 

[The Bassman]

Wakebaits are about my favorite reaction technique. They are perfect for the ponds I fish. Other cranks are continually fouled by weeds. Two of my favorites are Mann's Baby 1- Minus and Azuma Wake-Z. Sometimes when vegetation is sparse I'll step down to an 04 Storm Sub Wart (discontinued). It's an absolute blast on light tackle.

[rangerjockey]

Around here the Redfin has always been the go to wakebait. The trouble is you have to go through half a dozen to get a couple that will wake right. The best recipe calls for a feathered treble and about 3 suspend dots.

 I have 2 that are perfect a few that are ok and the rest go in the trash.

 Or you can just buy a surge shad  and fish it right out of the package.  Braid helps them both.

[wdp]

The H2O Express house brand at Academy Sports have been very productive wakebaits for me. Affordable & decent color selection. 
 

As others have stated, Mann’s 1 minus and Baby 1 minus are good, as are the BPS “The Egg” in both sizes. My experience has been that the smaller Egg and the Baby 1 minus swim a little deeper (down to 1 ft) than their larger versions. But you can hold rod tip up if you need it to run shallower. Sometimes, running a little deeper gets more bites tho. 

[stkbassn]

I love wakes..I throw them on points, lay downs,  flats,parallel to rip rap...all over. My favorites are the Deps Buzzjet, Megabass iloud, Megabass ijack, storm thunderstick and redfins. After that,  rats- Nez, Cl8 vole, LunkerZ Jitt-r-Ratts

[moguy1973]

I wish Black Dog Baits still made their Shellcracker G2.  I still have one but I'd buy more if they were available.  Great wake/shallow crank squarebill swimbait.

[gim]

I use a Storm Subwart on a shallow river in the summer chasing brown bass.  I should mention I only fish it in July and August when the water is the warmest and the fish are most aggressive.  I'm often slowing drifting with the current and I cast it to the shoreline, let it sit, twitch it, and then reel it in.  Because I'm slowly drifting, I need something that floats.  The subwart seems to have the best wobble of any wake bait style lure out there.  When I burn it, it'll only go down about 6-8 inches.  Unfortunately its discontinued because Rapala bought Storm and they stopped making it a few years ago.  But I've still got 6 of them in my vault.  The 2 inch version is the one I use, not the 1.5.  There are a couple on ebay for like 45 bucks and the original cost when they were available was $4.99.

 

I've tried for years to find a suitable replacement for them and I've used Bagley, Bomber, Mann's, and The Egg.  None of them are as good.  The closest I can find is the Bass Pro XPS Laser Eye Super Shallow Crank so I have bought a few of those and they seem to work pretty good.  Plus they are only $4.99 so when I lose one I don't have a stroke like I do when I lose a discontinued subwart.

[Eddie101]

4 hours ago, gimruis said:

I use a Storm Subwart on a shallow river in the summer chasing brown bass.  I should mention I only fish it in July and August when the water is the warmest and the fish are most aggressive.  I'm often slowing drifting with the current and I cast it to the shoreline, let it sit, twitch it, and then reel it in.  Because I'm slowly drifting, I need something that floats.  The subwart seems to have the best wobble of any wake bait style lure out there.  When I burn it, it'll only go down about 6-8 inches.  Unfortunately its discontinued because Rapala bought Storm and they stopped making it a few years ago.  But I've still got 6 of them in my vault.  The 2 inch version is the one I use, not the 1.5.  There are a couple on ebay for like 45 bucks and the original cost when they were available was $4.99.

 

I've tried for years to find a suitable replacement for them and I've used Bagley, Bomber, Mann's, and The Egg.  None of them are as good.  The closest I can find is the Bass Pro XPS Laser Eye Super Shallow Crank so I have bought a few of those and they seem to work pretty good.  Plus they are only $4.99 so when I lose one I don't have a stroke like I do when I lose a discontinued subwart.

Is this it?? 

[Cptndeez64]

I have a 6th Sense Speed Wake, Storm’s newer Arashi wake (not good), a Spro BBZ Rat, and a Strike King version. I’ve caught exactly ZERO fish on them. Don’t know if I’m doing something wrong or what. I have had a few blow-ups on the rat, but they missed it.

[gim]

50 minutes ago, Eddie101 said:

Is this it?? 

 

Yes, that's it, if its the 2 inch version...

[Eddie101]

39 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

Yes, that's it, if its the 2 inch version...

I think it's 1.5 but what's the difference? 1.5 is not as effective as 2.0 or what? 

[gim]

21 minutes ago, Eddie101 said:

I think it's 1.5 but what's the difference? 1.5 is not as effective as 2.0 or what? 

It doesn't give off as much of a wobble and its not heavy enough to cast with a BC.  The 2 inch version is the valuable one.  The 1.5 inchers are normal price on ebay and last I looked there were 2 inchers going for 45 bucks each.