Which Glide Bait.

[king fisher]

A lake I fish is deep with steep banks, and bluffs.  I have caught nice size bass on a variety of lures, but have never been able to find a particular area or pattern that consistently produces.  

      I have spent several hours watching the bass and baitfish, from high up on the banks.  The large bass seem to spend a majority of their time slowly cruising up and down the bank, a few yards out just below the color line.  The water is there is about 40 feet deep when it changes color.  The larger bass will be barely visible for a short while at around 6 feet deep suspended over the deep water, then disappear again into the darkness.  The bait fish are mostly Tilapia that hug the shore in 6 inches or less water.  My theory is the big bass hide suspended in the shadow of the deep water, while hunting the shoreline.  When a Tilapia happens to swim to far from shore and the bass is cruising by it is a bad day for that bait fish.  This would explain the randomness of my success in the past, because the baitfish and bass don't seem to school up in classic locations like points, humps, etc.  When I catch a bass I simply have been lucky enough to present my lure in front of the bass while she is swimming by.  The Tilapia don't seem to school up on the shore, they are simply in a line along the shore on random stretches' of shoreline.

          I have spent way to much time strategizing how to catch these trophy bass consistently, and the Bait Monkey has convinced me I need to try a large glide bait.  The theory is with the glide bait I could cover large portions of the shoreline casting parallel to the color line, and even if I don't get a strike I would be sure to get some follows which could lead to catching many bass on other lures.

         Does anyone have any recommendations on which glide bait to try?  I would like to keep the cost under $75 but might be convinced to go up to $100 if I need to.  I will only want to try one for now, but will buy two of the right one in case I loose the first one.  The banks I will be fishing are almost snag free rocky banks, so unless I cast one off or break off a giant bass I don't anticipate loosing any glide baits making the original cost a little less painful.

        I will be fishing the lure 4 to 8 feet deep most of the time.  The water visibility is 6 to 8 feet, water surface temp, 74- 80 degrees, sunny most days, the main bait forage is Tilapia 4-6 inches in length.  The size of bass I will be targeting are 8-13 pounds, but bass up to 15 pounds have been caught.  I have the gear to fish baits up to 6 0Z, and  am not interested in catching smaller bass so I wont mind fishing larger baits if they are recommended.  The Tilapia are mostly light colored, but there are some that are dark.  I wont need an exact match of a Tilapia color.  Lighter bluegill patterns will work fine for matching the color.

       I have done some online research and am leaning towards lures with a wide glide pattern designed to be used in open water, but am open to any suggestions.  Most of my online research has been done watching videos, and sometimes it is hard to determine if on lure is recommended simply because that person is sponsored by a particular company.   In other words. I trust the opinion of the members on this forum more than fisherman on You Tube.

        Glide baits are very expensive, and I have been resisting the Bait Monkey for a long time, but this particular lake and time of year has me rethinking my anti glide bait ways.

        I will appreciate any suggestions, including the opinions from those that think glide baits would be a waste of time and money for this situation.  I still have a chance to shake the Monkey off my back and fish the lures I already have.  The best success for larger bass I have had on this lake so far has been with deep cranks, and C rig.

       

[LrgmouthShad]

I have no idea. Just want to say that I think your research and observations into your lake are really cool

[WRB]

Matt Lures Hard Gil, Talopia $85

Tom

PS, contact Matt and ask if he would paint the back a little greener. Medium sink.

 

[LrgmouthShad]

5 minutes ago, WRB said:

Matt Lures Hard Gil, Talopia $85

Tom

PS, contact Matt and ask if he would paint it green.

 

My goodness. Those look amazing. 

 

Why did you have to put the bait monkey onto us? He'll be around my house for days now.

[JediAmoeba]

There are so many options at or around $100. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

50 minutes ago, WRB said:

Matt Lures Hard Gil, Talopia $85

Tom

PS, contact Matt and ask if he would paint the back a little greener. Medium sink.

 

Came here to post this......Matt just came out with those, they look killer.

 

[Pat Brown]

 

Savage Gear Shine Glide functions quite well ???

 

(Third glide bait fish caught just now tonight and my first nice one to eat it)