Megabass Sleeper Gill

[waymont]

Tried it the other day. I was killing with a mini swimjig, so I tried a Sleeper Gill, it got some good hits, but man the hook up ratio is terrible. I missed two nice smallies. Caught one 21”. Went back to the swimjig and kept catching.

anyone have any issues with it?

[softwateronly]

I haven't given it enough time for a definitive answer, but it hasn't produced for me yet.  A few hits, no fish.

 

scott

[NorthernBasser]

Being a taller/bigger profile, I think it's definitely more geared towards largemouth. I'll use the Dark Sleeper if I'm targeting SM. 

[Shadow1]

Used both the Sleeper Gill and Dark Sleeper in Canada last year.  Couldn't keep the Pike off the Sleeper in perch pattern.  Anyway, we got some bad weather for a couple of days and the Dark Sleeper saved both days.  Crawled it slowly along some rock bluffs in 10-12 feet of water.  Caught some real nice fish.    

[Big Swimbait]

I know it defeats the purpose of the dorsal fin protecting the hook, but I have to bend it up slightly or my hook up percentage is maybe 20%.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Check the hook points had more than my share of very dull hooks on dark sleepers not what is expected of the name megabass.

[waymont]

2 hours ago, QUAKEnSHAKE said:

Check the hook points had more than my share of very dull hooks on dark sleepers not what is expected of the name megabass.

I switched over to Dark Sleeper's and the issue went away. Been nailing some giants! I gave the Sleeper Gill to my friend, and he seemed to bo good with hooking up, he lost a few SMB but that's always going to happen.

[FishTank]

It's a good bait but designed more for largemouth. The Dark Sleeper is the one for smallmouth but you can miss fish with both of these. The fin/flap that covers the hook sometimes gets fouled. I usually check it after every cast. 

[Bass Rutten]

I’ve had a great hookup ratio, the only beef I have with them is one of the fins getting pushed under the hook and having to fiddle with them every cast or two. 

[softwateronly]

This thread was in my head, 3 bites, 1 fish.  The 2 bites I missed were just vicious, like they were trying to murder it with their mouth closed.  But it was nice to get one on it after my last comment.

 

scott

 

 

[Bass Rutten]

4 hours ago, softwateronly said:

This thread was in my head, 3 bites, 1 fish.  The 2 bites I missed were just vicious, like they were trying to murder it with their mouth closed.  But it was nice to get one on it after my last comment.

 

scott

 

 

Yup the first fish I caught on it wasn’t huge but it was one of the hardest strikes I’ve ever had.

[waymont]

I agree the Sleeper Gill get REALLY hard hits.