(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Veteran Bass Pro Tour competitor Jared Lintner built his skills in California, the glide bait center of the world, but now that he’s moved across the continent, he certainly won’t leave them behind. “Bass eat glide baits, they just do,” he explained.
Many anglers conceive of them as just springtime lures. Indeed, that’s when Lintner said they’re often most potent, sometimes drawing “up to 8 or 10 fish at once,” but he keeps one on the deck of his tournament boat all year long. In the summertime, he fishes them around anything bass can suspend under, such as docks, bridges, and causeways. In the fall, you may not get as many follows, but he’ll fish them heavily in areas on the way to their wintering grounds. Even in the chill of winter they’re a valid tool around sharp points, bluffs and deeper ducks. “A lot of those big ones, they’re just looking for one meal,” he explained.
You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars to get started, although Lintner has his share of pricey baits. Some of the mainstream ones that he likes are the Gan Craft 178, the River2Sea S-Waver and the G-Ratt. He likes his lures to have rotating hook hangers to prevent hooked fish from twisting off. No matter which one he’s fishing, he adds an Eagle Claw heavy-duty bass snap to help the lure swim better.
He matches his tackle to the size of the lure, with one controlling maxim: “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.” He wants a rod with a long butt section to control the bait on the cast and then to manage hooked fish. Some of the ones he likes include the Daiwa DX Swimbait Rod (exclusive to Tackle Warehouse), a Tatula Swimbait rod, and for smaller lures a 7’11” medium-heavy Rebellion. His reel choice also depends on the lure. “The heavier the bait, the bigger the reel.” He likes the Tatula 300 with big baits, a Tatula Elite for smaller lures, and the Tatula 150 for mid-size models. He typically spools them with 20- or 22-pound Sunline Shooter Fluorocarbon, occasionally dropping down to 16-pound for the smallest gliders. In Florida, on the Delta or Clear Lake – or anyplace with big fish and grass, he’ll use 50- to 65-pound braid as a main line with the fluoro leader attached via an FG knot.
Depending on the season and the mood of the bass, his retrieves vary from a slow, steady wind all the way up to burning the lure, but the one that produces the most fish consists of jerky half-turns with a mini-pause. “Really, there’s no wrong retrieve,” he explained. “Just don’t overwork the bait.” No matter what, when you get a follower remember to keep it moving, either at the same pace or with some sort of erratic motion. Killing the lure is also a death sentence for your chances of catching that bass.
If you want to learn some of Lintner's other glide bait secrets, including why he often uses a red treble for the back hook, check out his full on-the-water video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
