Best Glide Swimbaits for Bass

Glide baits have really taken the bass fishing industry by storm here in the past few years! These things are definitely nothing new for the guys on the west coast but as their popularity continues to grow I wanted to discuss the conditions I use them and my 5 favorite gliders!

Water Temp: 45* and above
Clarity: at least 3-4 foot visibility
Depth: 7 feet and shallower

These things have crazy "draw power" with their seductive slalom! They are great baits to throw on bluff walls with lay downs on a slow retrieve, down the sides of docks to pull big fish from the depths and they are great for locating bedding fish. If you remember anything from this post remember this, 8" gliders get bit! The longer/ bigger gliders have a more pronounced and realistic action (to me) and they get chewed up by 2 pound fish and bigger! You see, bass are opportunistic feeders and would rather spend less calories eating something big that will keep them full for a while than burning more calories having to chase and eat something little regularly. That's when you're glide bait pulls in the big ones!

Here are the 5 Best Glide Baits for Bass:

#1 Deps 250 & 175 Slide Swimmer
I know these things are pricey, but you will not find a better glide bait for all around realism than the Deps! Real look and real action and it's incredibly durable! The 175 is just a tad under 8" and can catch #'s like you wouldn't believe and is a great tournament sized swimbait! The 250 is right at 10" and does nothing short of catching MONSTERS! Slow retrieving these baits with small twitches will produce the best! There is a reason why these baits are anywhere from $150 to $300! They are proven!

#2 Gan Craft Jointed Claw 178
The Gan Craft Jointed Claw 178 is LETHAL! With colors to match any and every bait fish in your lake Gan Craft makes it happen! Byron Velvick almost took home the Elite Series win on Lake Guntersville in 2015 on the Jointed Claw in 'Real Ayu'! It gets bit and produces all over the world! Great action and comes ready to toss right out of the box!

#3 Fatback Herring Glide Shad 7"
If you have gizzard shad or threadfin shad on your lake or river this glider has a beautiful shad profile and can absolutely roast fish! Most big bass eat big shad, this realistic action mixed with the realistic profile can put is them in the boat! You can burn this one too!

#4 River2Sea S-Waver 200
I haven't fished these as much as I would like but I have had some incredible success on them! I've caught a total of 8 fish on the S- Waver 200 and the smallest one was 5 1/2 pounds! They have a very realistic swim and come in some great colors. I will almost always put suspend dots in the joint to make the swim more fluid and sink faster. At a price point of $45 these are a must have, must throw!

#5 HighPower Gizzard
Big gizzard shad glider, catches trophies and is proven! Give it a shot to put some hammers in the boat in the south east!