Bass Fishing Nov - Dec 2017 | Page 41

CAREFUL WEIGHTING REMOVABLE TAIL SECTION It’s made from durable rubber but can wear or tear over time. Duel provides one replacement tail with each bait. an elongated tab on the tail fits snugly into a rec- tangular slot. Just slide the origi- nal tail up and out, and press the new one in until it locks in place. Though it weighs 2 5/8 ounces, the bait is engineered to sink slower than a weightless wacky worm so it can be fished slowly through the upper water column and paused or twitched around targets. HEAVY-DUTY JOINT Body halves are joined with durable steel components to avoid breakage and allow the bait to flex and swim appropriately for the best action. Performance Advice Though not as heavy as some of the other glide baits out there, at 2 5/8 ounces the Twitch’n Glider is still a fairly big bait that calls for a rod with some backbone and length and a reel with some guts. Based on my experience, here’s what I recommend. Rod: stick with something close to 8 feet long with a heavy action rated for lines of 20- pound test and heavier. The rod should have a slow taper and fast action so it loads well for making long casts and giving the bait some action while providing enough cushion to keep fish hooked up. I threw it on a Lew’s custom speed stick series superDuty 3, which is a 7-foot, 11-inch, fast-action rod, and it performed nicely. Reel: Your best bet is to upsize to a reel with extra line capacity, stout gears, oversized handle/grips and fairly slow gear ratio to help winch big fish to the boat. The longer you play a fish on a big glide bait, the more chance it has to come unbuttoned. The shimano calcutta conquest 300 series (5.6:1) is perfect, as is the new low-profile shimano Tranx. Line: Personal preference should factor into your line choice, but consider that fluoro- carbon is the heavy favorite among glide bait junkies because of its limited stretch and low visibility in clear water. Lines in the 20- to 25- pound-test range get the call most often. You can throw it on braid with a long leader, but you have to be really careful of backlashes that can cause the line to come tight and the heavy bait to snap the line and sail into the lake. NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2017 I FLWFISHING.COM HITS & MISSES + Good price point + Built-in S-shaped gliding action on a steady retrieve + Easy-to-achieve varied actions, including 180-degree turns + Heavy-duty construction + Replaceable tail section + Excellent color variety + Quality hooks – A split ring at the line tie would be nice APPLICATIONS • Target clear water, since bass home in on the Twitch’n Glider mostly by sight. It will draw strikes over deep water if clarity is extremely high. • Wind it parallel to docks, grass lines and shady edges, or over submerged grass, rocky points, boulders and other ambush points. • Key on periods when big numbers of fish gravitate to the shallows, such as spring and fall, especially on lakes known for producing large bass. • Use it as a search bait. Glide baits are known for drawing out followers that you might not otherwise see. Though they don’t always commit, the fish will reveal their locations. DETAILS Length: 7 inches Colors: 10 Weight: 2 5/8 ounces Depth: 1 to 2 feet MSRP: $39.99 Contact: yo-zuri.com ■ 39