Wakebaits: Different Styles and Retrieves to fool Finicky Bass
Clack, clack, clack, clack, KABOOM! You set the hook, the line stretches, the hooks dig in, and the surface of the lake erupts with an explosion of water, bass, and treble hooks. The battle is on and you're praying your knots, hooks, and line hold up to the fight. Moments later you're holding a huge largemouth, the large topwater still hanging from her mouth.
If you've ever experienced the way a bass draws out of cover, tracks, and erupts on a wakebait, you already have the sickness. Those bites are what makes us bass anglers get up at 3 AM, drink gas station coffee, eat pastries before sunrise, and launch our boats before any sane person would even consider shedding their sheets.
The trouble with wakebaits is simple, they're expensive! So what do you do? Do you buy them all, spend years fishing them, sell the ones you don't, take huge financial losses, all in hopes of finding the perfect combination of baits? Oh wait... I already did that for you!
A few of our Favorite Wakebaits
After all the years, the $$$, the dissapointments, and the surprises, I've weaned my collection of wakebaits down to just a few models. Even simpler than that, I have eliminated all but two "styles". From my time on the water I've found that if I can find a bait with a single joint, coupled with a diving lip and a double-jointed bait without a diving lip, I can cover nearly every situation that calls for a wakebait.
Better still, there are baits that fit both these categories that are both widely available, and fairly inexpensive. They are the MS Slammer (7" or 9") and the Spro BBZ-1 Floater (8"). I'm not saying they're the best or the prettiest but both of these baits catch fish in a huge variety of conditions and won't break the bank along the way.
If you're thinking of getting in to wakebaits or even considering pairing down the arsenal you already own, give these baits a try. You'll be surprised how well they work!