Getting Wideglide to glide wide

[puckfisher]

Larry: Got a surface and subsurface "Wideglides" for upcoming musky trip. I'm adept at walking the dog with spooks, ba-donk-a-donks, etc. Having trouble with getting desired sweeping action.Got any tips for these lures? ps : must look good in water, immature bald eagle dive-bombed it twice! Puckfisher

[aka anglinarcher]

Puck, until Larry gets back on, you can do a search of the forum and find several answers. For sure, the wide glide is not a spook, not a slap bait.

First, cut the feathers off the back hook. River2Sea added these but Larry indicates, and I agree, that the feathers kill the glide.

Second, the proper rod is important. If the rod is too soft, you do not get the side to side movement. If the rod is too stiff, well I have not found that to be a problem for me. LOL

Third, the proper line is important. I hate light mono for the wide glide. If you use mono, depending on the Wide Glide size you got, you want it pretty heavy to stop stretch. Personally, I use Power Pro and use a leader if necessary. A good low stretch Fluorocarbon is excellent but it still stretches, so you want it heavy enough to prevent stretch.

Fourth, and this is pretty important, you must find the cadence yourself. The spook takes a good jerk and a little slack, but it takes very little time between jerks. As you know, you the spook does not glide so as soon as has turned you can turn it the other way. With the wide glide, you need to jerk and then feed it slack and give it some time.

Fifth, if you are using a steel leader, you must not have a swivel of connection for the line if you want the most glide. The leader end will sink and kill the glide. Tie the leader directly to the line.

AND MOST IMPORTANT, EXPECT LARRY TO COME ON AND TELL YOU THE CORRECT WAY TO DO IT. What I have told you is what I do. It is not necessarily the only or the best way.

If I remember correctly, Larry did a YouTube video on how to fish the Wide Glide, so check that out as well.

[Mike - Alumilite]

Not Larry but was taught by Larry ... on slack line, give HARD/short jerk followed by slack. My hint is to not "pull" the lure but as soon as your hard jerk takes up the slack and hits the lure ... follow it by immediate slack. It glides on the slack part ... so the harder you hit it and the more slack you have the more it will travel for you. My biggest suggestion is learn with the surface wide glide on a day that you can see the lure ... the slicker the better or little to no chop - maybe not the best for fishing it but the best for getting the rythm down ... it really helped me when I could see it and the reaction of it when I did a specific motion. Especially because you can cast those things an easy 40 yards ... in Larry's case 60+. The subsurface was harder for me because I couldn't see it until it was 10-15 yards from the boat and then I realized it wasn't walking at all. The smaller wideglides are much easier and are deadly but the bigger ones are simply one bite away from being the fish of a lifetime. Caught two of the biggest pike of my life on them and now have a ton of confidence in both the big and small wide glides. I've always loved walking the dog with bass baits however these are simply in another class as they truly glide and not turn back and forth/walk.

When Larry taught me, we were using rope (80 lb PowerPro Braid) and I was using a straight wire leader along with Curado 300 ... Larry was using a Calcutta. Larry could probably shed more light on the type of rod he'd recommend as well as the impact the line and type of leader has on it.

Mike

[Dan Hanon]

I have a large subsurface Wideglide, and it definately takes some practice to get a decent glide. You need to make a sharp downward snap and give the lure several feet of slack so it can veer off. Just start off with a slow cadence and use a stiff heavy-action rod between 6'6-7'. I can maybe make it glide 1.5- 2 feet in either direction, which doesn't sound impressive, but that's substantially more lateral movement than a Zara Spook. I use 80# Power Pro with a 30# mono leader. I wish I could make it glide wider, but that's where I'm at with this lure. Larry says he can make it glide 6-8 feet from a dead stop with a quick downward pop. I'm hoping with more practice I can get longer glides.

[puckfisher]

Thanks for the tips. It will definitely take some practice. Using stiff musky rod with braid but can't tie directly to lure since musky are the target. Have Heavy fluorocarbon leader with snap swivel (18 in. ) on now . Will try short section of wire. Tried giant Hellhound and had no trouble making it glide. Have any of you had success with this lure? Looks fishy. Puckfisher

[aka anglinarcher]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W_BhQbDkdo

Larry did this Youtube video some time ago. Check it out.