atrophius Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 I was curious on the design of gliders. I am not sure how they are suppose to function. I have seen some top water walk the dogs types of lures. Is that the goal of a glider? Or is there supposed to be a different action sub-surface on a direct retrieval? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 (edited) Gliders pretty much do what a walk-the-dog topwater does only they are designed to be fished below the surface. If you can work a topwater WTD bait you can also work a glider. Here is a video clip of one I built if you are interested in seeing it. Jed V. Edited March 31, 2009 by RiverMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrophius Posted March 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 Ah ok, thanks for that video. So I take it the lure should be a slow sinker at least? Thanks for the info, may be my next lure to work on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 (edited) I generally set mine up to sink about a foot per second. You can weight them a bit heavier or lighter depending on how deep you intend to fish the lure. I also like them to remain level while they sink or just "slightly" nose down. You will have to experiment with your design to see how it swims the best. If you go to this site and click on "jerkbaits" you will see some basic designs to get you started. http://www.lurebuilding.nl/ Jed Edited March 31, 2009 by RiverMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrophius Posted March 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 Sweet, thanks Jed ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 @ atrophius Take RiverMan's advice about that Dutch site . I'd recommend a sinking glider in there called "the Roach" , its original name is "Heiddy" . It is the perfect lure for the beginner, both in building and also fishing this type of lures alike . It requires only one weight in the belly , wheras most other designs of sinking gliders need weights fore and aft . It can be fished from sub-surface down to up to 15 feet , depending on the built-in sink rate , subtle twitches or hard jerks , anything goes with this one to make up for an attractive target . Caught my very first glider pike with one years ago , she grabbed the lure that viciously , so that the rear hook stuck out of her gillplate , and she was only about 26" in length ! good luck , diemai:yay: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 There are also surface gliders, baits which move side to side like the sub-surface gliders, but up on top. The Megabass Dog X is an example of one, and the gold standard for them was the 8" Pupfish, which is no longer made. The new king is the Lunker Punker, by Black Dog Baits. They started out as balsa baits, but now have an injection plastic version, with rattles, that's great. They glide up to 2' side to side, depending on how you work them. I've made some that work, and I found that they have to be slightly tail waited, with the center of gravity just past the mid point on the bait, so that, when it is at rest, it's sitting horizontal in the water, with just slightly less than half the lure's back out of the water. I think the reason they glide well is that the inertia of the extra weight in the back half keeps it moving when the front is slowed by the water, so the back wants to keep going and winds up pushing the front out of the way to the side. The longer the lure, the farther lure will glide, but I've found that 9" is about the maximum lure size that's practical to work without being exhausted after the first cast. 6" seems to be a good size overall for both gliding and walking the dog with shorter pulls. I actually made some 5" that work well, and cast better into the wind, but they don't glide as far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
