How to fish Go-To Shake & Wake Baits

What’s a wake bait?

The name says it all. It’s a bait that produces a wake on the surface of the water, simulating a fleeing fish or other prey like a small rodent. The water disturbance provides predator fish such as bass both an audio and visual attraction to their soon to be dinner. Making it a go-to throw.

 

Often wake baits are hard bodied with a lip that’s sloped or flat. This helps the bait stay on the surface of the water or just below it. Wake Baits have been tried and true for decades, but like most things, they needed to be modernized to catch more fish. Wake Baits like Go-To Shake & Wake Baits, utilize a combination of factors beyond just breaking up the surface of the water. From a unique life-like shake, to colors and vibrations made from balls inside the body of the bait, they are designed to get you more action.

 

When do I throw a wake bait?

The answer is always and we’ll tell you why. But there are times when a wake bait is going to provide a higher percentage of strikes than others. Spring and fall, when there are schooling baitfish, is prime time for topwater. Mouse wake baits turn on in summer and after heavy rains. They like to come out when weeds and grasses are more abundant, or rain has pushed them out of their holes.

 

For a real go-to bait though, you need a blend. The flash and movement of a distressed bait fish with an enticing flick and trail tail of a mouse. It allows you to successfully tackle topwater fish all year long.

How to match the wake bait color to the conditions?

There’s an old saying, when you see clouds, it’s time to get loud. When you see sun, natural colors get it done. Wake baits are going to be loud on top of the water, inviting an ambush even in their natural colors. But to really stand out for strikes in murky conditions, you are going to need brighter colors like the Go-To Radio Active Mouse or the Go-To Red Neck Mouse.

 

If the sun is shining and the water is clear, you are going to get more action when you fish natural colors like our Go-To Silver Mouse and the Go-To Night Walker Mouse. They look like dinner at any distance.

 

What are the best retrieval techniques?

There’s no wrong way to fish a wake bait. Faster retrieves with hard stops create bigger wakes and can get you just below the surface, calling out to big bass. Slower retrieves are going to better simulate a distressed rodent or baitfish, triggering strikes.

My favorite way to fish the Go-To Wake Bait is with a slow retrieve, then letting it go completely dead. I’ll then add a few small twitches before beginning to reel again. The shake on the Go-To Wake Bait doesn’t require much speed to break up the water, so you can fish it as slow as you like while still making noise and triggering fish.