If Only One Spybait to Use Which One

[KWH]

I need to start using these and not sure which ones to invest in.

[06 SB]

I prefer the Duo Realis in Ghost Minnow. Ghost SX Shad would be a good one too. Gold Perch would be my first choice if your bass eat them.

[Dropdeadfred]

dude if you need to "invest" in a fishing lure, you are doing it wrong.. You gonna crash on your investment.
Its a dang $3 prop baited marked up a gazzillion percent.

[SWbass]

I like the Lucky Craft screw pointer 85, it's just a little bit heavier and it helps me get the bait deeper quicker, I tend to fish a little quick

[reason162]

I need to start using these and not sure which ones to invest in.

Without a question the Duo Spinbait 80 G fix i-class. Make sure it's the i-class and not old stock.

[basscat21]

Without a question the Duo Spinbait 80 G fix i-class. Make sure it's the i-class and not old stock.

This.....80, 80 gfix, 90. Duo by far the best.

[kadas]

This.....80, 80 gfix, 90. Duo by far the best.

Agreed Duo is the best

[Real L]

I like the Jackall I-Prop

[Walkabout7781]

I wanted to use a baitcaster, so went with the Duo Realis 90 and tried it. What I found was not what I expected from watching YT vids by Matt. The 4 I tried all dropped in a 80 degree nose-down attitude, and fell like a rock. I was expecting it to fall more flat and perhaps 10 degrees nose-down. A 10 second pause put it on the bottom in 30'. Any of you found another spybait that falls slower and more like what I expected?

I'm thinking of getting a Smithwick "Devil's Horse", put some good hooks on it, and ballasting it to sink with the nose down a little...or getting a suspending jerkbait, cut the bill down somewhat, and adding props to both ends. I'd bet that's how the original Spybaits were created.

[reason162]

I wanted to use a baitcaster, so went with the Duo Realis 90 and tried it. What I found was not what I expected from watching YT vids by Matt. The 4 I tried all dropped in a 80 degree nose-down attitude, and fell like a rock. I was expecting it to fall more flat and perhaps 10 degrees nose-down. A 10 second pause put it on the bottom in 30'. Any of you found another spybait that falls slower and more like what I expected?

You've posted this a few times...my question is, why do you care how it falls? 99% of my spybait fish come on the retrieve, and presumably even a bait that falls nose down will swim flat on the retrieve?

[Walkabout7781]

You've posted this a few times...my question is, why do you care how it falls? 99% of my spybait fish come on the retrieve, and presumably even a bait that falls nose down will swim flat on the retrieve?

Fair enough. I was lead to believe that it would have a nice wobble on the drop, and while slowly retrieved, but I can't keep it out of the moss or whatever (not milfoil) we have growing at 30+ feet. I have thought about loading the reel with 12 lb copolymer and trying that, to keep the nose up. May still try that. I have that reel filled with 6 lb Tatsu (Curado SF 5:1), and I'm "thrifty" enough to make just throwing the Tatsu away isn't something I'll rush into, and the 5:1 is barely fast enough to keep the thing off the bottom in less than 30'. I guess I'm just not a fan. I'd rather throw a crankbait, and I rarely do that.

Plus, Spybaiting is sort of like watching paint dry, even compared to DS and Shakyhead. We can't seem to find our SM tending to school up during the months which we fish, roughly March 1 > October 31. I think schooling fish would jump on it a lot better. We don't have Shad, Shiners, Herring or any of the stuff most of y'all do. We have yellow perch, some Crappie, Bluegills, Rock Bass and Sculpins. We don't tend to catch either SM or LM hanging around the perch schools very much. I did see a dead Stickleback floater once, but according to our DF&W, we don't have them here. Do people keep Stickleback's in aquariums? If so, why? They weird and ugly!

Who wants to buy my Duo Spy90? It's "Ghost Minnow". $20 postage paid in the lower 48.

[reason162]

Fair enough. I was lead to believe that it would have a nice wobble on the drop, and while slowly retrieved, but I can't keep it out of the moss or whatever (not milfoil) we have growing at 30+ feet. I have thought about loading the reel with 12 lb copolymer and trying that, to keep the nose up. May still try that. I have that reel filled with 6 lb Tatsu (Curado SF 5:1), and I'm "thrifty" enough to make just throwing the Tatsu away isn't something I'll rush into, and the 5:1 is barely fast enough to keep the thing off the bottom in less than 30'. I guess I'm just not a fan. I'd rather throw a crankbait, and I rarely do that.

I think you'll be much happier throwing the 80 regular and gfix on spinning tackle, which imo is the optimal profile for what the technique is all about. Maybe the 90 is a dud, I don't know...but the 80 is a proven bait that catches bass around the world. The regular 80 sinks almost perfectly flat, the gfix slightly nose down, both have a great shimmy. Regular 80 roughly 1ft per sec on slack 5lb floro; gfix 1.2ft per sec.

K6l1eK2.png

[basscat21]

I think you'll be much happier throwing the 80 regular and gfix on spinning tackle, which imo is the optimal profile for what the technique is all about. Maybe the 90 is a dud, I don't know...but the 80 is a proven bait that catches bass around the world. The regular 80 sinks almost perfectly flat, the gfix slightly nose down, both have a great shimmy. Regular 80 roughly 1ft per sec on slack 5lb floro; gfix 1.2ft per sec.

K6l1eK2.png

90 works well, Thrown on a bait caster, 10# flouro, parabolic rod. 80s on spinning. I did better this year with the 90s, 80s I crushed trout year before did real well with 80s.

[BoatBuggy]

I wanted to use a baitcaster, so went with the Duo Realis 90 and tried it. What I found was not what I expected from watching YT vids by Matt. The 4 I tried all dropped in a 80 degree nose-down attitude, and fell like a rock. I was expecting it to fall more flat and perhaps 10 degrees nose-down. A 10 second pause put it on the bottom in 30'. Any of you found another spybait that falls slower and more like what I expected?

I'm thinking of getting a Smithwick "Devil's Horse", put some good hooks on it, and ballasting it to sink with the nose down a little...or getting a suspending jerkbait, cut the bill down somewhat, and adding props to both ends. I'd bet that's how the original Spybaits were created.

Are you letting it fall on a slack line? I use a baitcaster with 12 lb Sniper for Duo 100's, 90's and 72's have never seen what you are describing on a 90. I use a baitcaster and 10 lb Sniper for the 80 Gfix and 62.

[Walkabout7781]

IIRC, first cast, I let it fall on a slack line for a 10 count and it was on the bottom in 30'. Came up with a wad of moss stuff. I cut the count down...and down some more...and never caught anything but one Rock Bass. Maybe it would work better in Banks Lake. I'll ponder it over the Winter and think about going to 10 or 12 lb test copolymer line. Maybe I'll get lucky and hang it up on a big log or float anchor rope.

I wondered if the one Duo 90 Spinbait was a dud, but three others did the exact same thing....80 degrees nose down, sinking like a stone. They might work ok for trolling, if you're into that. I'm not.

[gary_fritz]

I throw the Duo Realis G-Fix 80, have tried the 80 and 90, prefer the G-Fix though. I throw on a 7'2" St Croix Legend Tournament Small Cranker with a Shimano Curado 71 and 10lb flouro and I really like this combo for the spybaits, have caught a lot on it. I've also watched it drop and it sinks level or close to level with a wobble.

[Walkabout7781]

What's the difference between a G-Fix 80 and a regular 80? I figured it was a fancier finish (if that's even possible).

I'm just about convinced to try the D.R. 90 on 12 lb copolymer and see what happens. I guess the 6 lb Tatsu would be ok for my Ned Rig rod, tho I really don't like the idea of FC on a spinning reel.

[gary_fritz]

For me, the G-Fix 80 is slightly heavier than the 80. I know they are both rated at 3/8oz but if you have both in hand the G-Fix will feel just slightly heavier and when casting you will notice the G-Fix goes further. I feel they sink very similar to each other, the G-Fix 80 might nose down slightly more than the 80 but they both wobble the same going down. Finish is the same, I don't think there is any difference there.

I have a couple Alpha 72's but haven't been deep enough to feel the need for them yet.

[reason162]

The gfix is a gram heavier and for w/e reason that single gram difference makes it casts significantly easier esp into the wind. It stays down deeper on the same retrieve speed as well. It's definitely the more versatile between the 2, esp for smallies that are suspending 15+ft (which is 90% of the time on my waters when the spybait is in play).

The only time I use the regular 80 is fishing less than 10ft shallow grass edges or over grass for LM.

[Walkabout7781]

Thank youse guys for filling in the missing blanks. I can stop whining now!