By now you may have heard a few rumors about Berkley’s new Nessie. It’s a bait I’ve been helping with for a while, and to be honest it’s so distinctive and novel that I cannot recall the last time I was this excited about a new design. Why? It’s one of the first soft glide baits on the market, and that gives it some huge advantages over the competition.
First, let me explain the name. “Nessie” evokes the Loch Ness Monster, and glide baits are known for being bigger than average lures. We have a 9-inch giant, a 7-incher for when bass are feeding on more moderate forage, and a 5-inch model for when you want a finesse presentation. If you’ve been hesitant to get into glide baits because of the expense – some of them can cost a few hundred bucks – this is the perfect entry point. None of the Nessies cost more than $15, and you can throw them all on tackle you probably already have. They easily glide in an “S” motion and you’ll be shocked at how quickly they become your favorite tool.
So what are the advantages of being soft? First, it folds easily. Those hard baits are rigid and don’t move quite as fluidly. Also, when a fish grabs it, they’ll hold on instead of feeling the hard surface and letting it go. The scent helps with that, too. Finally, because it’s soft, you can skip it and fish it easily around cover in a way that’s not possible with hard glide baits.
It also has a paint brush tail molded right into the bait. It looks real and won’t comes out. Additionally it adds a little “crunch” texture so the fish think it’s a true baitfish.he joint is also unique. A true glide has two sections and one joint, and this one is no different. The lure is wider in the back than in the front – that’s so when water hits that section it’ll force it to turn. You can even just reel it steadily and it’ll go left and right. This joint is really high-tech. It’s made of a specialized, tear-proof mesh. It won’t tear when you skip it or after you catch a bunch of fish, and it makes the motion especially smooth.
The hook system is innovative as well. They literally built this thing from the ground up and thought through every aspect of the design. You’ll see that it has a typical thru-wire head design, with two split rings connected by a swivel and holding a super-sharp treble. Nothing really new about that, but Berkley outdid themselves with a special “U” clip in the belly that keeps the hook in place. You can hear it snap when you pop that hook into position, tight to the body, but when a fish bites, the clip releases. That way you’re fighting him on the hook and he doesn’t have the leverage that allows so many bass to escape from hard glides.
Because glide bait fishing is a very visual technique, we wanted to make the lure as natural as possible. It has big, exaggerated eyes, so that when the lure does a 180 and the fish head shots it, they have an obvious target and get hooked every time. They’ve also developed custom hand-painted colors, and eight of the ten options fall under that umbrella. It has the true look of a custom lure at a very reasonable price.
Finally, you can custom weight the Nessie on the fly. There are premarked holes in the nose and tail for a nail weight, and you can also insert one in the belly. Depending on where you put them, and how many, you can fish this lure much deeper than other glides. When you want to go shallow, just pull out the weights and it’ll be an ultra-slow sink version again.
Whether you’re already a big bait enthusiast or just a curious onlooker, the Nessie really needs to be in your boat all the time. It’s an incredible tool for a wide variety of waters, and the perfect entry point to this exciting genre of lures.
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