Crazy Glide? The Baitsanity Explorer Swimbaits

Total Score: 8.41 - BEST VALUE AWARD

Introduction: There is arguably no more desirable hard-bodied swimbait to big trophy hunters than the custom glide bait. A good glide bait is often the centerpiece in the swimbait aficionado’s arsenal, one that is responsible for many personal bests. What is it that makes these baits so popular among ardent anglers? Is it the tantalizing side to side action, the sight of followers chasing your bait back during retrieves, the swing for the fences mentality, or simply that many of these baits are functional works of art? Add in the cost of investment for some of the best baits and it is enough to drive swimbait anglers a little insane.

One of the newest high end glide baits on the market, meet the Baitsanity Explorer Series

Impressions: Go big or go home! When you are casting big baits for big fish it is important to be throwing a bait that is effective, one that anglers at least believe has the potential to deliver a fish worthy of the effort of casting all day for that worthy fish. There are proven swimbaits that anglers turn to, and names like Roman Made and Deps come to mind, and while these glide baits absolutely do work they are also a serious investment for any angler. As the swimbait market has matured there have been many more introductions, many evolutions, and even some straight up copies of some of the more popular glide baits.

The first Baitsanity glide bait introduced was the Trout Explorer

Baitsanity is a relative newcomer to the game and offers anglers something new and exciting, and yet at the same time a product that feels familiar and less intimidating. The Baitsanity Explorer glide bait is a 9.5” bait that is constructed out of ABS resin and weighs in at 5 ounces, making it quite a substantial bait to both throw and retrieve. The Explorer comes in two patterns today, the traditional rainbow trout and a new carp pattern. These big baits are finished with soft PVC plastic tails and side fins that are designed to enhance both realism and action.
I purchased one of each of the Explorers as soon as they became available from Tackle Warehouse. When I received the baits the first thing I noticed was the wonderful packaging that the baits came in. Each bait was suspended in place in a show quality plastic case. The transparent upper portion of the case was connected to the base via magnets, very slick, and probably the most impressive swimbait packaging that I have seen to date.

Check out the original packaging

Once I cracked open the Baitsanity Explorer's display box/packaging I took a closer look at the two baits. While both the trout and carp versions feature the same profile the finish on the baits is very different, and don’t really look like they are even from the same family.

This packaging is more like a display case

The Trout Explorer has a more custom air-brushed finish that is simple and somewhat underwhelming, and certainly not very realistic looking. The Carp Explorer in the other hand has a more transfer like glossy finish that looks more realistic, but also feels more mass produced than custom. In general I found the finish on the baits to be decent but nothing that really set the lures apart from the sea of glide baits out there.

In terms of form factor the baits do feature a distinctive head design, which features an upturned chin that gives the bait a different look. This is further accentuated by the shape of the fish’s mouth which to me looked more defiant than many other traditional swimbaits. This bait looks like it doesn’t care what anyone thinks, and that it’s here to play.

The Carp Explorer features a more photo realistic finish while the Trout Explorer looks like a airbrush style custom bait

Real World Tests: Testing swimbaits requires a lot of casting, and that is a very good thing if you are a big bait fan and you have a rod capable of catapulting these heavy lures. Throughout testing I primarily employed the new Savage Gear Browser swimbait rod and the Megabass Destroyer Onager, both of which proved to be more than enough power to handle swimbaits in the 5oz. class.

Time to see just what the Baitsanity Explorer is all about

I’ve lost too many big baits to line breaks, and some of which were expensive or rare enough that I had trouble sleeping at night. Due to this the majority of my big bait testing is all done with a braided main line, and usually with a fluorocarbon leader. In the case of the Baitsanity glide baits I either used Daiwa J-Braid or Sunline FX2 as the main line, both of which have become some of my go to superlines for not only swimbait testing but my personal big bait pursuits.

A big bait class rod is key to casting this 5oz. bait all day

Casting: You absolutely need a beefy rod to fish the Baitsanity swimbaits, otherwise this bait is going to be a chore to fish. With the right rod, one with plenty of backbone, the Baitsanity can be launched a very good distance. The bait casts nicely and I was able to bomb it pretty much as far as I was willing to muscle into each cast. Splashdowns are violent and awesome.

The Baitsanity gets a lot of followers and strike to catch ratio is pretty good on this glide bait