The Elusive Gizzard Glide by High Powered Swimbaits

Total Score: 8.08 - GREAT

Introduction: Staying on top of hot trends in bass fishing is a never ending battle in sanity. Right when you feel comfortable you've learned a new technique or bait, another three present themselves. The sub-culture within bass fishing, swimbaits, is a microcosm of this example with seemingly harder hitting implications. Catching up to the hottest baits can be a very costly endeavor either in time lost, expenses paid, or more commonly, both. Most of the time, when you've discovered a hot bait worth trying, you just can't get your hands on one, or if you do, the marked up resale prices will bury you. Wait times with the builder, if lists are even taken, can be a few months to years driving the costs of available, used baits even higher. It's pure madness. Yet the satisfaction of landing one of these grail baits, as Zander refers to them, can be almost as satisfying as actually catching a fish. One such bait I landed earlier this year debuted in 2013 as one of the very first shad style glide baits. Here's our look at the elusive High Powered Swimbait's Gizzard Glide.

  A very belated introduction to High Powered Swimbaits's Gizzard Glide.

Impressions: The Gizzard Glide, by High Powered Swimbaits is more commonly referred to as the "HPH". HPH stands for High Powered Herring referring to owner Randall Kirkpatrick's first swimbait product, a four piece herring profiled swimmer that has since been discontinued. Despite the incorrect and mistaken terminology applied to both the Gizzard Glide and Kirkpatrick's company name, HPH has persisted, and in Kirkpatrick's own words, he's basically given up trying to correct everyone.

Most photographs of these baits are not very flattering, but up close and in person reveals a bait that is very refined

His Gizzard Glide came known to me through discussions and topics found while surfing swimbait forums and social media groups. Drifting back and forth between conventional tackle and swimbaits is not the best way to stay up to speed in either category, but it's a necessary evil that comes with trying to keep up with all the latest tackle trends. Baits like the Gizzard Glide easily slip through the cracks but once I caught on to the reverence this bait commands, I had to find a way to get one to try.

While tall and long in profile, this bait is very thin - especially at the back

The used market for these baits is tough. Reasonably priced baits get snatched up in a hurry and unreasonably priced baits take only a count or two longer to disappear. You have to possess a grail bait to trade for another grail, so that option is even more difficult. The best way I found to have a chance at this bait was to reach out to Kirkpatrick through is Facebook Page (Fish Atlanta Guide Service), and get on the waiting list. Word of caution, the wait is long. My order took about eight months to be fulfilled. This is not a bait for those who seek immediate gratification.

Details of the gill folds lead me to believe this bait was molded from an actual gizzard shad

Photos that are available online, to put it mildly, are not the best. In most of these photos, the baits look a little rough with finishes that could best be described as mediocre. When the bait finally arrived and I opened the package, I was shocked. Apparently, this bait must be like a stealth bomber where it's difficult to see just what it looks like and to capture images that accurately represent the craftsmanship. Though obviously cast in a mold with resin, the Gizzard Glide, to channel John Legend, has artistically derived curves and edges with perfect imperfections.

The paint schemes are relatively simple, but also very carefully executed

The paint scheme that looks unrefined and undefined in photographs is actually quite realistic, and that bristly brush fiber tail, so common now in practice, is actually among the softest I've held on a swimbait. Hardware is stout with what looks to be hooks and split rings by Owner. This is quite an impressive little bait.

Ready for action on board my Dead Sword Magnum casting rod by Gan Craft