Operation: Most big bait anglers are very familiar with the glide bait class of swimbaits, and each of us have a preferred retrieve that ranges from slow rolling, to popping, to burning baits when fish are in pursuit mode. I quickly found that the Baitsanity Antidote was best suited for the aforementioned first two retrieve techniques, as very aggressive retrieves brings the bait to the surface too quickly. This bait looks the most realistic when it is patiently retrieved, paused, and when popped with the tip of your rod with arc around in a half circle turn.

A look at the head section. Notice how slender the lure is overall

Though I did log more strikes per day, two to three, on most days than the much larger Explorer I found that strikes were aggressive and often times explosive. With the Explorer and larger Deps 250 Slide Swimmers I would get a lot of followers. Often times I wouldn’t even see the fish that struck the Antidote, or just a split second before in very clear water. The smaller profile makes this more of a bait that fish seem to want to engulf, rather than just test.

In warmer months I was able to draw strikes close to the surface

One thing that I really liked about the Antidote was just how easy it was to fish. Fishing larger and heavier baits always takes a lot out of my arms and sometimes my back. The Antidote weighs in at only 2.7oz. and can be fished with light swimbait rods, frog rods, and even some conventional pitching sticks.

I found the Antidote most effective when fished slow (the kind of “slow” where you have to remind yourself constantly to keep that crank slow and steady), except for when targeting stripers, which didn’t seem to mind a fast moving bait waking just below the surface. For this reason when fishing this bait I gravitated towards slower power cranking reels to help manage my retrieve speeds.

I found that this bait is most effective when fished slowly and letting the glide presentation do the work

While I was able to catch fish on the Antidote using braided line in the Summer when they were aggressively feeding I was able to draw more strikes with the stealthier presentation of tying on a long fluorocarbon leader or straight fluorocarbon line, both of which aided the bait in getting down to target depth more rapidly.

In cooler temps I slowed down the presentation and made sure to use a fluorocarbon leader for stealthier presentations and to get down a little quicker. I would love to see a faster sinking model

This would be my recommendation in just about all situations, except when using the bait to specifically target stripers. I learned that lesson the hard way when a Striper not only snapped me off but also marked the last time I saw the bread patterned Antidote. As bad as I feel leaving that lure on that fish the only positive is knowing that I didn’t lose a hundred dollar lure in the process. With a retail price of $24.99 the Antidote is not nearly as painful on the wallet, and most angles are going to be much more likely to tie it on and put it in harm’s way.

Since we first reviewed the Explorer the company has introduced a new Gen 2 version with more highly detailed airbrushed finishes 

Price & Applications: Of all the patterns the trout pattern performed the best across most lakes, followed by the bread pattern in lakes where there was resident baitfish and sunfish forage. I just received the craw pattern on the very tail end of our tests and it may be a good pattern for the Delta, where red has always been a go to color. While the craw pattern is more of a controversial choice, and likely to me a more niche pattern, it is nice to see that Baitsanity is willing to take some risks in an effort to differentiate their selection.

With their second offering Baitsanity now has a more complete portfolio, and anglers can pick their poison, go big or go home with the Explorer, or try and draw a few more strikes with the cost effective Antidote. 

The Gen 2 now has an improved locking tail design that is more secure and enables anglers to switch out tails with ease. Baitsainity is even working on new paddletails that will give the the baits even more water displacing action and enable them to swim even more erratically