Overview
Designed in collaboration with Elite Series angler Mike Iaconelli, the Berkley Powerbait Nessie Soft Glide Bait is an innovative soft-bodied glide bait built with a reinforced mesh joint that provides durability while allowing for free range of motion. Fitted with a brush-style tail to mimic the natural movement of baitfish, the Nessie Soft Glide Bait has a slow-sinking rate-of-fall, upright horizontal posture, and stabilizing belly fins to encourage consistent S-shaped swim action. Featuring a patent-pending hook retention clip to keep the treble hook secured to the body, each glide bait is armed with a razor-sharp Berkley Fusion19 treble hook to deliver rapid hook penetration and ensure your success with large predators.
Infused with Berkley's famous Powerbait formula, the exclusive scent is integrated directly into the plastic to make fish bite, hold on 18x longer, and give you more time to deliver a confident hookset. Taking an advanced technique and opening the doors for entry-level anglers, the Berkley Powerbait Nessie simultaneously unlocks new uses for experienced glide bait anglers with its unique ability to be skipped under docks and overhanging cover. Available in a variety of custom-painted forage-matching color patterns, the Berkley Powerbait Nessie Soft Glide Bait allows anglers to confidently cast into tight spaces where traditional glide baits have been previously unable to reach.
| Length | Weight | Class |
| 5" | 2/5oz | Slow-Sinking |
| 7" | 1oz | Slow-Sinking |
| 9" | 2oz | Slow-Sinking |
| 11" | 4.25oz | Slow-Sinking |
Awards
ICAST 2023 Best of Show - Freshwater Soft Lure
Pros Using This Product
Videos
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Customer Reviews
DONT BUY THE 5 INCH VERSIONThe action sucks but I guess you kind of get what you pay for.
Out of package dud.I would expect better out of package.
That being said… I use additional weight and a loop knot. Those two mods make the bait perform well. Hope the chop block does better.
I hate Berkley but this bait is fireSure you could spend $$$ on the Original but it's not as good imo and this thing just gets slayed!!! The people that are giving it bad reviews do not know how to use this bait and or are inexperienced anglers. This bait does exactly what it is supposed to do slow sink, amazing action if you know how to actually fish it, semi durable but not meant to last forever hence the price... When the conditions are right it catches so many giants it's not even funny. I have a pile of these as it is such a good bate and the 3 star average rating on here is BS.
Awesome!A super fun bait with awesome strikes, I really like the 5" Burnt Bone for river smallies and even lake largemouth. The action is great with super minor twitches and even reeling it straight in. I have found the best luck with fast chops. My only issue is the hookup ratio. Like the other reviews, I would suggest waiting a second before setting the hook. I have had no issues with durability besides the eyes, which I just superglued back on before they fully fall off, and have had no issues since.
Would not buy againIf you want to try a glide and you dont want to spend a lot of money on one this is the bait for you. It gives some idea into what fishing with real big glides is like. Asides that its not durable and the action is lacking, also the sinkrate is far too slow to where its annoying.
Works good but not durableWorks well i caught my pb largie and had my best day of fishing with it but after that day it was done the eyes fell out and it started to bend and rip.
ONE FISH AND DONECaught one fish both time I bought this lure ripped while unhooking. Doesnt swim straight after into the trash.
casts terribleThe 5 inch helicopters in the air when casted with a med light spinning rod. Does not cast far either.
Good concept, poor executionThis bait has decent chop action but Berkley really missed the mark by not having some sort of soft tail that isn’t black that adds more secondary action. Not to mention the hitch color is terrible. Did they even look at a hitch before they painted this? This bait still catches fish but it could be way better.
It will workIt works…. Is it the best? No it’s an $11-$20 soft body glide bait.. the key is subtle reel turns. You have to practice and really tune in on how to fish it but it works. The key to this bait is similar to fishing a frog you just have to let them eat it before you set the hook. I’ll buy more and continue to tinker to make it better. But I enjoy it like it is out of the package.
excellent baitcaught a 4.27 pound smallie on it, and many low threes all in around 3 hours, multi species bait and very fun to throw on light tackle.
Worst hookup ratio I’ve ever seenWhen this bait came out I was excited for a faster herring profile bait, and that’s exactly what I got. This bait has amazing action, with some reel twitches I can get the bait to almost turn 180. But almost every single fish that bites it doesn’t get the hook. No matter what hook I use I can’t hook up to fish. I had one day alone where I got 37 bites from fish up to 5 pounds and only hooked 3. I would only recommend this bait if you like not catching fish.
affordable, durable, more of a swimbaitTried the 7 and 9 inch in most colors. have done very well on 9" hickory shad in december on a dark rainy day, when bass were busting on shad. multiple 2lbs largemouth and two over 5lbs. Even landed some bowfin up to 10lbs all on the same bait. have had the most succes slowly reeling.
Solid 4 starsIt’s a budget friendly glide with good action. You can’t expect to get a $100 bait for a tenth of the price. First time out, it took a few retrieves to get a feel for it. I had to mess with my retrieve some to get it to swim like I wanted. First fish was a 5.1lb bass and it handled it like a champ! Only downfall was that it lost one of its stick on eyes. If it wasn’t for that, 5 stars all day. I’ll be picking up more.
Its great!It's a knockoff. That sucks. However, it does act completely differently and this and the OG both have their time and place. I only throw this in the largest size. You can be more aggressive with it. It comes through stickups, reeds etc relatively nicely and if you get snagged pull hard as it's a cheap bait. My first fish on it wasn't a giant. Only 3lbs or so. I threw it on an ALX Powerbolt with 20lb fluoro and Daiwa 200. Worked great. You can use rod tip to work "in place" chop, chop with burn cranks, go slow and let it get deeper. It's very versatile.
People hate because it's not the og but very few baits are nowadays. Also the og heavily controls availability to create demand wherein this is readily available 24/7. This bait will put more and bigger fish in the boat for you if you learn how and WHEN to use it.
2/5It’s alright not the best but I did catch a 4 pounder on it.
Overrated wouldn’t buy againSo it’s good on a straight retrieve but I try gliding it and wouldn’t glide the right way. I’ll definitely stick to a savage gear shine glide.
Read Review!!I give it a solid 4/10. Definitely wouldn’t buy another but if I was stranded on an island I’d use it to try to catch a meal. Doesn’t glide like I thought it would.
StiffStiff with no flow. Has no flow and looks stiff in the water. Buy a bucca shad.
Nessie has incredible actionNot sure what all the fuss is about…. When fished correctly, the Nessie has incredible action… ( 7”-9” why even buy a 5” swim bait? ). I throw mine on a 7:1 reel spooled with 12lb Izorline xxx Copolymer. Zero rod action, all reel! Folks throwing a 5” with 15,17, 20lbs line… what do you expect? Bait only weighs an ounce! Also, use your favorite 7’3”-7’11” cranking rod and you won’t lose fish! This bait is absolutely awesome, with incredible action, casts a mile, and does catch fish!
Not impressed and worth the money ;(My 7 inch does not glide, it sinks sideways. On a slow and steady even retrieve, it just doesnt glide. Knock off of other true glide bait. But this one: its a dud!
Very but some flawsI got this lure in the 7 inch trout color. At first I was scared to throw it but I finally did this weekend and had 16 follows and 3 hook ups but only got one fish because of some stupid mistakes I made. But all the fish were pretty good ones. My overall synopsis is it’s pretty good just a poor hook up ratio.
Insane for the priceHaven’t tried the smaller ones but the 7” and 9” ones work insanely well especially at the price point they’re at. I’m not the best glide fisherman but I’ve had no problem getting fish to commit to this whatsoever. Hookup ratio isn’t the best but that’s the sacrifice of having a glide with hooks that concealed. Ige had the best luck with faster twitches almost walking it under the water.
No luck yet.These were advertised as some beginner friendly entry soft glide but IMO they take a lot of getting used to. I got a couple of the 7s, I do like the action of them out of the box you can burn it and have it kick out a little on a pause and you can get it to walk with very subtle twitches of your rod tip. Still haven't figured out how or if you can get this bait to chop. The only thing I don't like is how high it likes to ride just under the surface. I've seen a few followers but none committed yet. I practically tore one of mine up trying to figure out the best place to put 1/16 nail weights but mend it helped keep it together. I still couldn't figure out the best place for a nail weight. The nail weights changed how it reacted a lot, instead of walking, the bait wanted to flutter around and sometimes turning upside down.
It worksFirst 2 cast I got a smallmouth on the 5” gold. Blew the eyes right off the lure, didn’t really like that, that’s why only a 4 star. Caught a new largemouth also on the 5”
WorthlessAbsolutely zero action on the 5 inch all hype. For the price it’s a total waste of money I’d give the 7 and 9 inch a try to see if it’s better but not wasting money on a hope a u tube hype and bull rip off bait
Great BaitI got the 7 inch in Albino and it’s awesome, if you want it to sink a little faster put nail weights in from the bottom and make sure they go in straight dead center also for everyone having hook up problems take a piece of 50 to 65 lb braid and run a trailer treble to the lower half of the body just tie it to the existing swivel and leave room so it doesn’t impede the action, just wanted to put that out there to help!
saw it on shelf , at tackle shop lake fork .best buy ever. saved a weeks fishing trip. 7 inch blue, you wont be disappointed.
Great actionI bought three of the 7 inch Nessie glide baits in small tackle shop in Kentucky. I talked to the owner of the store about this particular bait for 10 or so minutes. He told me that for the money they are amazing baits and that they work well during pre spawn and spawn. When I got home, I paired this lure with my Shimano SLX XT 8:3:1 reel and my 7'3 Dobyns Fury Mag Heavy rod and I absolutely love it. I went out and started working on various retrieves and found one that worked for me.
I ended up catching two fish on this glide bait and let me tell you, for a late winter day, those fish hammered that bait. I've seen a lot of people talk about the poor hook up ratio, but what I did was let the fish swim with it before setting the hook.
The only issue I have with the Nessie is that it hardly sinks fast enough. I plan on throwing some nail weights in one to see if that helps improve the depth, but also the movement of the bait in the water.
Cool Bait but FlawedPurchased the 9” & 7”. I was excited to field test both baits. I was expecting a soft bodied jointed bait with a wide glide on retrieve. However, this bait is more of a tight action on straight retrieve and very erratic on a jerk/pause. I get the best action on a slow retrieve. The biggest flaw is hook up. I’ve felt big bumps, boils on the bait but no hook up. For some reason this bait just doesn’t hook the fish. It’s baffling. Otherwise I recommend, just might have to modify it further out of the box.
The 5 inch is fine and the action is thereOkay I saw a review on the 5 inch not having any action it has a ton! With the proper line and set up it should perform just as advertised. I use it on my BFS setup light power fast action 8lbs fluorocarbon. On a straight retrieve it moved erratic and was consistent. Give it a try with the proper set up on most baits they will perform as advertised.
Poor hookup ratioGreat action on the 9inch and it gets bit, however the hard plastic fins in the front seem to get in the way of actually hooking fish. I went 7 misses to two fish hooked last outing. I had fish crush it, miss the hooks and then bite and miss the hooks again. I think if the fins weren't hard plastic this bait would be a 5/5. I still recommend it since it swims great and gets the attention of fish.
Forget the 5” modelI have to agree with the others, the 5” model does not swim that well and can only be fished like a slow fluke. The 7” and 9” models appear to be better but fighting the fish with just the treble hook below appears to be tricky. Options for a top stinger hook might improve hookup ratios.
Incredible Drawing PowerThe 9" Nessie Trout glide is the first truly big bait I've ever owned. First day fishing it I caught 7 fish in an hour. None of them were under 2 lbs and big fish was 6 lbs. Needless to say, I'm hooked on the glide bait!
Great Soft Glide Bait!!The Nessie gets bit! I love how you can almost walk the bait in place, the action is so enticing and bass absolutely annihilate this thing! The 9” has a great S action, the 7” looks great when chopping the handle. The 5” requires more subtle twitches but is the perfect size for pond bass. Can’t beat the price either!!
great innovation + actionI have all three sizes and they all have fantastic action on straight retrieve and (especially) when "chopping". I absolutely love the innovative hook attachment - tucked under belly - so it NEVER snags the line! Very important for a bait that easily does 180 turns.
No ActionBought 5 inch and no action at all when reeled in. Tried every way possible to get it to glide but not success.
No action at all - do not buy the 5" modelI'm hoping this only applies to the 5" model due to its short size, but the one I tried had zero action whatsoever. Before tying it on I watched a few YouTube videos of people using it, and it is supposed to have a gentle, enticing "s" motion when retrieved slowly. It even zig-zags when retrieved at a high speed. My bait did neither of those two things - when I reeled it in it just tracked back in a straight line, with no side to side action at all.
