In this article we want to talk about the best aspects of a slug-like bait, its scope of application, methods of attachment, wiring options, animation and other important fishing points in the equipment, so that fishing with a slug brings a lot of pleasure and a good catch.
Silicone slug tips - general characteristics
Slug (slug) , translated from English sounds like “slug”. Externally, it is a living creature in body shape.
Artificial slug baits belong to the class of passive silicone baits, since they do not have such a nimble tail as, for example, twisters or vibrating tails, which is the main tool for displaying the game activity of the bait.
The slug fishing bait has an elongated body shape, which tapers at the tail. Unlike other silicone baits, the slug does not have independent play. To provoke it, the spinning angler needs to twitch the tip of the tackle or perform one of the many jigs. However, the manufacturers compensated for the lack of their own game with especially soft rubber and attractive smells.
Advantages of silicone bait
What are the advantages of this silicone bait?
- the ability to set the desired game to the silicone bait, if the bait begins to play in the hands of the spinning rod, then this is a special game, different from other types of silicone;
- the ability to perform various types of wiring;
- good range;
- sinks well, which allows the spinner to catch a fishing spot faster, compared to other silicone baits, and also cope with strong currents, since the slug’s sinking speed will not have time to come under its influence;
- the bait is effective in warm water;
- performs well when fishing in snags and thickets, since due to its streamlined design it easily slips through such water obstacles;
- You can easily make a slug from any vibrotail and twister if the tails of these baits were bitten off when biting.
In overgrown areas of the reservoir, the slug imitates a fish well. It is known that fish move in water thanks to their pectoral fins, and the tail remains motionless. The fish begins to move its tail part only when escaping from a predator. The lack of a tail and behavior of the slug allows the fish to judge it as careless and careless prey, which is an excellent reason for swallowing the bait.
The lifestyle of marine fish of the Mediterranean Sea, their character, method of feeding, types of gear and bait suitable for catching wayward inhabitants, interesting videos and amazing facts, you will learn from this section
In this video, see how a slug behaves in water
Read about the lifestyle of freshwater inhabitants of Israeli reservoirs and revealing the secrets of catching them here
Correctly equipping the slug with hooks
Correctly equipping the slug with hooks is a very important point. Firstly, it must preserve the non-hook properties inherent in it as much as possible, and, secondly, at the moment of the bite, the hook hidden in it must have the maximum probability of catching the fish.
Hook equipment
Most often, offset hooks are used for equipment, which are usually equipped with artificial worms , only for the former you need to take the largest hooks. This is due to the fact that its body is significantly larger in size compared to worms, and for high-quality hooking you need a hook whose size is no less than 1/3 greater than the maximum width. Otherwise, the hook will not be able to penetrate the mouth, since it simply will not be able to leave the body of the bait, and the fish will be precariously held only on the tip of the sting. And the installation, similar to that used for equipping a non-snacking foam rubber, when cutting occurs due to the crushing of its soft body, does not work at all in this case.
As a rule, it has a longitudinal recess in the back. If the slug bait is properly equipped, the sting with the barb of the offset hook should come out of the back of the bait right in the center of the notch. As a result of this installation, the hook is practically open for hooking, but at the same time, the edges of the notch reliably protect it from snags. At the moment of the bite, the hook leaves the body of the bait relatively freely, since the body of the bait is pierced by it in advance. When rigging a slug, do not underestimate this nuance, otherwise you will have many empty bites due to the fact that the hook will not be able to penetrate the body enough to perform a reliable hookup, and at best the fish will sit at the very tip of the sting, not reaching even down to the goatee. In some situations, you may need to add a little extra weight to the slug.
Most often this is necessary to increase the casting distance or to carry it out at a greater depth. Naturally, the use of all kinds of sinkers, even the most streamlined ones, placed outside the slug, will lead to inevitable snags on the algae. Therefore, the easiest way to increase the weight of such baits is by introducing small cylindrical weights into the lower part of their body, which can be used as thin lead rods or ordinary nails with bitten off heads. You can also make it heavier by prying the offset hook itself using special removable weights for bait . Typically, weights ranging from 1/14 to 1/2 ounce (2 to 14 g) are used to load them.
What is the most important thing about fishing with a silicone slug?
Important points when using a slug:
- The spinner needs to understand why he needs to use this attachment at the moment.
- Assess the degree of activity of the fish, since slugs only work for this category of prey.
- Determine the water temperature of the reservoir.
- Know the fishing conditions.
- Use the “correct” tackle.
- Based on this information, select the bait of the desired size and shape.
- Make sure to install the tires correctly.
- Give the slug the right pace and game.
Gear requirements
In order for slug fishing to be more effective, you need to choose the right spinning rod. It is clear that a slug is only good if it is played correctly, which is determined by the spinner and his tackle.
What are the requirements for the rod:
- When performing jerky maneuvers, the spinning rod should not fail, but clearly give orders to the silicone bait, so in this case it is recommended to use a spinning rod or casting with a fast action.
- Since the actions of retrieving and animating the slug are quite active, the fishing tackle should be comfortable to use, fit well in the hand, and strong, since the size of the caught prey can be very different and not heavy.
Slugs: description and use of silicone baits
Silicone slug baits, unfortunately, are not as popular as their colleagues, vibrotails and twisters.
It seems that the fishing lure capabilities of slugs are underestimated. First of all, the slug is a super-fast, go-anywhere, high-flying artificial bait. In this article we want to talk about the best aspects of a slug-like bait, its scope of application, methods of attachment, wiring options, animation and other important fishing points in the equipment, so that fishing with a slug brings a lot of pleasure and a good catch.
Attaching a silicone slug bait
Basic methods of installing a slug:
- drop shot;
- Carolina rig;
- diverter leash;
- jig head;
- hinged installation with a collapsible Cheburashka load;
- installation of veki.
Find out how to perform perfect and reliable installation of other silicone baits - here
Basic rules for attaching a slug:
- The silicone bait is attached in the area of the front part of the body, so that the tail element is in a free position;
- If the slug is attached to the offset fish hook, then the offset tip must be hidden in its body.
- To mount the slug, large fishing hooks are used, since its body is larger in size than an ordinary worm and for high-quality hooking it must be one third larger than the width of the body of the bait.
To learn how to choose the right hook, what characteristics of a hook you should pay attention to first, and how to choose a hook for specific fishing conditions, read useful tips
Installation of "Veki"
Of all the above installations, the most popular is the installation of a slug on an offset hook, since in such baits there is a slot along the back to hide the tip of an offset hook. Moreover, this type of fastening does not require additional loading. Of course, it is possible to mount it on an offset machine in tandem with a bullet load or a Cheburashka load. For example, in order to increase the game of the bait, you can fasten the slug on a retractable leash, which is tied to the leash not with a knot, but with a loop, so that the eye of the fishing hook with the slug behaves freely on this type of fastening (for example, you can use a loop "Rapala")
Slugs
Date: February 16, 2015 | 225
After the appearance of the so-called Edible silicone flavored with an attractive attractant for fish has significantly increased the variety of forms of soft baits. One of these forms was slugs. And, at the moment, this type of bait is very popular in microjig, jig-spinning and when fishing with various spaced rigs. So, let's talk about slugs in more detail, consider the features of their shapes and types, how they are mounted, how they are carried out.
A slug is a passive silicone bait. The body of a slug can be an imitation of a fish (like a vibrotail), or it can be similar to a leech, a worm, or a larva. The body can be very slender, narrow, or, on the contrary, quite massive and tall (shad type). One way or another, the characteristic element of the slug is a strongly tapering tail section, topped with a thin movable tail.
The body of the slug can be smooth, decorated with scales, have slight ribbing, or a fairly prominent concentric notch.
Some slugs are very similar in shape to worms. However, they are distinguished by a more noticeable transition in thickness - narrowing towards the tail. A class of bait such as silicone fish can also be included in slugs.
Since slugs are largely designed for use in non-snagging rigs with offset hooks, they are designed with special notches to hide the point of the hook.
In size, slugs can be quite small, usually from 2” to 4-5”. For some sea fishing, larger ones are also used. But, in freshwater bodies of water, the most popular are small slugs, 2-2.5” long, for microjig fishing; and also, medium slugs 3-4” for fishing with a jig or on a lead, drop-shot, etc.
Small slugs are used to successfully catch perch, small pike, pike perch, and also catching a wide variety of peaceful fish is not uncommon. Medium and large slugs are used to catch large perch, pike perch and pike.
Slugs are made of especially soft, flexible silicone so that not only the tail, but the entire body of the bait plays as lively as possible. Almost all slugs are made edible, because... the attractive smell and taste of the attractant goes well with the passive essence of this bait; it must be animated with a spinning rod.
Slugs come in a wide variety of colors. Those that resemble fish are often natural in color: silver, white, pearlescent. Leech-like, they gravitate more towards dark tones. However, these are just trends. Slugs of all forms can be natural, light tones, bright and acidic, as well as dark.
Vivid examples of slug class lures are: Keitech Sexy Impact, Keitech Shad Impact, Keitech Live Impact, Gary Yamamoto Yamaminnow, Jackall iShad, Lucky John Hama Stick, Imakatsu Javastick, Reins Aji Meat, Reins Aji Ringer.
Installation of slugs is carried out in various ways. They often use a swivel rig with a single or offset hook and fish it with slugs just like any other jig. The use of hinged slugs in both microjig and medium weight ranges is popular.
Slugs can be used on an offset hook without front loading. The bait is cast with a light spinning rod thanks only to the weight of the slug itself and the weight of the hook. This setup works great for catching pike and perch in overgrown, relatively shallow places. Sometimes you can use slugs hooked on a jig head with a light weight.
It is very common to use slugs in various spaced rigs, such as a drop shot or a lead leader.
The posting of slugs is carried out by the tip of the spinning rod and can be very diverse. Since there is no game of its own, uniform wiring is not used, or is only a certain phase in the overall animation. Quite aggressive retrieving is often used with spinning blasts and pauses, during which the slug is abruptly pulled to the bottom by a heavy weight. There follows a blow to the bottom, the vibration from which, like an earthquake, is transmitted to the fish over a considerable distance. Then, a pause at the bottom - and a toss again. You can drive the slug in jumps and with less fanaticism and weight of the weight. Wavy wiring, dragging along the bottom and other wiring options are often used. Here you need to experiment, selecting keys to the fish.
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Categories: Edible · Tags: Jig, Microjig, Lures, Silicone, Slugs
What types of leads are used when fishing with slugs?
Slugs love the following types of postings:
- wavy;
- jerk;
- aggressive;
- twitching.
There is no clear strategy and rules for performing wiring, be it classic or wavy. The main thing when choosing a method of playing a slug is to clearly understand that each model of such silicone bait responds to the movements performed by the spinning rod in its own way. So, it’s better to practice in advance and find out the features of the “dance” of each of your baits.
For example, long slugs show excellent play with small and frequent shaking of the tip of the spinning rod, and single (with pauses) jerks are suitable for slugs with a flattened body.
As for hooking, it should be instantaneous with any feeling of a bite due to the casting range of the bait and the lightning-fast dive of the slug, which can provoke an active predator to immediately eat the prey that comes into view.
