View Full Version : Slug-Go Soft lure, Cheap as Chips!
PanamaJack
24-10-2006, 10:24
Given the ease of buying tackle overseas this may be of interest to some of you.
I've just returned from a 'State-side fishing holiday, part of which was at Montauk on the tip of Long Island. The holiday, in mid-October is when, right in on the lighthouse point, the famed ‘blitzes’ occur. These are enormous surface aggregations of Striped Bass (similarly but larger than our Bass), Bluefish and False Albacore (Little Tunny) gather, prior to migrating south with the cooling water, to rip through the shoals of hapless Bay Anchovy fry.
Apart from the fish though, everyone else gets in on the act. There’re anglers fishing just out from the breakers in small boats using light spin or fly gear competing with surf anglers hurling out huge plugs. And there was also, in this melee, a lone kayak angler. Of course while this is all going on there’re the tourists gathered on the Point viewing this impressive spectacle.
One soft lure we found particularly effective, and I suspect will undoubtedly work in the UK, was something called a Slug-Go. We probably got most hook-ups on the pink ‘Bubble Gum’ and, in their various sizes, they were effective for all of those species.
Whilst not as easy as on-line ordering you can contact the manufacturers through their web site - http://www.lunkercity.com/ (http://www.lunkercity.com/.). Also, supplementing tips on that site, there's an article here that describes how to fish them - http://www.connecticutsurfcasters.com/articles/articles_links/sluggoart.html
Dave
TomBettle
24-10-2006, 11:07
Hi Dave
I haven't tied them yet as they look "boring", but maybe your success will spur me into giving them a go.
They are readily available from Rok-Max http://www.rokmax.com or 01872 864422.
I am sure you are familiar with Rok Max, but for those that aren't they are a Cornwall based supplier of Big Game fishing tackle and general light tackle sport fishing gear. Run by husband and wife, Paul and Pat Bowers I find them as good as any of the larger mail order companies, but with an extremely refreshing small company level of service.
Slug-go's and other Lunker City baits are available from them and can be seen on page 45 of their paper catalogue. It doesn't look like they do the "Bubble Gum" colour, but they have a "Rainbow Trout" colour which has a lot of pink in the belly and a darker top side.
Tom
PS: I have nothing to do with Rok-Max, apart from they know my credit card number off the top of their heads.
PanamaJack
24-10-2006, 11:28
Thanks for pointing that out Tom, it's certainly an easier alternative than getting them from the 'States.
As to the lures those mid-way indentations give them a very life-like action and, on the 'worm' hooks they are virtually weedless. I guess that would certainly help if you're shore fishing for Bass through weedy gulleys.
For the Striped Bass they use really large ones which, presumably, mimic eels - one of their favourite natural baits for the 'biggies'. But in profile I suspect they simulate many of our prey species.
After Montauk we fished down in North Carolina for 'puppy' (sub 3 year old) Red Drum in shallow areas that can best be described as flooded grass lands. It's amazing how weedless flies can work in those conditions. We were also, in slightly deeper water in reed beds, 'firing' out weedless spoons and soft 'worms'. We got several explosive strikes from hunting fish in that really dense cover, but unfortunately no hook-ups. But patently an effective method APART from when the lure was out of the water 'climbing' over broken reed stems!
Best wishes
Dave
Tom,
Your missing out dude. There is someone you probably know who uses them with very good effect. Their action is incredible and if used with worm hooks they are weedless!
Top tip: Mann's hardnosed jerkbaits ;)
Flyguy
TomBettle
24-10-2006, 14:53
Tom,
Your missing out dude. There is someone you probably know who uses them with very good effect. Their action is incredible and if used with worm hooks they are weedless!
Top tip: Mann's hardnosed jerkbaits ;)
Flyguy
....Give me a clue, comon please... I've been working too long without a proper holiday and need some help here...
Certainly willing to hand over my credit card to Rok-Max one more time, but I'd like to know who it is I know that is currently using them.....
Drives a centre-console, plug fishes mainly, member of PBSBAC.
Can't say any more.
steve pitts
25-07-2008, 19:43
Now also available from www.basslures.co.uk
Cheers
Steve
Graham Hill
25-07-2008, 19:49
Now also available from www.basslures.co.uk
Cheers
Steve
hi guys,,
padge is our soft bait guy in ireland ,i know he has had a lot of fish on these soft plastics,,Henry Gilbey brought a box full over recently and pat did the buisness on them too!!:1a::1a:
gee
Yorkshire Boy
25-07-2008, 21:35
The Slug-go is one of my brother in-laws go to lures, Fin-S-Fish are quite similar and he has a few of those as well.
They're great when there's weed around because they don't pick up any and won't lose their action.
They don't cast far but then again they cast far enough.
Just my 2 pence.
YB.
Find these a well effective lure for bass! had a fish follow me twice the other night on a shallow lure then up the six inch version texposer rig in blue and bam the fish hit it! just check the action in the water these lures have to be successfull.. Funny you mention the buble gum, it's one |I really like the look of. Have had great success with pink shallow lures before it just seems to be a really effective colour, I went through a period of fishing really natural colours but with teh pklastics im not so sure... Lunker city offer a verity of sizes I prefer the six and seven and a half inch, think the nine are a bit big... What was really interesting was fishing a local estuery recently with no one else catching i had interest from six fish, hooked none of them but still it sets you thinking all sorts of lures got chucked at them that night and the only one to budge fish was the slug go.. Will be fishing these quite a bit over the summer so ill keep ye posted!!! There is also lots of other really cool soft plastic stuff out there that is killer... 100,000 french can't be wrong.....
The Slug-go is one of my brother in-laws go to lures, Fin-S-Fish are quite similar and he has a few of those as well.
They're great when there's weed around because they don't pick up any and won't lose their action.
They don't cast far but then again they cast far enough.
Just my 2 pence.
YB.
That depends on how you tie them. If you use a lure clip then significant bits of weed caught on the clip stops the action.
steve pitts
26-07-2008, 08:02
I've never really given plastics a good go, so thought I'd order some 71/2 inchers from basslures, along with the rigging hooks. Cost me £12.00 all in, so no more expensive than a decent plug for 5 of each.
I've heard that the stripers go mad for them from NY to Montauk, so they must be worth a shot.
I'll let you know how I get on.
Cheers
Steve
onefootonshore
26-07-2008, 15:35
I've never really given plastics a good go, so thought I'd order some 71/2 inchers from basslures, along with the rigging hooks. Cost me £12.00 all in, so no more expensive than a decent plug for 5 of each.
I've heard that the stripers go mad for them from NY to Montauk, so they must be worth a shot.
I'll let you know how I get on.
Cheers
Steve
Steve basslures are a massive rip off, rokmax in truro are half the price or even cheaper buy them from the states.
Happyguy73
26-07-2008, 16:11
I have about 70 packs of slug-go,Zoom,berkely and other variants upstairs in a box but havent got around to trying them yet...........still stuck in my ways lol
But I looked on youtube at the actions and they look wicked :thumbs:
Might give them a go if I get out tomorrow
IvybridgeAlan
26-07-2008, 20:41
Hi could you tell me if you have to use any lead with the slug go lures please. Thanks. Alan
Happyguy73
26-07-2008, 21:00
Hi could you tell me if you have to use any lead with the slug go lures please. Thanks. Alan
HI Mate,
Take a look at this thread and it goes many of the various set ups you can use for fishing them:
http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102535
The slug go is an awesome Bass bait, there is no question about this, if you are not catching on it then I would suggest that there are no fish there. It is one of my favourite sift plastics not number one but getting there!
bob lunker
29-07-2008, 19:08
Slug-go's are an awesome bait and superb in weedy shallow areas.
Their action is superb and mimicks an injured fish.
I've had loads of bass on the 7.5" and 9" size.
Onefootonshore is talking nonsense though - Rok-max only have the
4.5" version and they are naturally cheaper! Try casting those smaller ones far though?
The 7.5" ones are £5.99 for a pack of 5 and pretty competitive I'd say.
The hooks are a further £2.99 so for less than £9 you get five lures and hooks -you don't loose any because they're weedless! they may break on a good fish but I think thats a fair price to pay.
You can also get the 9" ones which are very good too.
Henry Gilbey was pretty complimentary about them and Basslures on his blog;
http://henry-gilbey.blogspot.com/2008/07/thank-you-paul.html
We are years behind the Yanks and the Japanese and good on Basslures for getting into the innovative new stuff!
onefootonshore
29-07-2008, 21:19
Onefootonshore is talking nonsense though - Rok-max only have the
4.5"
Rokmax sell the 6 inch version http://www.rokmax.com/product.php?prodid=426&name=Lunker+City+6%22+%28152mm%29+Slug-Go
They are the best size for bass and far more versatile with a better hook up ratio. You also can put them on a jighead and catch wrasse, pollack and and bass too from deeper water
Alternatively try any American site willing to ship at a decent price they wont charge more than $4 a pack for 6 inch sluggos so there's no need to get gouged. I bought 10 mixed packs of 6, 7.5 and 4.5 inch sluggos plus delivery for about £23 from the US.
By the way I caught my pb gar on a 4.5 inch arkansas shiner sluggo!
Incidentally I would be interested to know what relationship you have with basslures bob lunker? Seems you post about them a lot. http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/search.php?searchid=1020744
AlderneyBassman
30-07-2008, 08:33
Rokmax sell the 6 inch version http://www.rokmax.com/product.php?prodid=426&name=Lunker+City+6%22+%28152mm%29+Slug-Go
They are the best size for bass and far more versatile with a better hook up ratio. You also can put them on a jighead and catch wrasse, pollack and and bass too from deeper water
Alternatively try any American site willing to ship at a decent price they wont charge more than $4 a pack for 6 inch sluggos so there's no need to get gouged. I bought 10 mixed packs of 6, 7.5 and 4.5 inch sluggos plus delivery for about £23 from the US.
By the way I caught my pb gar on a 4.5 inch arkansas shiner sluggo!
Incidentally I would be interested to know what relationship you have with basslures bob lunker? Seems you post about them a lot. http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/search.php?searchid=1020744
Which one of the 4 colours that Rokmax stock do you recommend for bass?
I like the look of the arkansas shiner but they don't list that one.
And basslures, although expensive are out of stock of all the sandeel like colours.
I'd love to give them a go but can't decide on the colour!
Nick Phillips
30-07-2008, 09:40
Have seen these soft plastics on the site,they look great.
I have hundreds of wiggley rubber lures but for some reason never really used them much etc.
I think I will order some of the 7" ones with the hooks.
What colours should I get ?
Nick.
Henry Gilbey
30-07-2008, 10:26
I have spent a bit of time recently with the guys behind Bass Lures, and they are a thoroughly decent bunch of people with bass on the brain - kind of like all of us here !!
I really admire the fact that they are getting involved in it all, and I wish them all success - I reckon they have got their pricing spot on with the Slug-Go and the Lucky Craft lures that they now deal with, and I know how many bass anglers are starting to rave about the Slug-Go lures, including our very own Padge right here. We are so far behind the French bass anglers and their skills with soft plastics.
From a personal point of view, I am on the biggest and steepest learning curve right now that I have ever been on in fishing, and I am loving it.
We all know how well Lucky Craft lures slay bass. Still the biggest shore bass I have ever seen landed was by Andrew Syvret over in Jersey, on a Lucky Craft Sammy - full credit to the man, I had never even heard of or seen a lure like it when we first fished together.
I do not work with Bass Lures, I have no commercial deal with them, I simply admire people who go for it in fishing in a way that I respect.
See them here http://www.basslures.co.uk/
mrfishjersey
30-07-2008, 10:38
We are all learning all the time, its brilliant, new lures and new ideas are what stops it all becoming a bit boring to me. Getting your hands on a new style of lure and working out how to use it is what its all about. Sometimes I am in shops on holiday or on line shopping I will see a lure that looks interesting and I can see a situation where it will come into its own. You guys that are trying all these lures and softies and sussing them out are leading the way in the UK, pioneers of the coast. Yes some of these lures have been around a while but mainstream they havnt. Good luck indeed to Basslures and all the other small companies that love their bass fishing, its a niche market and a gamble for any businessman, but if lure fishing rules your head you wont listen to your bank managers comments, after all he isnt a dirty plugger.
Happyguy73
30-07-2008, 10:42
Guys with the larger 9" Slug-gos, is anyone tandem hooking them? Or is there a need?
Ive only started fishing them recently but the action looks amazing! My biggest problem is having more faith in them! All will change when I get a fish on them :)
The Ice Shad colour looks like it could be a deadly one at dusk and into the night!
Nick Phillips
30-07-2008, 11:13
I saw a film on the web someware of these lures in action and decided within a split second that 'I have to have one'.
Lure fishing is extreamly addictive and when I see something that I like the look of I get that tingeling feeling up my spine that says GET ONE.
Of course this is great for the tackle dealers etc,but I love trying new stuff.
Since joining this wonderful forum I have discovered the incredable Tenryu 270 and bought it without even seeing one in the flesh etc.
Still can't spell though.
Nick.
onefootonshore
30-07-2008, 13:45
Just a word of warning regarding the lunker city hooks that come with the sluggo they are awful! Very easy to bend, I had a fish open the eye of the hook on me! Its the only hook that has ever done that to me, the points are also very soft. I would recommend Owner or Gamakatsu EWG Superline hooks, 6/0 for the 6 inch sluggos they are far superior.
here is the thing I think there was a question about colour of plastics etc.. I have fished a variety of soft plastics to great effect this summer, the 72cm bass in the challange was taken on a small soft plastic bait fished on a mother led head! As for colour you would tend to look at ice shads and arkansaw shiners and think that they are the most successful but im not convinced, there is a neon pink called bubblegum that I think will fish its socks off! Don't limit your self to the slug go there is so much jap and american stuff out there that is really worth looking at.. The other thing with plastics is you have to fish them I find keeping the rod tip high with lots of twitching makes these versatile lures do the business..:victory: they are the furture I love them can't honest to god say enough good stuff about them! As for fishing them at night or dusk your best bet is the black one as this creates a sillouet the fish can pick out! Also worth looking at are the insert weights that can be bought, I have rigged a couple of the six inch versions and find them deadly, I personaly feel the nine inch is over kill for irish bass expect maybe in late autum when big launce etc are about! :shutup:
the 72cm bass in the challange was taken on a small soft plastic bait fished on a mother led head!
Mick...check the rules, thought it was a plugging challenge....tee hee :wacko: :laugh: only joking. Spindle Worm by any chance?
AlderneyBassman
31-07-2008, 09:44
I have fished a variety of soft plastics to great effect this summer, the 72cm bass in the challange was taken on a small soft plastic bait fished on a mother led head!
Did I read that right?????
Explain please!
"The way I see it is it must be a plastic or balsa plug, with a diving vane for divers or if its a surface lure its deffo a plug such as poppers and walkers."...from MrFish in the original thread. Doh!!!
:oops: Go on ban me from the forum :doh:
Streamdance
04-08-2008, 22:02
Just a word of warning regarding the lunker city hooks that come with the sluggo they are awful! Very easy to bend, I had a fish open the eye of the hook on me! Its the only hook that has ever done that to me, the points are also very soft. I would recommend Owner or Gamakatsu EWG Superline hooks, 6/0 for the 6 inch sluggos they are far superior.
Thanks for the information!
Did you use standard offset hook oder Texposer hooks from Lunker City?
http://lunkercity.com/hooksize.html
Are you sure with the hook size ( 6/0 for 6" Slug-Go)?
Lunker City recommends a size 4/0 hook for that lure.
It will work with 6/0 but will not have the best possible action.
Lads some crack only on the inter net! It's a soft plastic LURE:whistling
AlderneyBassman
07-08-2008, 13:21
Veals have got some 71/2" slug-go's in good colours now.
Not cheap, but I don't care!
Got some coming at last. Gave me an excuse to stock up on hooks for winter baitfishing too.
Guys I buy direct from lunker city and they are cheap as chips, these lures don't last forever a big fish will give them a bit of a hammering so if ye pay top dollar ye tend not to fish them hard! I put these baits where ye would'nt dream of casting you new fancy plugs for that very reason! I found lunker city to be really helpful and ye just give them a ring with your card details....:clap2:
Bassorama
08-08-2008, 12:52
I am sitting here right now with a texposer 5 in one hand, a slug 'n' go in the other and reading the instructions on how to attach the hook.
Now, I know I'm not thick, new to fishing and I may have a hang over, but I'm miffed as to how to do it!
Do you just feed the slug and go on to the hook (obviously eye part of the hook first) like you would with a rag worm?
Check out this PDF:
http://www.basslures.co.uk/pdf/rigging_demo.pdf
I followed this and it seemed fairly easy.
Bassorama
08-08-2008, 13:40
Excellent. Nice one Joe.
plasticman
13-08-2008, 13:22
1st post here so hi all..
Ive been fishing slugs in Ireland for a few seasons now in the 6",7.5" and 9" sizes and I have to say I`ve found them great. The 7.5 is the best balance between casting weight and size for decent hookups but no doubt about it the 9" nails the better fish, best fish so far on one is a 75cm/9lb 12oz Bass. They are also very tuneable with nail weights, you can make them do all sorts of things in the water
As has been said before they excell in shallow snaggy water, currents/rips and the big foamy swells we get round the edges of our marks here. They have become my goto lures for so many marks now alongside a few other choice plastics I use. I have seen these lures outfish the traditional style Bass lures/plugs on many occasions, the knack is sussing how to fish em and getting the confidence up :fish::fish:
Cheers, M.
Do these have to separated from everything else in your lure box or will they dissolve everything else within 100m(joke)?:roll1:
Just a few quick questions for the lads who are using the slug go lures.
1.Do you use a short mono leader or straight through to the lure?
2.Do you weight the lure or use it as it is,and if you do weight it where do you get the nail weights from(apart from the US)?
3.What clip do you use for attaching the lure?
Thanks.
Mark.
SHARKHUNTER
24-08-2008, 23:30
Just a few quick questions for the lads who are using the slug go lures.
1.Do you use a short mono leader or straight through to the lure?
2.Do you weight the lure or use it as it is,and if you do weight it where do you get the nail weights from(apart from the US)?
3.What clip do you use for attaching the lure?
Thanks.
Mark.
(1) mono leader
(2) use as is (most times)or can make your own nail weights
(3) none
Thanks for that reply Sharkhunter. Cheers
Mark.
mrfishjersey
25-08-2008, 15:06
I have just recieved my bag of Slug-Gos from www.basslures.co.uk, and I like what I see. These are coming with me on my next trip out, which is a worry because when I start using softbaits I get adicted to them and my plugging goes out the window for a while. I have just weighed them and I am surprised how heavy they are on their own, I think I will be just using them sometimes on their own as a wobble bait. I love having new toys to play with and although these have been around for years I havnt personally used them, its so cool to still get a buzz from a little bit of rubber!!! Ann Summers beware!!!
Mick, I've got some 'tweeks' if you want me to send you some :)
AlderneyBassman
26-08-2008, 11:30
I sat at anchor in my yak yesterday experimenting with the 7 1/2" slug-go's.
Had a great time twitching and tweaking them on the surface, even made them jump out of the water by ramping them off the small waves.
They seem to respond to fishing a lot slower than plugs, hopefully not so slow as to let the bass inspect 'em too much!
Sadly no bass, garfish had a look though, but time very well spent!
mrfishjersey
26-08-2008, 18:37
Mick, I've got some 'tweeks' if you want me to send you some :)
Tweeks?? Whasat then??
Tweeks?? Whasat then??
The Carlos Fandango's for Slug-go's :wacko:
What is the best size for UK fishing? Also does anyone know how to rig them with wire for use in freshwater for pike?
Ive just ordered some 6 inch slug-gos in pearl white from rock max. I also ordered some of the Fin-s-Fish lures also from lunker city. Think the sea around here is too coloured for lures like this so will be used for pike mostly i reckon. Still will give them a go.
20 lures for around 9 quid.
My slug goes arrive today (Only ordered them yesterday!) Tried em on the local canal just to see what they were like. Look brilliant in the water, like a wounded eel or worm. The pike liked them with some full blooded jumping out of the water takes. Rigged weedless you can really cast them anywhere.
How do you strike though? I had 2 fish get the lure in its mouth yet when I struck the weedless rigged hook didnt penetrate into the fish? Should you let the fish have the lure a while or what?
The pearl white colour from rok-max looks ace in the water, especially in coloured water.
for piking it is worth using a stinger. this is a treble of suitable size attached by a short length of wire and knicked in the last third of the soft bait some times attached to the bend of the first hook or connected to the eye of the first hook. this improves hook ups but also stops it being snag proof.If you use strong enough braid you can pull the hook out of snags.
Hopefully I'll be trying mine out next week with the Pike. I'll let you know how I get on with them. Perhaps if the Pike take 1st bite towards the end of the jaws then you need to wait a little before striking allowing the Pike to have another crack.
Fished 4.5" & 6" for Bass a few weeks ago and they were nibbled by small Pollack, but no hooks ups and no Bass.
Interested to know what hooks you're using Ben on 6" slugs. Are they EWG's ?
Interested to know what hooks you're using Ben on 6" slugs. Are they EWG's ?
They were some hooks that came with some rubber worms I ordered a while back. there just the same as the ones recommended for slug-go's though with the kink just before the eye of the hook. Dont know what size they are, fairly big though, seem to fit the 6 inch slug-gos pretty well. They come out just below half way along the lure.
So striking then.....strike as soon as the hit or let the fish run off with the lure for afew seconds before striking?
Henry Gilbey, you seem to know abit about them, can you shed any light onto the subject?
Cheers, B
wavebuster
31-08-2008, 21:40
checkout www action plastics .com ! unbelievable
Hi im new to this forum and new to fishing for bass.
After fishing an estuary in my local area last week i bagged my first bass on a spinner.
There was another fisherman using the slug-go's and urged me to try them so i bought a pack of 6" arkansas shiners with Texposer Hooks.
However i have 10 of them and id like to swap a couple if anyone is interested? Or im willing to swap for different plastic lures. The reason for this is because id like to experiment with different colours to find out which would be more effective; rather than have 10 of each colour and be stuck with a load which i wont use.
Hi all,Is it better to fill your rell with mono or braid for fishing with slug go,would mono make them float better if you were using them on the surface.
Braid is best in my experience. After a while lure fishing with braid mono feels shocking when you go back.
Pike like the slugs too :laugh:
magicdog
08-06-2009, 11:43
Just to update the older info on this thread, I have just spoken to Rokmax who only have 4.5" slug-gos in stock and have no plans to stock any more...:shutup:
AGM have them here:
http://www.agmdiscountfishing.co.uk/lunker-city-m-99.html?sort=2a
rapalajoe
09-06-2009, 08:30
Hi guys....
for weightless presentation u need a really light gear to enjoy every bit of it...light line....light rating rod....small reel...all of this are for ease of casting and sensitivity....not really my choice of fishing if the condition is windy....fast current ....land base in a snaggy terrain....gonna be my no 1 choice if i owned a kayak where i can sneak on a nice remote spot....one more...one must have the patience of a fly fishos to be really successful with this tactic....and i dont have that....i cant stand reeling in or moving my rod without feeling the load at the end of my line,my hand not accustomed to the light feeling when reeling in as fly guys stripping their fly ....i need some weight....or an insert nail weight.....i am more comfortable with jighead.
jighead....i like trutungsten jighead.....a bit pricey but u enjoy more....harder and heavier than a lead....more sensitive,but smaller compare to the lead head with the same size....smaller mean it can easily penetrate through weed and kelp....lighter gauge offset hook for a good penetration....but not strong enuff to hold a monster...
then i have tried this scrounger jig head with bib.....good action...specially when use with long and slender softies as slug-go....then all of the head come with the standard hook....kill my confidence when using it in kelp bed....end up making my own so that i can have both,the action and weedlessnes...
i know theres many of u guys here are in a tackle business.....i really hoping that one day that my dream jig head will be available in market....tungsten head....offset stronger hook....and bib for added action....i think its not imposible ......cheeerrrss....
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