Slow death rigs

I spent the last 3 days fishing up in the Alexandria area.

Lake 1 was great for bass, pike, crappie and gills. Almost all caught on a spinner and crawler with a few eyes included.

Morning of day 2, I went back and it was the same bite.

Evening of day 2 I ventured to another new lake and tried to find some hungry eyes.

I started with a lindy rig and crawlers and then switched to leeches with zero fish or bumps. Checked another area and marked very few fish and I was getting very frustrated.

I told my brother in law we should go over and check one more location I saw on my Lakemaster map that had alot of structure in 9-15 fow. Started to troll slow with a lindy rig and leech with zero bites and they fish were all over on the sonar. I then switched to a crawler and we picked up a few here and there.

Trying to think what they would like for a meal, I thought I would try my slow death rigs with a crawler. Within 5 minutes I had 3 nice eater eyes from 14-17 inches.

My brother in law said do you have another one of those rigs and I hooked him up.

From 7:10 to approx 8:30 we picked up 2 limit of eyes and probably another 25 eyes as I lost count.

Next morning it was drizzling a bit so we had a late breakfast and the sky looked to be clearing so I said let’s hit the lake.

Started about 11:00 am and fished until mid afternonn and simply drilled the eyes. I believe for that time period we caught an eye every 4-5 minutes for the entire time.

There was no tap, tap, tap when they hit, they simply slammed the bait.

It was so easy, I put my rod in the rod holder and just picked it up and reeled in when the rod doubled over like I was cranking. We also caught approx 8 very nice bull gills from 8.75″ up to 9.50″ inches. I worked that area very hard to see if we could find a few more of these big gills but all for not.

One of the best eye bites I have been on for years. All due to the slow death rig.

One of my favorite summer techniques by far!

Glad to hear you got into them.

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One of my favorite summer techniques by far!

Glad to hear you got into them.

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X2. I’ve really learned to like them. Don’t try to find slow death hooks at Gander though. They don’t carry them.

Got mine on e-bay all tied up for a reasonable fee.

I believe Mustad makes them..

Do you guys trim the crawler down to 1/2″ off the end of the hook as stated in the directions or just leave the entire crawler whole?

Eric

Pinch the crawler off it will turn better than if using a whole crawler. Or better yet use Gulp 3″ fry in pumpkinseed to avoid having to use live bait. Works as good or better than a real crawler.

I thread the crawler on starting from the head until the hook is full and then bend it over and loop over the hook end and break the rest off.

It also slides through the weeds nicely.

This seems like and easy way to catch fish. Does it work in stained water, or best in water where the fish can see it from far away?

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This seems like and easy way to catch fish. Does it work in stained water, or best in water where the fish can see it from far away?

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It originated on the Oahe resevoir so it works very good in dirty water.

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One of my favorite summer techniques by far!

Glad to hear you got into them.

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X2. I’ve really learned to like them. Don’t try to find slow death hooks at Gander though. They don’t carry them.

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They actually do have them… I just bought some more – they are just tucked away from most of the other hooks. Kinda over by the inline sinkers. That is where the replacement hooks for flicker shads are also.

is that the rig where the worm twirls in the water? do you have to use a swivel for that rig?

thanks

JP

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is that the rig where the worm twirls in the water? do you have to use a swivel for that rig?

thanks

JP

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Yes and yes.

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One of the best eye bites I have been on for years. All due to the slow death rig.

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Way to put the puzzle together Tom. SD isn’t majic though….you were at the right place (moved from original lake) and put the right presentation in front of active fish. F+L+P!! SD is a hot P right now for sure though. Nice report.

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… Or better yet use Gulp 3″ fry in pumpkinseed to avoid having to use live bait. Works as good or better than a real crawler.

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Berkley actually makes a Gulp SD Crawler “piece” that’s made just for that. I’ve heard of / seen leeches (hooked like normal, not threaded) run on SD hooks as well.

Slow Death is an awesome rig!

In the many national team championships that I have fished in ,all over the upper midwest,Dakotas,winnebago,canada they just catch fish.everywhere I have used them.One little tip for you.is I like to leave approx a 1/4 inch tag on my knot and push the crawler just a touch farther up the hook the short tag end acts much like a hook keeper as your favorite pitching jig has.A fastsnap that i use on rigs is nice too,in case you want to experiment with a spinner rig or small stick bait. It Saves alot of time retying and that helps to keep a crawler on as well for a hook keeper.Either of these will help you survive a extra bite or two when the pesky, machine gunning attacks of perch,sheep head or small eyes.

Whatever ya do though,dont bother with them on Pool 4,or any other river system,they dont work ! And futhermore,never ever,after a mayfly hatch when fish dont bite,never curse your self with a nitecrawler on a slowwdeath hook and a small black leach as a trailer on the same hook. These vicious rumors have got to stop for even thinking walleyes can be caught in a river system with a “lake” rig. When will the “madness end ! Even a crazier notion, is to take that same approach in early fall and add a fathead to it…you get the point,and if you dont,that is ok too!

Thanks for the great tip Dean.

I can see where the tag end of the line could be very helpful.

My late summer go to rig! use a quality ball bearing swivel and the rig will spin easy and not twist.

Flourocarbon is a bit better at transferring the twist to the swivel as well. good luck….

Keep the tips coming folks. It will make me a much better fisherman.

What does that rig look like ?

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What does that rig look like ?

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Try this,….

http://www.mustad.no/www2010/?page_id=3498

I’ll second/third? the comment about using high quaility ball bearing swivels, don’t go cheap here.

Al

My dad and I have caught countless numbers of walleyes, nice sunfish, and some really big bass the last 3 years.:) It is still a very unknown presentation I think. I have talked to quite few people that look at you with like you are nuts when you explain it.
What speed do some of you go. For me it seems that 0.9 to 1 is ideal.

MY speed is dictated by what the fish want. This last week I was at 8/10’s of a mph and drilled the eyes.

Typically I am at that or maybe down to 6/10th’s. I do not go any lowewr than that as I question one gets the roll action at any lower of a speed.

I guess whatever speed the fish hit when I am marking fish.