Plastics for Barra (The slick rig)

[NAGG]

Hi All .... specially those barra enthusiasts

Over the past week or so ...... a few people have asked about fishing plastics for barra ........... & now while there are many more qualified gurus hereabouts ..... I thought I may as well share some upgrade tips.

The old slick rig ..... particularly the 110 & 130mm versions ( in Pro range & std) are a cracker of a way of catching those awesome barra

now unfortunately ......... The manufacturers have chosen to build their awesome plastics on jig heads that are not up to the task ( for barra).Attachment 35742

So ...... after my third adventure ( seeing more than enough barra lost to jig head failure) this is what I have settled on for a 130mm Slick rig.

Attachment 35741

In the picture ...... I've included the standard Pro slick rig (lites) & the out of the packet hook ( 12-13 g)

Below are the Nitro (Owner hooks) upgrades

Nitro 7/O (Saltwater Pro) 17.5g

&

Nitro 5/O ( Saltwater Pro) 14g


Also keep in mind that the standard 130 mm Slick rig uses a 23-24g jig head!!!

So .... up grade & fish with confidence

Nagg

PS ..... We tried some TT upgrades & had a couple of those fail too ( Gamakatsu hooks )

[Pete62]

Hiya Nagg, very informative, thanks. With the upgrade does the existing jig head come out of the plastice with ease? and with the replacement does that need to be superglued once inserted?
Just one more............. what retrieve have u found works?
Oh yeh, just one more............what is the max leader u have found suitable still offering a good action?

Soory mate, but my upcoming trip has me thinking of nothing else, now if that bloody phone would just stop ringing.

My left eye is twitching and all the hair on my left arm is standing up..........please explain.............

Cheers, Pete.

[NAGG]

Hiya Nagg, very informative, thanks. With the upgrade does the existing jig head come out of the plastice with ease? and with the replacement does that need to be superglued once inserted?
Just one more............. what retrieve have u found works?
Oh yeh, just one more............what is the max leader u have found suitable still offering a good action?

Soory mate, but my upcoming trip has me thinking of nothing else, now if that bloody phone would just stop ringing.

My left eye is twitching and all the hair on my left arm is standing up..........please explain.............

Cheers, Pete.

Hi Pete ........ The old hooks slide out of the slit in the back & the new ones slide in ( easy) ...... No gluing involved as the tow point is out the top of the head

The simple straight slow roll works well ....... cast , count down & a straight wind in ( maybe the occasional stop) ........ As a lot of casting is to shallow weed edges , you need to pick up any slack line immediately & the retrieve started ( the speed needs to get the tail beating .......... too slow & there is no action ........ but by all means vary your speed

Leader 80lb ( Nitline) is sweet ........ 50lb twisted Nitline is better ( I'm now making up 40s)

Finally ...... If & when you get onto fish ....... they will often destroy (rip) your slick rigs ( so take a few packets)

Hope this helps

Chris

PS ..... There are other plastic to use - but the Slicks are a good starting point + THEY WORK!!!

[Pete62]

Thanks Nagg, good luck on your upcoming trip, sounds big, and congrats on the award, sounds like u earned the bag of lures, bloody dodgy trailers.
Cheers, pete.
PS: got a call from a mate who has just had 2 weeks Mondy and Awoonga, 44 fish biggest was 125, nice...

[BR65]

Timely mate, thanks for the input.
Are you hanging stingers off the main hook, I know a little while ago you were talking about a trailing single??
Ive moded some big berkleys that way, just done a half hitch around the gape of the main hook, so the stinger lies back near the tail. Yet to swim one, so will be interested to see how the action is affected, whether the snag ratio increases, or will I need to lightly pin the stinger back thru the SP to stop it catching on every little bit of crap in the water, will the stinger affect the drop rate (yes?) cause of the weight, so much to look at, cant wait to swim them.
All been done by others before I know, but a bit of trial and error for this HB addict lol.

[NAGG]

Timely mate, thanks for the input.
Are you hanging stingers off the main hook, I know a little while ago you were talking about a trailing single??
Ive moded some big berkleys that way, just done a half hitch around the gape of the main hook, so the stinger lies back near the tail. Yet to swim one, so will be interested to see how the action is affected, whether the snag ratio increases, or will I need to lightly pin the stinger back thru the SP to stop it catching on every little bit of crap in the water, will the stinger affect the drop rate (yes?) cause of the weight, so much to look at, cant wait to swim them.
All been done by others before I know, but a bit of trial and error for this HB addict lol.

Hi Bryan

Yes ...... I do fish with stingers ( not so much on slick rigs) but certainly on the big Storm Shads

Chris

[DEANO68]

ey chris,, do you use the "S" factor goop on your slicks..????????

[NAGG]

ey chris,, do you use the "S" factor goop on your slicks..????????

Sometimes Deano ........ but the catfish love peanut butter

Chris

[NAGG]

I've included a couple of versions of stingers that I used at Mondy & Awoonga last month ......... I dont use stingers all the time on slick rigs , but when the fish are a little more tentative ...... then they may turn a positive result


Attachment 35792

The top one is a Owner 6/O O' Shaughnessy ......... Which I used on a couple of trips with reasonably good results ........ There are problems constructing it though ... You break a high percentage of these high carbon hooks opening the eye! .......... Make sure you use the right tools & wear safety glasses!

This set up does not really affect the action , but you can waste 20% of your casts when the tail flips over the stinger

The second one uses a 5/O shorter shank Maruto Stainless O'Shaughhnessy.
Being stainless steel ...... It is easier opening the eye
A big advantage of this set up is that the fouling of the tail in the stinger is reduced significantly.
I also incorporate a slight offset in the stinger by twisting the shank ....... this is a new idea but I'm sure it will improve penetration

Both rigs use a small piece of shape tube to hold the hook in position after crimping the eye!

So there you have it ...... simple stingers

Cheers

Chris

[DEANO68]

I've included a couple of versions of stingers that I used at Mondy & Awoonga last month ......... I dont use stingers all the time on slick rigs , but when the fish are a little more tentative ...... then they may turn a positive result


Attachment 35792

The top one is a Owner 6/O O' Shaughnessy ......... Which I used on a couple of trips with reasonably good results ........ There are problems constructing it though ... You break a high percentage of these high carbon hooks opening the eye! .......... Make sure you use the right tools & wear safety glasses!

This set up does not really affect the action , but you can waste 20% of your casts when the tail flips over the stinger

The second one uses a 5/O shorter shank Maruto Stainless O'Shaughhnessy.
Being stainless steel ...... It is easier opening the eye
A big advantage of this set up is that the fouling of the tail in the stinger is reduced significantly.
I also incorporate a slight offset in the stinger by twisting the shank ....... this is a new idea but I'm sure it will improve penetration

Both rigs use a small piece of shape tube to hold the hook in position after crimping the eye!

So there you have it ...... simple stingers

Cheers

Chris

thanks chris, last year at awoonga josh rigged some up ( bleedin mullet )with wire of the main hook to a treb out it ass, looked wrong , swam horrid and he got 4 fish in one sesh, on them 3 of them on the stinger ,,,mines got no stinger swimmin sweet , not a touch...

[NAGG]

thanks chris, last year at awoonga josh rigged some up ( bleedin mullet )with wire of the main hook to a treb out it ass, looked wrong , swam horrid and he got 4 fish in one sesh, on them 3 of them on the stinger ,,,mines got no stinger swimmin sweet , not a touch...

I've done some with a treble below ........... but the size of the treble is important & it cant be too far back as it kills the action .......... but on a big plastic like a Storm shad - no worries

Chris

[BR65]

Hey Chris, with the distortion of the original slick/pro hooks, how much hurt are you applying dureing the fight?

[NAGG]

Hey Chris, with the distortion of the original slick/pro hooks, how much hurt are you applying dureing the fight?

Surprisingly little ........ The hook pictured was actually one of Whiteys ....... A good fish but he was only using a standard 5000 size ABU which would have only generated 3-4 kgs of Drag!
We had 90cm jumping fish partially opening them up too .

At the end of the trip .... When Whitey was sorting out his gear ...... he told me most of the used slick rigs were distorted ............ & he is going to upgrade from now on

Chris

[Roo]

We used an 8/0 Owner for our stingers, the hook is called an "AKI". Didn't need to open the hook eye, we just "lightly" crush the main hook barb, slipped a soft glow bead on, then a bit of tube, the hook would just sneak on at the right angle and then push it over the tube to hold in place, another glow bead then used the beak of my spit ring pliers to gently push the main hook barb back out again. job done.

We had no drama's with original slickrig hooks, they held up fine but only on fish up to 96cm. Kim bent a TT Headhunter jighead on one fish and I had the Barb roll over on a Pro Range Slick Rig hook after a few missed fish.
I tried using wire to attach trebles on top.....but getting it to swim straight and not foul the tail was a pain. Tried an assist jighook but it was flailing around at the tail pointing the wrong way when Kim Bent the TT hook so it didn't find its mark either.
We only ran medium drags, we both got 96cm fish on Kims combo using an Abu Revo Premier.....these reels don't have the big drag of the STX Revo.....the Premier has a single carbon washer sandwiched between a stainless washer and the main gear, so its not a stumpuller...but work surprisingly well and was a dream to cast with being so light (170gms).
Cheers Roo.

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

I notice a lot of talk about stingers on plastics.
At times they may assist the angler, other times they may be more of a pain than their desired value. To this day, I still do not think a stinger is required on a moderate sized soft barra lure considering the barra inhales the whole lure when committed and the single hook point is well and truly exposed. The rest is up to the angler. Has anybody ever considered or monitored rod angle, rod tip positioning, drag settings and reaction time as far as striking and line winding is concerned. What about foot stance on deck? The other parts of the equation are equally important.
Johnny