Snow_Dog wrote on Jun 1^st, 2011 at 1:07am:


I'm a little late to this thread, but I have to agree w/ SD. I don't mess w/ three ways or other fancy rigs. I like to keep it simple. If you want to add an attractor to your crank, just dip it in Gulp Alive juice.

Are these slow death hooks really any different from rigging the plastic bait with a little twist in the hook gap?  Something I've been doing effectively for years.

It looks to me as something designed to catch anglers more than fish.  Buying shelf space, the only reason 1/2 the flavours of Jell-o exist.

Excellent point about the sand worms Jax. (I think I might have saw the same thing on utube). I too think the gulp stuff is overrated (although I did have my largest smally ever at over 6lbs eat a gulp leech........it threw the hook right at the boat while laying on its side.....oh the pain, what a fish) but perhaps the sand worms would be the ticket with what wally13 is proposing. Might be a slay'em set up. And yea, I am a bit concerned that Mr. Bear might just take my whole tackle bag because of smelly gulp. Yikes!

I tend to change rigs and lures and line in the first 10 or 15 minutes of starting until I have on what I feel is the right combo of line class and presentation. Then I can fish for hours with the same thing or until conditions change. Pretty common for me to tie something on and make 5 casts and change only to do it all over again with the new lure 5 casts later.

i saw a segment on a fishing show the other day about using the slow death hooks. they used gulp sand worms, torn in half so they were 3-4 inches long. sand worms are more flat than the typical soft plastic worm, so they have a more ribbony-type action. this helps cup the water more and twirl the slow death hook. im still not a fan of gulp because of the smell and haslte associated with it. i tend to change baits/sizes/colors frequently, so it doesnt fit my personal style. if i were trolling worm harnesses behind planer boards on erie where i was going to troll all day and not change my hooks, then it would probably be better.

My go to spinner rig is a Cabelas Super Glow in the Dark floating 2 floats, 2 hook worm harness or single hook with a Gulp leech. In stained waters like Kawnipi these glow in the dark harnesses do real well. I like  blue, chartreuse and pink.

I adjust snell length depending how far walleye are off the bottom. Most prepackaged glow rigs come with a 48 inch snell ...I normally shorten it up to about 30 inches on average when trolling 2 mph.

I use a quick change Lindy swivel ahead of the spinner rig to reduce line twist.

I just don't think Gulp worms /leeches give you the great action of a live worm or leech. Maybe what Jaximus is suggesting ( slow death set-up) might give more action than my artificial setup.  I think more action  is needed many times when fish are neutral or negative.

i have a jointed J11 firetiger and a J9 natural perch that i was thinking of trying behind the weight.

as for the spinner rig, i have a ball bearing swivel between the hook and the spinners, one right behind the keel weight, and one in front of the keel. if i run it on the bottom bouncer, i have that covered as well because i already replaced the swivel on that with a bearing one as well.

one additional thought on the spinner rig with that slo death twirly hook. IMHO if you don't rig with 2 ball bearing swivels, one at the hook and one up the line perhaps at the weight, I have a feeling you will be sorry .

Jax

The spinner rig with the weird slo death hook..........Now that sounds awesome!! That's what you should run behind your weight! I wish I would of thought of it.

Anyway, I thought of another lure.........how about a black and gold jointed rapala? I think that would work very nicely as it doesn't dive very deep.

i was putzing around behind the new canoe i got this last weekend with some spinners and different harnesses. i really like the looks of a two willow blades (#4 white) with 6 pearl beads between each of them with a slow death hook sunk into a 4" white ringworm 15" back.(i bent the hooks a little bit more to give a more drastic swirl) the willows churned up some really nice rhythm and got that ringworm swirling and pulsing. the lake was super crowded and boaters dont really respect canoes, so i didnt really get a chance to fish it. its hard for me to not troll cranks so my spinners end up as tackle box clutter as well.

Well Wally13,
it's about time you weighed in. That would be the real trick wouldn't it.........that is, trying to figure out how to replace the live stuff. I had been experimenting with finesse harnesses's with plastic trailers and in line weights but never really put it to the test. Just lugged it all around and never slapped it out there.

I think you might of been a little conservative in your percentage of the bite falling off. I bet 50% and more likely 75% off is more accurate  . I do love live bait...........