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Mustad 33862NP-GL Ultra Point Gold Slow Death Hooks - Size 4
SKU: 33862G-04
Stock: 7
Stock: 7
Price:
$5.69
Mustad Red Slow Death Hooks - The Pro's Secret
A Perspective on Perfection
by Gary Parsons
National Freshwater Fishing Hall Of Fame Legendary Angler
In the mid-90s a close group of walleye pros were generating tremendous results with a new technique called slow death. Incredible action was being added to live-bait presentations by bending hooks in a certain fashion. I knew it was something special, but because I couldn't master the precise hook bend, I was getting really inconsistent results. Working with the Mustad product development team, Keith and I spend countless hours testing hook bends until we perfected a hook design that anybody could rig effectively.
JUst gathering up the components to tie some mack's smile blade and stack
bead leaders walleye rigs. I will be fishing Banks Lake in eastern Washington
this summer and I want to make sure I have something they might like to
engulf.
Your hooks will be at the business end of these rigs and I want to introduce
them up close and personal to a few walleye.
I use the hooks for walleye fishing on lake
Erie with bottom bouncers, half worm fishing addict
Erie with bottom bouncers, half worm fishing addict
My husband makes his own crawler harness to troll for walleye on lake erie with these slow death hooks from Mustad.
Thank you :)
Thank you :)
Slow Death
Catch walleyes while fishing night crawlers at a crawl.
Article by Dave Scroppo
Photo by Outdoor Life Online Editor
Related Articles
* Go for Smoke
* Master Class for Walleyes
* Pulling a Fast One on Fish
* Slow Death Catch walleyes while fishing night crawlers at a crawl
* Go For Smoke How to turn bland fish into a culinary delight
TagsNo Related Topics
You'd think it would be impossible to innovate upon a rudimentary rig of
hook, line and sinker. But leave it to a confederacy of Dakotans,
hard-core guides and tournament pros based on the Missouri River
reservoirs to tweak the components and devise a very specific setup that gets
medieval on walleyes.
The technique's name, "Slow Death," captures the essence of its
deliberate approach and ultimate effect on walleyes. "The technique
started evolving a few summers ago," says Slow Death originator Dave
Spaid, who has won several tournaments, including four South Dakota
Governor's Cups, with the outfit. "When the days got hotter and slicker
and the fishing got slower, we cut off the spinner, left on a bead ahead
of the crawler, and slowed down. That's how we caught all our fish.
Since it's Outdoor Life that wants to know the details, I'm spilling the
beans."
Down to Basics
Since the early '90s, Slow Death has been a tightly held secret of
Spaid's and his confidants on the pro walleye tour. The basics of the
system are de rigueur wherever walleyes are found-a bottom bouncer, a
leader and an
Aberdeen hook with a night crawler. But what Spaid and his cronies do
with them, paying close attention to speed and incorporating spin into
the rig,
elevate the ABC's to an altogether
different plane.
"Slow Death allows you to put a bait in the cracks, crevices and little
places you couldn't go with a spinner blade," says Spaid, a guide on
lakes Sharpe and Oahe. "With a blade, you go too fast to get into all
the important corners that hold fish. You can fish this rig slow and
pick off fish you couldn't if you were using anything else."
The essentials to the system are specific. Although the general
guideline for bottom-bouncer weight with spinners is 1 ounce for every
10 feet of water depth, Spaid goes with 1 ounce for water up to 20 feet
deep and fishes a
1½-ounce bouncer as deep as 60 feet. The reason is the slower paces
Spaid sticks to instead of typical spinner speeds of 1 to 1.3 mph. For
the weight, Spaid insists on a V-shaped wire-armed bottom bouncer such
as a Northland Rock-Runner, which supplies key motion and sound when
ticked across bottom. To the business end of the bouncer, Spaid adds a
ball-bearing swivel to eliminate line twist, then ties a 3½-foot leader
of 8-pound-test Maxima monofilament, a strong, abrasion-resistant line.
Next comes a No. 1 or No. 2 Tru-Turn Aberdeen-style hook, the requisite
component to Slow Death.
With an S-shaped bend just below the eye, the Tru-Turn inspires the
crawler to spin, a deadly action not normally associated with live-bait
presentations. In fact, Spaid usually pinches the crawler off behind the
collar and then threads it up the line so about an inch of crawler tail
extends beyond the bend of the hook. To keep the crawler in place, Spaid
leaves a
¼-inch tag of monofilament at the knot and, as the piece of worm is
worked onto the hook, the mono helps it to stay put. A colored bead goes
ahead of the knot for added attraction.
Putting It Together
Spaid says the size and profile of the crawler, along with the
spinning action, are key. When rigged in the style of Slow Death, the
crawler is about
4 inches long, the same length as both baitfish and many of the most
effective walleye lures. Besides, the pinched-off crawler may exude more
scent. When Spaid puts the crawler in the water and eases along with
his bow-mount trolling motor, he watches the Slow Death rig to be sure it's properly
tuned-that is, the crawler achieves a subtle but certain spin.
"The Slow Death scenario is odd
because it gives the crawler a weird
action," says friend and powerhouse
pro Gary Parsons, who learned the method from Spaid. "Basically you're
using a curved hook, a bead and half a crawler. It kind of lurches like a
jig
behind the 'thunk' and 'tunk' of the bottom bouncer."
To Spaid's aas well as Parsons' way of thinking, the wire arm on the
bouncer provides another critical element-sound. When slow-trolling, the
bottom bouncer ticks and clicks rocks to supply a measure of
attraction.
Beyond the tenets of spin and sound, Slow Death and its speed-or lack
thereof-lets you put the bait into the hidey-holes that would otherwise
be impossible to reach. A crankbait, even on leadcore line, will pound
bottom and then whisk above the heads of walleyes when the bottom dips. A
spinner will similarly miss critical corners and pockets. That's where
Slow Death, a more deliberate means of targeting precise spots and
keeping a bait on bottom, figures in. For instance, Spaid says, you can
ease up a sheer point in the Dakotas, one that rises out of dozens of
feet of water before cresting at 6 or 8 feet, and keep the crawler in
the zone at all times.
Insufferably slow is not the be-all and end-all of triggering walleyes.
Pro Rick Olson, another convert to Slow Death through the acquaintance
of Spaid, runs ½- to ¾-ounce bouncers between 0.5 mph and 1.0 mph,
the latter approaching normal spinner speed. For his part, Spaid usually
runs his
Pinpoint trolling motor on a
setting of 2.5, which he suspects approaches similar speeds. A good
indication that the speed is right is when your line trails behind the
boat at a 45-degree angle. But unlike other live-bait rigs, Slow Death
gives you the ability to go slow or kick it up a notch to cover water-
if you keep that 45-degree angle, your bait will be running right.
Power Tackle
With two rods per angler, you cover a wider swath with more lines.
For a rod in a holder, Olson prefers an 8½-footer with a soft action.
With it, you wait until the rod loads up with a fish on the other end
before you set the hook. A hand-held rod around 6½ to 7 feet long is
about right. Both rods should have enough backbone to handle up to
1½ ounces of weight. Many of the
appropriate rods, including those
from Bass Pro Shops and Berkley, are labeled as bottom-bouncing rods and
have the right actions for spinners and Slow-Death system.
"Slow Death is not an everyday thing people do," says Olson, who is
based in Mina, S.Dak. "A lot of people around here fish with a bouncer, a
bead and a hook and crawler. If you do it that way or do it with Slow
Death, it's all very simple-it's as simple as not letting too much line
out."
Another aspect of Slow Death that makes the method excel in clear water
is the level at which the bait runs. Unlike walleyes in dark-water
rivers that pin themselves to the channel, fish in the clear waters of
the Dakotas through the Midwest often hover 6 to 8 inches off bottom-the
same height at which the half crawler levitates behind the bouncer.
With the single hook and a bit of crawler trailing behind the bend,
hookups are more solid than with a live-bait rig and a walking sinker.
Compare Slow Death to a Lindy Rig, where you have a nose-hooked whole
crawler and need to feed a fish line
forever before sending the hook home. With Slow Death, you feel the thump, drop the
rod back for a moment and set the hook.
Now the secret's out on Slow Death. Because of their ingenuity, a
handful of Dakotans have shown us a technique that is at once slow and
lethal-the right combination for crafty, temperamental walleyes that
would otherwise keep their mouths closed. Give Slow Death a try this
summer to speed up your catch rate.
The Go-Slow (Or Fast) Spinner For all the talk of Slow Death without
spinners, it's impossible to discount the efficacy of blades for
walleyes. Trouble is, it's difficult to get them to spin when creeping.
Enter the Smile Blade (1), a batwing-shaped spinner designed for
subtlety and finesse. The Smile's manufacturer, Mack's Lure, has also
created a series of walleye rigs that function at 0.5 to 1.0 mph. Among
the offerings are the Wally Pop (2), a Smile Blade with a float and twin hooks; the
Double Whammy (3), a Smile Blade with twin stack beads; and
the Cha Cha (4), a crawler rig with a Smile Blade and twin floats. "You
can fish the Smile Blade slower than a metal blade," says pro walleye
angler Daryl Christensen. "But when you fish it fast, it blows out of
its pattern and goes left to right and right to left." Try the blades at either end
of the speed spectrum. Also new from Mack's Lure: a Hot Wing flasher (5) to rig on
the bottom walker. ($2.19-$3.99, depending on the rig; 800-525-8737;
www.mackslure.com)
Catch walleyes while fishing night crawlers at a crawl.
Article by Dave Scroppo
Photo by Outdoor Life Online Editor
Related Articles
* Go for Smoke
* Master Class for Walleyes
* Pulling a Fast One on Fish
* Slow Death Catch walleyes while fishing night crawlers at a crawl
* Go For Smoke How to turn bland fish into a culinary delight
TagsNo Related Topics
You'd think it would be impossible to innovate upon a rudimentary rig of
hook, line and sinker. But leave it to a confederacy of Dakotans,
hard-core guides and tournament pros based on the Missouri River
reservoirs to tweak the components and devise a very specific setup that gets
medieval on walleyes.
The technique's name, "Slow Death," captures the essence of its
deliberate approach and ultimate effect on walleyes. "The technique
started evolving a few summers ago," says Slow Death originator Dave
Spaid, who has won several tournaments, including four South Dakota
Governor's Cups, with the outfit. "When the days got hotter and slicker
and the fishing got slower, we cut off the spinner, left on a bead ahead
of the crawler, and slowed down. That's how we caught all our fish.
Since it's Outdoor Life that wants to know the details, I'm spilling the
beans."
Down to Basics
Since the early '90s, Slow Death has been a tightly held secret of
Spaid's and his confidants on the pro walleye tour. The basics of the
system are de rigueur wherever walleyes are found-a bottom bouncer, a
leader and an
Aberdeen hook with a night crawler. But what Spaid and his cronies do
with them, paying close attention to speed and incorporating spin into
the rig,
elevate the ABC's to an altogether
different plane.
"Slow Death allows you to put a bait in the cracks, crevices and little
places you couldn't go with a spinner blade," says Spaid, a guide on
lakes Sharpe and Oahe. "With a blade, you go too fast to get into all
the important corners that hold fish. You can fish this rig slow and
pick off fish you couldn't if you were using anything else."
The essentials to the system are specific. Although the general
guideline for bottom-bouncer weight with spinners is 1 ounce for every
10 feet of water depth, Spaid goes with 1 ounce for water up to 20 feet
deep and fishes a
1½-ounce bouncer as deep as 60 feet. The reason is the slower paces
Spaid sticks to instead of typical spinner speeds of 1 to 1.3 mph. For
the weight, Spaid insists on a V-shaped wire-armed bottom bouncer such
as a Northland Rock-Runner, which supplies key motion and sound when
ticked across bottom. To the business end of the bouncer, Spaid adds a
ball-bearing swivel to eliminate line twist, then ties a 3½-foot leader
of 8-pound-test Maxima monofilament, a strong, abrasion-resistant line.
Next comes a No. 1 or No. 2 Tru-Turn Aberdeen-style hook, the requisite
component to Slow Death.
With an S-shaped bend just below the eye, the Tru-Turn inspires the
crawler to spin, a deadly action not normally associated with live-bait
presentations. In fact, Spaid usually pinches the crawler off behind the
collar and then threads it up the line so about an inch of crawler tail
extends beyond the bend of the hook. To keep the crawler in place, Spaid
leaves a
¼-inch tag of monofilament at the knot and, as the piece of worm is
worked onto the hook, the mono helps it to stay put. A colored bead goes
ahead of the knot for added attraction.
Putting It Together
Spaid says the size and profile of the crawler, along with the
spinning action, are key. When rigged in the style of Slow Death, the
crawler is about
4 inches long, the same length as both baitfish and many of the most
effective walleye lures. Besides, the pinched-off crawler may exude more
scent. When Spaid puts the crawler in the water and eases along with
his bow-mount trolling motor, he watches the Slow Death rig to be sure it's properly
tuned-that is, the crawler achieves a subtle but certain spin.
"The Slow Death scenario is odd
because it gives the crawler a weird
action," says friend and powerhouse
pro Gary Parsons, who learned the method from Spaid. "Basically you're
using a curved hook, a bead and half a crawler. It kind of lurches like a
jig
behind the 'thunk' and 'tunk' of the bottom bouncer."
To Spaid's aas well as Parsons' way of thinking, the wire arm on the
bouncer provides another critical element-sound. When slow-trolling, the
bottom bouncer ticks and clicks rocks to supply a measure of
attraction.
Beyond the tenets of spin and sound, Slow Death and its speed-or lack
thereof-lets you put the bait into the hidey-holes that would otherwise
be impossible to reach. A crankbait, even on leadcore line, will pound
bottom and then whisk above the heads of walleyes when the bottom dips. A
spinner will similarly miss critical corners and pockets. That's where
Slow Death, a more deliberate means of targeting precise spots and
keeping a bait on bottom, figures in. For instance, Spaid says, you can
ease up a sheer point in the Dakotas, one that rises out of dozens of
feet of water before cresting at 6 or 8 feet, and keep the crawler in
the zone at all times.
Insufferably slow is not the be-all and end-all of triggering walleyes.
Pro Rick Olson, another convert to Slow Death through the acquaintance
of Spaid, runs ½- to ¾-ounce bouncers between 0.5 mph and 1.0 mph,
the latter approaching normal spinner speed. For his part, Spaid usually
runs his
Pinpoint trolling motor on a
setting of 2.5, which he suspects approaches similar speeds. A good
indication that the speed is right is when your line trails behind the
boat at a 45-degree angle. But unlike other live-bait rigs, Slow Death
gives you the ability to go slow or kick it up a notch to cover water-
if you keep that 45-degree angle, your bait will be running right.
Power Tackle
With two rods per angler, you cover a wider swath with more lines.
For a rod in a holder, Olson prefers an 8½-footer with a soft action.
With it, you wait until the rod loads up with a fish on the other end
before you set the hook. A hand-held rod around 6½ to 7 feet long is
about right. Both rods should have enough backbone to handle up to
1½ ounces of weight. Many of the
appropriate rods, including those
from Bass Pro Shops and Berkley, are labeled as bottom-bouncing rods and
have the right actions for spinners and Slow-Death system.
"Slow Death is not an everyday thing people do," says Olson, who is
based in Mina, S.Dak. "A lot of people around here fish with a bouncer, a
bead and a hook and crawler. If you do it that way or do it with Slow
Death, it's all very simple-it's as simple as not letting too much line
out."
Another aspect of Slow Death that makes the method excel in clear water
is the level at which the bait runs. Unlike walleyes in dark-water
rivers that pin themselves to the channel, fish in the clear waters of
the Dakotas through the Midwest often hover 6 to 8 inches off bottom-the
same height at which the half crawler levitates behind the bouncer.
With the single hook and a bit of crawler trailing behind the bend,
hookups are more solid than with a live-bait rig and a walking sinker.
Compare Slow Death to a Lindy Rig, where you have a nose-hooked whole
crawler and need to feed a fish line
forever before sending the hook home. With Slow Death, you feel the thump, drop the
rod back for a moment and set the hook.
Now the secret's out on Slow Death. Because of their ingenuity, a
handful of Dakotans have shown us a technique that is at once slow and
lethal-the right combination for crafty, temperamental walleyes that
would otherwise keep their mouths closed. Give Slow Death a try this
summer to speed up your catch rate.
The Go-Slow (Or Fast) Spinner For all the talk of Slow Death without
spinners, it's impossible to discount the efficacy of blades for
walleyes. Trouble is, it's difficult to get them to spin when creeping.
Enter the Smile Blade (1), a batwing-shaped spinner designed for
subtlety and finesse. The Smile's manufacturer, Mack's Lure, has also
created a series of walleye rigs that function at 0.5 to 1.0 mph. Among
the offerings are the Wally Pop (2), a Smile Blade with a float and twin hooks; the
Double Whammy (3), a Smile Blade with twin stack beads; and
the Cha Cha (4), a crawler rig with a Smile Blade and twin floats. "You
can fish the Smile Blade slower than a metal blade," says pro walleye
angler Daryl Christensen. "But when you fish it fast, it blows out of
its pattern and goes left to right and right to left." Try the blades at either end
of the speed spectrum. Also new from Mack's Lure: a Hot Wing flasher (5) to rig on
the bottom walker. ($2.19-$3.99, depending on the rig; 800-525-8737;
www.mackslure.com)
Got the hooks will let you know my use. I will be fishing them with night
crawlers primarily for walleyes.
They work well here so will keep you posted.
crawlers primarily for walleyes.
They work well here so will keep you posted.
