Carroll Hagood's Tip...

Skipping Slug-Gos

I don't really have specific favorite from among the variety of soft-stick bait style lures that Lunker City makes. I use 4½" and 6" Slug-Go®s, 4" and 5¾" Fin-S Fish®, and 7" and 9" Slug-GoSS™ lures, and will switch around to find which size and action the fish are hitting best on any given day. Sometimes the rippling action of the SS is a killer, and sometimes the darting action of a 4½" Slug-Go® works better. Be prepared to try them all, in any kind of fishable situation less than about 7 or 8 feet deep.

One thing I particularly like to do with a Slug-Go® though, is to skip it under a dock. Fish way back under docks don't get a good look at a lure too often, because most casual anglers never do it unless they're forced to. Among the comparatively few fishermen who become adept at skipping, jigs and texas rigged worms are the hands down choice of lures to skip. So even in lakes that are heavily fished by serious anglers, the fish way back under docks almost never see anything as enticing as the erratic action of a Slug-Go®. If you can develop the knack for skipping a Slug-Go®, you'll catch an awful lot of fish doing it.

I use a 6½' baitcasting rod instead of the spinning tackle most guys choose for skipping. It's not the easiest technique to master, but it seems to work better once you get the hang of it. The hardest thing is to fight off the urge to attempt to be gentle with it, because that will just get you more backlashes than you would if you put some snap into it.

When you get it under there, let it sink a bit right off, then give it a couple short, quick jerks. Don't be in a hurry to pull it out of the shade. That's where the fish are, and the longer you keep the lure in there, the better your chance of getting bit. Finally, be sure to stop the lure one more time and let it sink a few seconds just after you bring it out into the open from under the dock. Sometimes that will trigger a reaction when a fish thinks that a meal is about to escape.