Old School Technique : Slider Head Fishing For Bass

[ChrisD46]

*In the technique that Charlie Brewer made famous and also the forerunner of the Ned Rig and Shaky Head  : Who still uses the Slider Head technique and your favorite way to work the Slider Head ? What slider heads do you use and soft plastics best to match to it ?  - Then lastly your rod and reel set up ? Thanks in advance !

[Mobasser]

I still throw them occasionally. Spider slider head, with a 4" worm, various models. I fish them on a fast action, med spin rod. 6 or 8 lb line. The Slider Co had they're 50th anniversary this year. They still catch good numbers of bass.

[Spankey]

Old school, I’m old school. This is a great way and is a very productive basic fishing. I still use CB stuff also. Slider Weedless Rigs w/4” worms. Perfect river worm rig. Black, Black w/ chart. Tail and Pumpkin Seed are the colors I fish the most. The Slider Grubs 3” w/ mini boot tail are another old design that works well. You don’t see their stuff around much these days. I hope they are still in business. 

[Jig Man]

I don’t have any of his heads but I bought a couple of packs of every color grub that they make a while back.  I fish them a lot especially in the fall.  I use my lightest setups with 6# line.  I don’t fish them on the bottom like I do the Ned.  I use homemade heads either ball or minnow in 1/16 and 1/8 oz with a #2 or #1 hook.

[OkobojiEagle]

3 hours ago, ChrisD46 said:

 forerunner of the Ned Rig 

I think they came about at the same time in different parts of the country.

Yes, I've been using Brewer tackle and techniques for many, many years.  The jigs work well on thinner plastics.

 

oe

[ChrisD46]

Is there a basic retrieve or more than one with the slider head + 4" ~ 5" worm ?

[Spankey]

Hop it, Pop it, Swim it, Shakey Head it, Slide it, you really can’t fish it wrong. 
 

You have CB Slider attached to your post but there are countless others out there that fish the same. The types of jig heads Charlie had available is the Slider behind Slider. 

[J Francho]

I think what's more interesting is Charlie's gear he used to fish the baits, and his method of playing the fish.  It is 1000% the opposite of what I'd do, and what is often recommended here.

[Team9nine]

6 hours ago, ChrisD46 said:

*In the technique that Charlie Brewer made famous and also the forerunner of the Ned Rig and Shaky Head  : Who still uses the Slider Head technique and your favorite way to work the Slider Head ? What slider heads do you use and soft plastics best to match to it ?  - Then lastly your rod and reel set up ? Thanks in advance !

 

43 minutes ago, ChrisD46 said:

Is there a basic retrieve or more than one with the slider head + 4" ~ 5" worm ?

 

Big fan of the Slider. Way more ‘revolutionary’ than anyone in the sport gives it credit for.

 

Charlie had 3 retrieve techniques, though he said everyone would develop their own tweaks and styles. The 3 were Steady “do nothing,” “Pull ‘n drop,” and “Polishing the rocks.” 

 

Slow, steady do nothing is my most used.

 

Spider Slider is favorite head, though I’ve picked up a bunch of other styles to fish with more this year.

 

Pretty much use the same gear as I do with Ned and Shakey, with outfits ranging from 6-7 ft, and mostly braid based with various leaders. Did buy a 50th Anniversary glass rod to play with this year, also.

[fishwizzard]

I use a ton of the heads, the 3/0-1/16oz Pro heads are perfect for thinner 6" worms and lizards, very slow fall and the head shape lets them slip through soft cover.  

[tander]

Most of my fish I caught in the spring was caught slider fishing. I used a 4" Z Man finesse worm in Junebug on their 1/16oz weedless head.  I used  yellow 10#PP with 7# Sunline Sniper leader. My rod was a Lews Custom 6'6" and a Plueger XT Supreme reel. Most came on just swimming it.

[Fishes in trees]

To the original poster - ChrisD46.   The Brewer Slider company is still in business.  I strongly recommend you get a copy of his book - On Slider Fishing.   Good read and will give you something to think about in your approach to fishing.  Be mindful that he grew up fishing reservoirs and to a much lesser extent rivers & creeks, but his thoughts more or less apply everywhere.

Basically slider fishing is a light line spinning technique.  Back in the 70's & 80's a ML spinning rod with 4 or 6 or 8 lb line was the ticket.   We got more options now.  My spinning slider rig is an old Diawa Light & Tough ( the silver/white series )  6'3" Medium/extra fast tip.   I might throw 6 lb fluorocarbon or 10 to 20 lb braid/fluorocarbon leader - both work.  When Team9nine mentioned the 3 basic retrieves - what works the best for me is "polishing the. rocks."   Over the years I've accumulated a bunch of Brewer jig heads ( various models ) and anything 3/16 or less I'll go with the spinning gear.    Over the years I've moved more to the spider slider head over the original slider head.

From time to time I throw the quarter ounce spider slider head - the pro model with the slightly heavier hook.   I use a Falcon Low Rider Finesse Jig Rod (6'10" MH - fast tip) paired with an older Chronarch 50 spooled with 10 lb Abrazx.   This is basically the bait that I throw when I don't know what else to throw.   Any 4 or 5 inch worm will work - you can even cut down a trick worm if you want to.  My favorites are the BPS Stick-o with the paddle tail, the Mann's paddle tail worm cut down a little, (Both these baits are getting hard to find) the original slider worm in your favorite color will generally work.

 

So there you go .   Step A - go to the Brewer web site & order the book and a bunch of hooks and worms.  If you're into crappie fishing, they sell as much crappie gear as they do bass gear these days.   That is a place to start - then you'll start fishing other finesse worms when you start running low on the Brewer stuff, Zoom finesse worms work great.   As mentioned earlier, my current favorite is a paddle tail worm worked slowly, polishing the rocks.

[BlakeMolone]

I’m excited to throw the slider spider pro heads I got, I think I will actually give them a try this week. I’m gonna keep it simple and just them for grubs, finesse worms, and rage menaces. I have tried them out in a rocky and snaggy area and they really do seem a little more weed less than a similar sized t rig or ball head.

[OkobojiEagle]

I prefer the flex of the bronze heads over the "pro" series.  Those need to be set and played a little more gingerly.  Word of caution to new purchasers of Brewer heads.  The "original jig heads"... those with bronze hooks are notorious for being lighter than advertised.

 

oe

[MIbassyaker]

I use on occasion the spider heads in 1/16 and 1/8oz for 4" worms (I use the 4" Berkley power worms with curl tail a lot for the swimming and dropping retrieves) and the ewg heads for small creatures. 

 

I also second the recommendation of the book -- still in print, inexpensive, & available on the brewer site.  While it's about sliders specifically, a lot of the discussion is relevant to all kinds of finesse fishing.

[Mobasser]

I have used mostly the Spider head, and sometimes the snagless head. I like the original heads the best, over the pro model. Slider fishing still works well, and the Brewer company has stood the test of time. Although I've never caught many large bass on a Slider, I've had many good numbers trips with them. It's all about speed and depth control, and a relaxing, non tiring style of fishing.

The book is a good read also

[waymont]

Don't pass up the the 3" Cb paddle tail grub! Great bait.

[ryanerb]

I feel like I have almost been doing this with a 1/8 ball head and a 2.8 Keitech retrieved very slowly...  Seems CB came out with this many years ago before Keitechs were even on the market. 

[Deleted account]

I think at some point, crappie, walleye, striped bass, and salt water anglers are going to have to do a bass angler intervention and let 'em know it's all just fishing....

[GetFishorDieTryin]

On 1/25/2021 at 10:48 PM, waymont said:

Don't pass up the the 3" Cb paddle tail grub! Great bait.

I been using these on the pond magic booyahs since I was a kid.  The newer ones dont have the garlic scent and the plastic seems a bit harder, but that could be my imagination. 

[WRB]

Dart heads were more popular out west then the slider head jigs. I tried Sliders and didn’t like the cheap hooks that wouldn’t hold a sharpen point.

Darts with 4” - 4 1/2” curl and ribbon tails (Flutter Craft Screamers) are forgotten Old School that work great.

Tom

[TnRiver46]

21 hours ago, ryanerb said:

I feel like I have almost been doing this with a 1/8 ball head and a 2.8 Keitech retrieved very slowly...  Seems CB came out with this many years ago before Keitechs were even on the market. 

What was once old will become new 

[bowhunter63]

Caught a lot of Smallmouth on those baits. They still catch em today. Old back then will be new tomorrow.  Kinda like the hair jig it’s making a come back

[Bluebasser86]

I use the Slider heads a lot in the spring and early summer. My main bait is a Croc-O-Gater Ring Craw. I use a M/F Okuma EVX spinning rod with 8lb InvisX and Okuma Epixor reel. I'm a "do nothing", retriever also. My oldest son caught his PB when he was 4 on that rig.

 

 

[roadwarrior]