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Slickrigs are one of the most successful soft plastics that "Squidgies" ever produced. In the 130mm size they come in packs of 4 lures fully rigged ready to fish ... on that basis alone have been a popular barra lure for a number of years.

When I started to get involved in competition barra fishing the Slickrig was one of the first lures that was on my radar so I did a number of trials with them to see if they would fill a gap in my competition soft plastic box for a mid water paddle tail. Unfortunately, they didn't work in that application because they were just too heavy. Not to be put off I have progressively modified the Slickrig by reducing the internal weight so that it swims mid water, have modified the tail so that it swims better at a slow speed, added a subtle rattle to make it easier for barra to detect the lure and finally have added either a spinner or a set of trebles under the lure to induce or convert more hits to hook ups.

With these modifications the one lure can be used in a number of ways. The trebles are removable and it takes just a few seconds to remove them if you think they are spooking fish or your fishing in shallow water or close over weed or you can replace the treble with a simple gold or silver beetle or willow blade.

Process

A	The standard hook and weight set up for a slickrig has a pretty big lump of lead and that makes the standard slickrig sink very fast and then you have to crank the lure pretty hard to get any action in the lure. So upfront I do two things. The first is after taking the lure and lead out of the slickrig to boil the soft plastic like an egg for 3 minutes in boiling water. That make the slickrig much softer so the next time it swims it will have action at a much slower pace.

B	The second thing I do is to remove the lead weight from the hook. You can cut it off with a Dremel or grinder but do be careful not to let either of those tough the shank of the hook otherwise that will make it subject to breaking under the pressure of a decent fish. So what I do is light my small gas torch and melt the lead off. Make sure that the heat is applied to the lead not the shank of the hook as direct heat can temper the hook and we don't want that. When the actual lead gets to temp it will just fall off the shank.

C	Select 3 x 7.3mm split shot. After trial and error I found this to be a good weight to to ensure a good swimming action at a very slow speed keeping the lure in the zone longer. In the photo you'll se a size #2 Mustard Fastach clip which will be used for the stinger or blade.

D	Take the first of the lead shot and place that loose inside the slickrig ... feed it all the way to the front.

E	Take the second split shot and crimp that over the 60 degree angle in hook shank.

F	Crimp the third lead shot on top of the hook shank about 5mm down the shank from the second split shot. That will leave plenty of room for the fastach clip to move freely.

G	Before putting the new hook and weight set up into the slickrig I like to put a drop of solder on the top of each of the split shot to ensure they stay in place.

H	This is also a good time to add a plastic rattle along the top of the hook shank. Give that a coat of super glue to ensure that stays in place.

I	Slide the new hook and weight assembly back into the slickrig. Through the belly of the slickrig manipulate the end of the fastach clip until it is diagonally behind and below the point of eye of the hook. Make a small hole at the location so that the end of the fastach clip pops through.	pho

J	You can use the lure with nothing on the fastach clip or you can attach a beetle or willow or beetle spinner blade from size #1 to #3 or a treble stinger in size #2 to the slickrig.

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