Big lunker bass are usually hiding in thick weeds, amongst a barrage of lily pads, under a fallen tree or other debris laden location that reek havoc for fishing lures, even for a lot of lures claiming to be weedless. About a year ago down in Texas, where everything is bigger, a couple of good ol’ boys came up with a very big idea. The Slickfish lures are the first and only lure with retractable hooks. Yes, retractable hooks. The design seems simple enough with only two moving parts—a spring that controls the hooks and a slip trigger that pops the hooks in place. But, will it catch fish you ask? Four members from ModernSportsman.com, including myself, took the Slickfish lure for a spin, or should I say spin-cast? Below are the results of our trials.

Evaluation Overview

The Slickfish is a totally new innovation, and the bar was set high for this gear review. The product is aimed at being weedless, and introduces a hidden-hook technology. These two items were the most scrutinized during our testing. Other evaluation criteria were normal fishing lure items such as color schemes, lure action, hook type / sharpness / placement, overall construction and appearance, and of course, will it catch fish.

Weedless Technology

Scum_Frog: The weedless feature worked excellent over lily pads, in snake grass and reeds, and in timber areas and rocks. Performance was good in seaweed, with some seaweed collecting at the lure nose in heavy weed cover.

Dan_Dempster: The lure went through lily pads without much of a problem and worked very well in milfoil, and around deadfall and underwater structure. The lure worked pretty well in the weeds but sometimes the seaweed got caught where the line is tied to the lure.

Charlie01:  The Lure worked very well in all weedy conditions. The lakes that I fished did not have stumps and dead fall so I could not comment in that area.

Beagleman: The lure went through lily pads very well, and worked excellent around deadfall and underwater structure. Rocky river bottoms were no problem either. The lure worked excellent in snake grass and reeds, but had some problems in heavy weeds. Weeds had a tendency to collect on the nose of the lure where the line tied to it.

Hidden-Hook Technology:

Scum_Frog: The hooks were very good quality and very sharp, but I would suggest increasing the size of the hooks. I did not experience any premature hook deployment. As for the hooks deploying during a strike, I would say my hook ratio was approx 35%. This could be a bit better and why I suggest a larger hook. After landing the fish, the hooks were easily retracted.

Dan_Dempster:   The hooks were of good quality and sharp. The hooks did not deploy prematurely. They did not deploy when getting a hit either. I never caught a single fish after many, many strikes. The hooks do reload fairly easily though.

Charlie01:  The hooks were of very good quality and very sharp.  I did not have any problems with the hooks deploying early.  The hooks failed a couple of times during a strike, but I think it was because of small fish.  The fish that I caught and landed were held very well by the hooks.  Reloading the hooks seemed to be stiff on my lure.  The hooks are still holding up very well.

Beagleman: The hooks were of good quality and sharp and I had no problem with any premature deployment during casts or retrieving through weeds or structure. I had a problem getting the hooks to deploy at any time. I had several strikes by bass, but the hooks never deployed. On one occasion after a big strike and splash in the lily pads, I actually counted to myself “one-thousand-one” before giving a good jerk, but the hooks still did not deploy. I never caught any fish with the lure. I felt the hooks reloaded a little stiff, and it was a noticeable force required to deploy them.

Color Scheme & Appearance:

Scum_Frog:   The colors and the overall look of the lure I received were above my expectations. I especially liked receiving the interchangeable tails with my sample, which allowed me to customize the lure to different water and fishing areas. After my extended use, the colors remained intact and the skirts looked as good as new. I did not try using a spray scent with the lure.

Dan_Dempster:   The colors and overall appearance of the lure I requested were okay. The color scheme met my expectations. After extended use the lure remained looking fine. I did not try using a spray scent with the lure.

Charlie01:   The lure that I requested was Blue w/silver speck and met my expectations. The lure is still bright and shiny after using it. I did not try using a spray scent with the lure.

Beagleman:  I was impressed with the lure I received. The frog color scheme was good, and I received multiple skirts of various colors to modify the presentation. I ran out of spray scent, so never tried this out this aspect. After bouncing the lure off the river bottom and the side of my boat a couple times, the lure still looked as good as new.

Lure Action & Performance:

Scum_Frog:   I chose the floating style lure with a frog paint scheme. I used it mostly in heavy lily pad cover and worked it like a frog / mouse bait. The action appeared realistic enough. I could not use a swivel on the lure because it would not fit in the bar (nose). I had to tie the lure directly. The lure casted very well and I was able to get good distance with it.

Dan_Dempster:   I chose the shallow diving style lure with a clear body and blue skirt. The action was very good.  I could fish it and allow it to flutter up and down.  I also used it as a top-water.  It would swivel side to side and looked a bit like a snake swimming through the water from shore.  I had a lot of strikes fishing it this way. The action of the lure definitely attracts fish. I had to tie the lure on. I could cast the lure pretty well with fairly good accuracy.

Charlie01:   I chose the shallow diver lure. It has a nice fish attracting action to it and caught some nice fish. I tied the lure on my line using a split ring which I feel helped casting and performance of the lure.

Beagleman:  I chose the shallow diving (semi-floater) style lure with a clear kelly-green body and orange/chartreuse skirt. The action was much better than I expected. I could “pop” the lure across the surface or simulate a dying fish rising to the surface and dropping back down. The action was very versatile. I had several strikes, so I can say the lure definitely attracts fish. I could not get a swivel to attach to the lure, and did not have a large enough ring to use, so I had to tie the lure on. The lure casts very well; distance was not a problem at all.

Overall Opinion & One Suggestion:

Scum_Frog:   Overall I liked the lure. I can’t say I would buy this lure at $20. $10 is my max price. I would recommend the lure to my friends. My one suggestion would be to increase the hook size. I believe this would increase the hook up ratio.

Dan_Dempster:   I would like this lure if I could have got the hooks to spring out when I attempted to set the hook. Because of this, I would not recommend this lure to my fishing buddies. I had a lot of strikes with this lure, from very large bass to small bass, but I could never get the hooks to spring out.  Whenever I tried to set the hooks I only succeeded in jerking the lure out of the fish’s mouth.  I started with a bait caster, mono and a medium rod.  I then switched to braided line.  I next went to a heavy rod but I was never able to get the hooks to spring out.  Not once.  It does attract fish though.  Let me know if you get the hook problem fixed.

Charlie01:   Overall I liked the lure and will buy more and recommend them to other people. My suggestion would be to install a split ring on the reload eyelet. Thanks for letting me test your product; it is a good fishing lure.

Beagleman:  Overall I liked the lure. I think it has potential, but needs a little tweaking yet. Personally I would not buy the lure at $20. Call me cheap, but my limit for any lure tends to be in the $10 to $12 range, and that’s stretching it. I would, and have recommended the lure to a few friends. My one suggestion is to reduce the activation force on the hooks. Some type of modification is needed to allow the hooks to deploy with a higher confidence level. 

On behalf of ModernSportsman.com and the other three members testing the SlickFISH lure, I want to thank the makers of SlickFISH for allowing us the opportunity to test this latest innovation in the fishing world.

Thank you.

Daniel Wood – a.k.a. Beagleman; a.k.a. Indiana Dan

Editor, Outdoor Gear Forum

ModernSportsman.com

Read more about the SlickFISH Lure @   http://www.slickfishlure.com/home.php

A Fishing Gear Review

SlickFISH - Totally Weedless Bass Lure

A gear review by Daniel Wood (Beagleman) - October 2007