This salt-infused soft plastic captivates bass with its lifelike colors and movement
An Oak Point, Texas, bass fisherman got his hands on a new soft plastic jerkbait 5 ½ months ago that impressed him with its ability to consistently get bass to open their jaws and chomp.
Greg Yates was one of the lucky ones at the time because Minden-based Mister Twister’s 7-inch RT Slug SI soft plastic just hit the market in late summer, according to sales manager Darryl Laurent. The first orders went out in mid-August, Laurent said.
Yates, who began using Mister Twister products 52 years ago when he was 4 on a trip to Mexico’s once-legendary Lake Guerrero, joined the Minden-based artificial lure manufacturing company as a pro staffer in the early 2000s. He’s a big believer in the soft plastics and still catches “an unbelievable amount” of bass on the Mister Twister Phenom.
The 7-inch RT Slug has him hooked big time these days. The Texan didn’t mince words.
“I’m telling you, it’s fantastic,” he said. “It’s a huge winner. You’re going to love it.
“What struck me right off the bat is the design, the size of the bait. It’s soft but super durable. I’ve fished it in heavy grass, milfoil areas, and caught as many as 10 fish with a single bait.”
And that’s even while burying a big wide gap hook in the Slug and fishing it in heavy cover, a tactic that often destroys similar soft plastics.
Fluttering tail action
The Slug’s length allows an angler to embed the hook, even a big hook, and still leave plenty of action behind it, so much so that it “actually dances in place.”
“That’s the thing about it … so many companies (those that make soft plastic jerkbaits) bring out bigger baits and they’re hard, which impacts the action,” he said. “The good thing about the Slug is you don’t have to use a super wide gap hook. You can really use a smaller hook.”
Yates notes that he often ties on a jighead when he’s using forward facing sonar. He thinks the Slug rigged like that acts like a finesse bait in a 7-inch package.
He also uses it with a weedless hook, as a trailer on a bladed jig, as well as Texas-rigged, and plans to use it Carolina-rigged.
Yates, a director of operations/telecommunication for Northstar Energy Solutions who also guides business clients at Lake Ray Roberts and Lake Fork, recalls when Mister Twister finished the design and prototype stages and handed some out to reps.
Laurent started talking up the new soft plastic and sent Yates some Slugs in late April.
“I think he sent me a bag of five (sample packs) in different colors,” he said. “I couldn’t wait to get on the lake.”
Yates went to one of his favorite lakes, Lake Ray Roberts, located near Pilot Point, Texas, in May. His first day on the water with the new Slug was rewarded after he skipped it far back into the brush and swam it out … but its swim was interrupted by a 7-pound bass.
The excited outdoorsman landed it and became a believer right away. He has relied on Slugs in various fishing scenarios ever since.
More colors to come
Slugs are available in eight colors, but the color selection will be expanded, according to Laurent. Yates said he likes all the colors but two stand out for him — smokin’ shad and baby bass.
Yates points out SI stands for “salt-infused.” He praised the amount of salt and the way it’s distributed.
“Mister Twister does a fantastic job of making sure the baits are very uniform,” he said. “Every bait in the package falls at the same rate. Unequal weights across baits with salt have always been an issue.”
For more information about the 7-inch RT Slug SI and other Mister Twister products, go to mistertwister.com or contact (318)-377-8818.
