20 Sep SlideLoc Beads
The first item I wish to introduce to you truly proves that big things can come in very small packages. It’s called a Slideloc Bead. Produced by WiggleFin Tackle, this amazing little piece of plastic has a number or very cool salmon and steelhead applications and came in very handy over the course of our 2013 season. We were first introduced to this handy little invention by fellow Alaska and Pacific Northwest guide Mike West. Mike stumbled upon the product at a sportsman’s exposition in Portland this last winter and immediately envisioned a numbers of creative ways the Slideloc Bead could be used to improve his angling success in both Oregon and Washington and eventually in Alaska. Mike chronicled his first use of the product by demonstrating the application in a short YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7a3kRS5K98
After using the SlideLoc Bead to peg his spin n glow in-line just above his bait (in this case coon shrimp) Mike is able to greatly enhance his back trolling presentation and his ability to run his offering over shallow bars and transition his baits from one hole to the next without having to reel them and risk hanging them up on the bottom. This in turn led to a better presentation, more time in the water for his baits and low and behold… far more hook-ups!
Mike’s advice prompted me to consider the variety of ways SlideLoc bead could help me throughout my Alaska Fishing season. The first and most impromptu use for the product came early in the season on the Kasilof River, back-trolling for king salmon and dealing with a nasty problem of green moss or river slime coating your lure and baits within minutes of them being in the water. For some reason, the amount of lure fouling debris was off the charts this season and simply sliding a SlideLoc bead several inches above the lure or bait would greatly deflect much of the fouling gunk floating down the river. Not having my kwik fish or spin n glow and eggs fouled with slime within minutes of hitting the water resulted in more fishing time and in turn more hook-ups!
The second and perhaps my favorite application for the Slideloc Bead was as a bobber stop. Rather than the old fashioned string bobber stops or pegging the bobber with a tooth pick, the SlideLoc Bead is ideal for use as an adjustable bobber stop. Clear in color, light, reliable and perfect for stopping a sliding bobber or any shape or size, the SlideLoc Bead is the most simplistic adjustable bobber stop I have ever used. I love how well it grips both mono and braided line without any fear of abrasion or slipping and its size and shape eliminates the need for a bead to prevent the stop from slipping past the bobber. Once again, this is a very small and relatively in-expensive little invention that reaps huge rewards on the water simple because it does something you do daily much easier and more efficient. These are the products I yearn for and I look forward to using the SlideLoc Beads for many years to come.