The "Salty Spider" II

By: Will Whitehead – Professional Angler

Last month, I described the “Salty Spider” jig as one of the “Best kept secrets” of many bass fishing “Pros” and tournament anglers. I personally have caught more fish and won more tournaments with this little lure, than with any other in my tackle arsenal. Spring, summer, fall or winter… This little “Spider” will weave “success” into your angling efforts.

Description

The “Salty Spider” jig is made in two pieces. One piece is the “octopus like” skirt consisting of many small and large “tentacles” and one particularly large and thick “arm”. The second piece is a “twin tail” grub with tantalizing “Curly-Q” legs. They come in two sizes… “Small”, which is approximately two-and-one-half inches in length ( and usually fished on the one-eighth ounce head ) and “Large”, about four inches long when assembled ( and usually fished on the one-quarter ounce head ). Each piece is molded separately and made from a “Secret” plastics formula exclusive to Cabin Creek Bait Company. The plastic is also “impregnated” with coarse-grained salt throughout the plastic… Not just “Stuck On” the outer surface. There is, however, one drawback to fishing this lure… This plastics formula is also very soft and prone to tearing. BUT… Many other formulas have been experimented with and NONE have produced the results of the present combination of ingredients. It is just something that “Salty Spider Gurus” have learned to compensate for and live with. You wanna catch fish or NOT??? When assembled, the “Salty Spider” jig most closely resembles a crawfish, shrimp, crab or some other aquatic creature. Whatever the fish THINK it is… That is not really important in my opinion. The fact that they think it is FOOD and gobble-it-up IS!

Rigging the “Salty Spider”

Normally the “Salty Spider” is rigged on the standard “Salty Spider” head. This head was developed over many years of experimentation and field testing by our “Pro Staff” and other professional and novice anglers too. Many styles, shapes, lead collars and designs were tried and this design has proven best. You will notice that the jig sports a longer than normal amount of lead on the shank of the hook, and “spurs” that help hold the “grub” in place. The long lead shank also affords the angler plenty of surface area with which to “glue” the “Spider” to the jig head. This head is available in two sizes… One-eighth ounce, for the small “Spider” and one-quarter ounce, for the large size. It is available in a black-painted-finish only, but some thought is being given to producing this head in several matching and contrasting colors. How much more effective would this make the lure? That remains to be seen. But I will keep you posted on its development.

Standard Rigging on the “Salty Spider” Head

Rigging the lure on the “Standard” head is very simple. Hold the head in one hand and “thread” the skirt onto the head by inserting the hook point into the center of the skirt and sliding the skirt up the hook shank until it rests against the head of the jig. Next, insert the hook point into the center of the “blunt” end of the grub and “thread” the grub onto the hook shank. Bring the hook point through the sidewall of the grub at a point just short of the “fork” in the tail. I like my grub to be slightly up-and-around the bend of the hook. This will cause the jig to “stand up” and appear more like a crawfish or other creature in a defensive position. Finally… Use the larger, thick, odd “arm” of the skirt as a weedguard by sliding it over the point of the hook.

SUGGESTION: If you are “New” to fishing this lure… Rig one up and experiment with it in a kitchen sink, aquarium or clear glass gallon container filled with water. Use a short wooden dowel or stick as a “rod” and a short piece of line to impart the best action onto the lure. Take notice of how it acts with different twitches of the “rod”.

The “Slider” Rigging

Also available from Cabin Creek Bait Company, is the “Slider” head. This head will give more of a “Swimming” action to the lure and is better for fishing heavy weeds or other heavy cover. The “Spider” is attached to this head in much the same way as described above… With the exception of exiting the hook point sooner, so that the “grub” is straight on the hook shank and not wrapped up around the bend of the hook. Again… Use the odd “arm” as a weedguard.

NOTE: This head is also an excellent choice for “Swimming” a standard grub, “Chubby Grub”, plastic worm, lizard or other soft plastic lure.

The “Finesse Spider” Rigging

Over the years, I have experimented with MANY different rigging methods and presentations for the “Salty Spider”. One of the most productive and different rigs I have developed is what I like to call the “Finesse Spider”.

Start out with an “Angler’s Edge”, “Straight Shank” worm hook. Use the 1/0 size for the small “Spider” and the 2/0 or 3/0 sizes for the large size “Spider”. I tend to use larger hooks than most anglers, but any fish that can’t get a 3/0 hook in his mouth… I don’t WANT to catch.

Next, make a trip to the local electronics or auto parts store and purchase some 1/16 inch inside diameter, black, “Shrink Tubing”.

Cut the shrink tubing into lengths that will cover the shank of the hook, from just behind the “eye” down to a point where the “bend” of the hook begins. Then “shrink” the tubing in place, using a butane lighter, match or other heat source. The tubing will give the “Spider” parts something to “bond” to when you assemble the lure. I have tried every conceivable method of covering the hook shank with some sort of material that will give the shank some body and more surface area. The “tubing” has proven to be the fastest, easiest and best method I have been able to come up with.

Assemble the lure by inserting the hook point into the center of the skirt, and sliding the skirt up the hook shank until it contacts the hook “eye”. Then thread the grub onto the hook and exit the hook point at a location that will afford maximum coverage of the hook shank, but will keep the lure “straight”. Slide the parts down the hook shank slightly and place a TINY drop of “Zap-A-Gap” glue ( Great stuff for LOTS of uses around the tackle box ) in front of the skirt. Slide the skirt back up to the “eye” and place a TINY drop of glue onto the tubing between the skirt and grub. Slide the grub back up the hook shank and “squeeze the two pieces together for a few seconds. Finally… Use the odd “arm” as a weedguard.

Tie the lure DIRECTLY to your line and NEVER use any type of snap, swivel or other attachment. This rigging is DEADLY for presenting the “Spider” around boat docks, weed beds, pads, or other cover. It is also DEADLY for summertime river fishing, when tossed out into the current and allowed to simply “drift along”.

The “Carolina Spider” Rigging

Another favorite and productive method of presenting the “Salty Spider” is the “Carolina Spider” rig. This method works exceptionally well in clear water lakes and lakes that see a lot of fishing pressure and boat traffic.

Again, I use the “Angler’s Edge” “Straight Shank Worm Hook” in 1/0, 2/0 or 3/0 sizes, depending on the size “Spider” I am rigging. I first place a piece of shrink tubing onto the shank of the hook as previously described. For the small size “Spider”, I drill a hole in the center of a “Critter Cork” and slide the cork over the “eye” of the hook until the “eye” comes out the other side. I glue the cork in place with some “Zap-A-Gap” lure glue and I sometimes paint the cork a bright color… Such as chartreuse, red, green, or often black. I have not found a painted cork to be any more productive than an unpainted one. I then assemble the “Spider” in the same manner as described above and “glue” the skirt to the cork and the grub to the skirt.

Rig the lure as you would any other “Carolina Rig” lure by sliding an egg sinker onto your line, followed by two glass beads and a 1/4 inch length of “Tackle Tubing”. Tie on a black swivel. Slide the piece of “Tackle Tubing” down over the eye of the swivel to act as a “shock absorber” over the knot. Tie a length of line or leader to the swivel and attach the “Carolina Spider” to the other end. Finally, use the odd “arm” of the skirt as a weedguard.

You can present this lure as you would any other “Carolina Rigged” soft plastic, by casting it out and SLOWLY moving the sinker along the bottom. One mistake most anglers make in fishing any type of “Carolina Rig” is NOT using a large enough sinker of sufficient weight. The idea of the sinker is to keep the lure near the bottom and stir up silt, sand and mud as a disturbance attractant to the fish. If you use too light a sinker, the sinker lifts off and bounces along the bottom instead of dragging.

I have developed a few other methods of presenting the “Salty Spider” to a variety of fish species, in a variety of water and weather conditions, and in a variety of situations. BUT, I can’t tell you ALL of my secrets! Well… Maybe someday! Psssssst… I sometimes use a skirt of a contrasting color to the grub and sometimes use TWO skirts, one of which MAY be a different color altogether.

Extending the Life of the “Spider”

As I previously stated… The “Salty Spider” is made from a “Special” soft plastics formula and impregnated with a heavy dose of coarse-grained granular salt. This formula makes the “Salty Spider” what it is, and makes it VERY effective and productive. We have tried several variations of the formula. They last longer and hold-up better… But they DON’T catch fish. Soooo… If you wanna catch fish… LOTS of fish… You will have to accept this fact and learn to extend the life of your “Salty Spider” jigs. DON’T GET THE IDEA THAT IT JUST FALLS APART… IT DOESN’T! BUT… It is soft and prone to tearing. AND… The fish will actually pull off pieces of it and eat them. When fishing with this lure, you must be alert and NOT allow the fish to “run” with the lure or “hold” it for very long. They WILL swallow it like normal FOOD!

One of the most important items you can have in your tackle box, and use to extend the life of your “Spider”, is a tube of “Zap-A-Gap” lure glue. This glue was specially formulated to bond soft plastic lures and other plastics. Gluing the “Spider” to the jig head, finesse hook, or “Carolina Rig” is one way to extend the life of the lure. When the “parts” become torn and worn, SAVE THEM. On some rainy or snowy day, when you don’t have much else to do, you can spend some time gluing and repairing the “parts”. You can even mix-and-match the colors!

After rigging the “Spider” with any of the aforementioned methods, and before inserting the hook point into the weedguard, cut a small piece of “Tackle Tubing”, approximately 1/4 inch in length. Pass the point of the hook through the “sidewalls” of the tubing so that the tubing is perpendicular to the hook shank. Slide the tubing around the bend of the hook and press it tightly against the grub, at the point where the hook exits the plastic. It will work even better if you glue it in place.

The grub will normally start to tear, just where the hook shank exits the plastic. By using the “Tackle Tubing”, “Zap-A-Gap” glue and repairing the tear when it first appears, you should be able to extend the life of the lure immensely. After using these methods of “life saving”, I can normally boat several fish on the same lure. And panfish will also rip off pieces of the “tentacles” and eat them, but there is little we can do about that. Pieces of the “tentacles” work GREAT as a replacement for maggots, worms, or grubs when fishing for Crappie, Bluegill or other panfish too.

I hope this has been some help to you. If you follow my advice, I can guarantee you the same success with this lure that I have enjoyed for the past 15 years or so. Use your imagination and come up with another presentation method or two. If they WORK, be sure to send the idea to me!

If you have any questions, problems or suggestions, be sure to e-mail me, care of “E-Bait Express”. Just click on the “Contact Us” button and send to my attention. I will be glad to help you out in any way I can. And “Cabin Creek Bait Company” and “E-Bait Express” are always interested in their customer’s needs and what they have to say.

Until next time… Safe boatin’, good fishin’, keep your net wet, and…………………

Tight Lines,

Will Whitehead
“Pro Staff” Director
Professional Angler
24 Time “World Record Holder”

"Sometimes… When it is calm and quiet… I swear I can hear the fish laughing at me"!