Fishing with Sliders or Kabura lures

Want to start fishing with sliders or Kabura lures, while I don't proclaim to be a world-leading expert I do use Kabura lures regularly, or at least more often than not when on the water.  Wanting to buy Kaburas, hit this buy Kabura lures link to view our range. 

Having predominantly fished using lures and soft baits since 2006, they are generally my go-to. Landing a healthy, decent-sized say 10 plus pound Snapper on light gear is a buzz, be it on a slider style lure, soft bait, micro jig or any other light lure. It gets the adrenaline pumping.

There are various names for what is effectively the same style of fishing lure. Slow jig, Kabura or sliders are a style of slow jig fishing lure. In short, they come in various colours and sizes and have a weighted head, rubber-type tentacles, and small yet strong hooks.

If you're looking at buying, already purchased or researching how to fish with sliders or kabura-style lures here are some tips to get you started.

5 Fishing with sliders or Kabura lure tips:

1. Knot.  The lure should be attached to your leader using a slimline knot such as a uni knot, that allows the weighted head to slide freely between the hooks and the mainline knot.  This allows the rubber tentacles to stay off the bottom fluttering in the current, as intended.
   
   
2. Drift. This style of fishing is far more effective on the drift. Going too quick put a dredge, or sea anchor out to slow the drift.
   
   
3. Slow, slow, slow. I'm pretty sure I mentioned slow right? If you don't fish these styles of lures slowly you are missing out. Drop the jig to the bottom, immediately on touch down SLOWLY wind up around 3-6 metres.
   
   
4. Action, don't strike. Never strike, if you are getting hits continue slowly winding up. Instead, if you have serious interest and think you may be on or close to it, try lifting the rod to apply a little pressure while continuing to wind up. With any luck, the monster from the deep will have an even better crack.  Just don't strike, remember you are likely on light gear with tiny hooks that tend to lip hook the fish.
   
   
5. No action. Hit the bottom, slowly wound up a good few meters or more, no action, drop it back down and repeat. Then repeat some more. Once your line is getting say a 30-40 degree angle on, wind in and start again.

Slider fishing FAQ:

• Q. What Kabura or Slider lure weight should I use?
• A. Start on the heavy side and work your way lighter if required.  You want the lure head to stay in contact with the bottom.
  
  
• Q. Do I have to fish workups?
• A. No you don't, however, lure fishing comes into its own in workups and is hard to beat.
  
  
• Q. Can you catch a fish with the rod in the holder?
• A. You certainly can, while not the most efficient way to fish these lures you can certainly multi-task while doing just that.
  
  
• Q. What fish can I catch using sliding lures?
• A.  Snapper, Kingfish, John Dory, Gurnard and Blue Cod are among the fish you can expect to catch.
  
  

Bonus lure fishing tips:

1. Lob it.  While not imperative, lobbing your lure a short distance in front of the drift allows more time in the fishing zone.  By the time it hits the bottom with any luck, your line will be near vertical.
   
   
2. Use your electronics.  Take a note, make a mark or have a trail going on your MFD, Sounder/GPS. Sometimes it takes a drift or two to work out your direction of drift, and you may need to reset.  Once we have drift direction sorted, set up on the ground you want to fish.  We often start with a long drift, you can then shorten this once you know where the action is.
   
   

As I stated back at the start, I am not a world-leading expert in fishing with sliders but I do love lure fishing.  Hopefully, these tips can at least help get you started on your lure fishing journey.

Let us know if we missed something obvious or your thoughts below.  We will endeavour to update this periodically, and of course, we stock a range of Kabura style lures, and rod and reel combo sets should you need to buy any.

Dion (aka Dee) @ Lure Me.