While it was American rock band the Eagles who recorded “Take It To The Limit” years ago, Bobby Garland’s Itty Bit Slab Slay’R is likely going to have another group, crappie anglers, singing a modified version along the lines of “take it for a limit”. The tiny new little soft-plastic crappie bait imitates a variety of preferred crappie meals ranging from insects to minnows.
The Itty Bit Slab Slay’R measures 1.25 inches from nose to tail. Its body is round and solid, and makes up about a third of the overall length. That means the lure’s tail is also diminutive, but its design serves up a big performance.
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The Itty Bit Slab Slay’R features a ribbed solid body and flexible cupped tail. (Click for hi-res image)
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The thin, flexible tail is cupped coming off the body and narrows to a point. Rigging it on a jighead either cup up or cup down totally changes the action of the lure, even as small as it is.
When rigged cup down, the fall is more vertical and delivers greater vibration to the tail’s tip section because the cup is trapping water. This is a great rigging choice for when crappies are finicky and want minimal lure movement, or for when heavy cover warrants more angler control of the bait to minimize hang ups.
When rigged so that the tail’s cup faces up, then the fall is more of a darting action because the convex surface of the tail makes the lure want to glide, much like how a boat hull works. This rigging action is ideal for bouncing the jig along breaklines and when fishing around more open-cover areas.
Itty Bit Slab Slay’Rs, because they are little, do work best with the smaller jigheads and hooks. Garland’s Itty Bits Jigheads are made specifically for these baits and feature size 8 hooks on each of the two weights available, 1/48 oz. and 1/64 oz. Itty Bits jigheads are unpainted.
Another option is Crappie Pro’s Overbite Sickle Mo’ Glo Jigheads, sizes 1/32 oz. and 1/48 oz. These heads feature a larger size 6 Sickle hook, which still fit the little bodies perfectly. The Overbites come in glow-in-the-dark color finishes.
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Itty Bit Slab Slay’Rs rig perfectly with Garland’s Itty Bits Jigheads (top left) with size 8 hook, and also Crappie Pro’s Overbite Sickle Jighead with size 6 Sickle hook.
(Click for hi-res image)
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The small lightweight jigs do make for a slow descent when fishing deep. A proven solution for speeding up the process of fishing deeper without hindering the action of the tiny lures is to rig them in tandem with a larger jighead and bait above. A good choice for the top rig is a 1/16 or 1/8 oz. jighead fitted with a Bobby Garland 2″ Slab Slay’R or Baby Shad, tied about 18 inches from the end of the line. Then, tie the rigged Itty Bit Slab Slay’R to the line’s end. By being at the bottom of the rig, the little bait is not hindered by the weight above so it keeps its action.
Itty Bit Slab Slay’Rs are available in 12 colors, including longtime favorites like Electric Chicken and Blue Ice, but also in new colors Sweet Tea with Lemon, Pink Lemonade, Black Cricket and Tadpole.
There are 20 Itty Bit Slab Slay’Rs per re-sealable package; MSRP is $3.79.
The size, colors, value and effectiveness of the Itty Bit Slab Slay’Rs seem to make them simply irresistible for crappie and anglers alike, and that thought reminds of yet another popular song from years ago. YouTube is a good place to go to recall the “Simply Irresistible” and “Take It To The Limit” music.
For more information on the Itty Bit Slab Slay’R, Itty Bits Jigheads and other Bobby Garland products, visit www.BobbyGarlandCrappie.com.