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So here goes the old debate, do I need one? or am I ok without again. Well I have decided to put an SWR on my boat for the upcoming season. Which leads me to this question: is it ok to run a slider on the SWR rod. I can't see how it could hurt but I have never run with an SWR so if you have and you have a reason for or against a slider please let me know. Thanks in advance.

I think like everything else, its just another tool in the toolbox. I had trips last year where it was the only rod producing, and trips where it was the only rod not producing lol. I will likely be using one this year more often than not.

I run one every single trip when the fish go offshore. It is usually my top producing setup. I only run spoons on this setup as a paddle and fly that far off the ball could cause damage depending on how many rods you are running. I do run a slider on it but the succesful hook up rate is less due to the distance the lure has to slide before pressure is established on the hook, but those are bites and when we do get the fish in, those are fish we would of never had. The SWR is always my deepest rigger setup so it does not tangle with my other lines due to the longer lead off the ball. I also use this in the spring on a planner board as a shallow water setup. Multi tool. Great to have.

I'm thinking W is wire & R is rig. What does the S stand for?

Stands for "Secret Weapon Rod/Rig". 2-3 colors of lead off a downrigger. The point is to get below and behind the ball. Stealth off the rigger if you will.

Wow. Sounds like a winner. I've got to have one of those. Thanks. Hey, this is a great site!

I have always felt the slider has to far to travel to the terminal tackle so have not used one with a SWR.

I fall right in line with brother nature on this one. I remember another thread about this on the Chitown board a couple years ago. I think it was a guy out of Sheboygen that did a fairly long comparison of using a long lead off the ball with mono vs the SWR and founf no difference between the two. I for one on a small boat with limited rods always like to use sliders and don't think they are the best idea with lead. Another drawback I found was when I ran it in shore it limited my use of the other rigger. If I were trolling in say 35ft off inland and I had the SWR down I'd have it at 20 ft to fish down around 30. Well, then I wouldn't really want my other rigger anywhere below 20ft. Since I do have some short cores for the other reasons mentions, i.e., lakers on the reef, skams in shallow, coho and steel offshore, I may have to come back to using it from time to time on a rigger, especially in waters over 50ft.

In my opinion the only use for this rig would be off shore 60+ fow and only after 11a or Noon. I too run a small boat and normally run by myself all day (or until I get too tired to continue) it's a 3 rod max so utilizing sliders is huge for me. However if putting a fish a trip on deck means not running a slider or taking a chance at a slider caught fish coming off I think I would be willing to risk it. There have been many days that I just wash lures from 11a until 4pm, so if I'm utilizing all the tools at my disposal I still think an SWR would be worth it.

Hey Fishin Lure, I ran a swr on a smaller boat for a long time before upgrading to our big boat now. Sliders on swr work but you have to real like **** to catch up to the slack. SWR and a slider on it will put extra fish in the box on those slow days and it can be used in the spring for inshore fishing, summer for skams, and fall for returning fish. Versital tool and easy to setup.