Latest / Sac-A-Lait Talk / TARGETING FALL SLABS:REGGIE ARTHUR OUTDOORS I JERRY KELLUM I KILL'UMS JIG CO.

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TARGETING FALL SLABS:REGGIE ARTHUR OUTDOORS I JERRY KELLUM I KILL'UMS JIG CO. · Sac-A-Lait Talk

• Targetingfallslabs: Hey anglers, welcome back to Sacolate Talk. I'm your host Dwayne Turner and we have a jam-packed lineup for you today. First up, we're diving into our slab bite segment. I'm sitting down with Reggie Author, Reggie Author Outdoors, to get the latest breakdown on what it takes to find and trigger those heavy false slabs right now. And you know we can't stop there later in the show. The jig is out. I'm catching up with Jerry Kellum from Killum's Jig Company to talk lure design, color selection, and the exact presentations that fool those stubborn crappy when nothing else will. Two incredible interviews, tons of heavy hitting tactics. Let's get right into it. Welcome back to Sacklay Talk. It's time for slide bites. And when that reel is winding, you already know what time it is. What's up, y'all? We outdoors. We got the man himself, Reggie Arthur, ready to break down what's pulling drag today. Reggie, welcome to the show. All right, glad to be here. Thanks for giving us a few minutes and sharing your knowledge with our listeners. I really do appreciate it. Not a problem. Not a problem. Always willing to awesome, man. Look, Reggie, we're locked and loaded, man. So if you're ready, let's get started, okay? All right, let's go. All right. Tell our listeners the backstory for your signature catchphrase. What's up, y'all? We outdoors. Well, it kind of came about just on a whim, you know. I was you know, talking with some of my other fishing buddies, Preston Honeyhole banded Whitney Paul and a couple of other guys, go get and you know, they were talking about how their page grew just, you know, tremendously in a short period of time. and I've always been the type where I just kinda like to stay low key and behind the scenes and just go fishing and You know, and maybe post here and there, but, you know, talking to those guys, they all encourage me, man, you know, it's got a lot of people out there that'll be interested in seeing what you do, just like, you know, what we're doing. And he said they all said, you know, you need to come up with something and you know, that's sketchy and you know, and try to make some of this money, you know. I wasn't so much crazy about, you know, or overly excited about the money part. but I did, I do get joy out of sharing my experiences with everybody. So you know, I would start off by saying, what's up, y'all? You know, and then whatever I'm doing. You know, hey, I'm out here or whatever. And then one day it just came to me to say to just put I'm outdoors in the mix because I was, you know, I thought of and the outdoors to my name just as my handle or my my right, you know, my my ID on Facebook because I had already started posting under my name and, you know, everybody lot of lot of other guys they have like Go Get has Go Get Mr. Go Get Preston is a honey hole bandit, Cropping Ninja, and you got all these different names. But I I had established a following already. So I said, I'm Just throw outdoors in there some kind of way. And that's how it came with I'm Outdoors. Okay. And it kinda stuck. And you know, people see me now and I'll be pumping gas or something and I'll hear somebody yelling, I'm outdoors. You know. If it works, man, that's that's awesome. Yeah. Yep. So that's how that came to be. Okay. speaking of outdoors, what does being outdoors mean to you personally? Well, you know, being outdoors to me is not just fishing. Being outdoors is being outdoors cooking, being outdoors working in my yard, working in my garden, messing with my car, tinkering around with my with whatever it is I need to do outside. That's what it's all about for me. Is it's not just fishing. It's just you know, just cause I enjoy being outside. I spend more time outside doing stuff. Right. So yeah. So that's that's that's what it means to me is just just being outside and just and just enjoying being outdoors. Yeah, I mean me personally too. I I love being outdoors. Like you said, w not Not just fishing, but just being being outside. I love barbecuing. I love cooking. You know, so yeah, I I I definitely I definitely can can understand that. Yeah, and that's kind of why I I stuck with the I'm outdoors theme because Right you know, I'm not just doing fishing, I'm cooking and doing all this other stuff and I like over the weekend I was working on my tiller while I was outside. Right. You know. Okay. Reggie, when did chasing Sakhalai specifically pacifically become an obsession for you? And what makes chasing them down here in South Louisiana another catchphrase just different? it became a passion for me, man, probably I would say probably about maybe thirty years ago. one of my uncles, he was real passionate about strictly cycle a fishing and we would fish a lot together and you know it just over time it just grew into what it is now. I d when I first started fishing, you know, which was many years before that, it was just fishing, whatever. I bass fished a lot, brim fished a lot, just whatever. you know, was the thing to go for at the time, you know, like springtime you well, you know, you got the spawning season, then after that you chasing brim and and all of that. And you know, I like I said, I did all of that, but it was just something about the cycle aid fishing that was a lot more challenging and to go out there and catch them and find was a lot more rewarding. I fished in many places all over the country. But it's just something different about being here and our type of fishing that sets it apart from everywhere else. Because it's all it's it's way more challenging here because our our water conditions change on a daily basis. And you know if you can adjust and and and make those adjustments and and find fish, Out here with the conditions that we have to deal with, man, it it it sets you apart from everybody else. I'm not the greatest. I don't claim that by any means, but I feel like on any given day I can go out there and find some fish and you know, and and deal with the conditions that we have. And it's it's it's a challenge every day. I can you can go today, catch a limit, go tomorrow and catch five or six, you know. So yeah, it's it's it's the challenge. It's the the the the challenge for me. Yeah, that that's exactly why I love sack late fishing, it's the challenge. I used to be big into bass fishing and I I got out of it 'cause it was just such a hustle and bustle and, you know, tournament fishermen and racing you know, a hundred miles down down the bayou, you know. so I I got into Sacklay fishing and I love it because It's like you just said, the challenge, you know, believe it or not, they're not easy to catch. No. You know, but it's the the challenge of of chasing those those slabs that is why I l love it, you know. Right. Yeah, it's it it's it's it's you know, you and you like I said, when you go out there and you find them and you catch them and you catch a two pound fish or even even a even a a one pound fish. Just for feeling that getting that tug and or that watching that cart go down, man, isn't it's nothing like it. Right. Yep. Nothing like it. That's nothing like it. Hey Reg. Reggie, do you have a home lake that you primarily fish? I guess, you know, I would call I wouldn't really call it a home lake, but I would call it a home body of water, which would be the Grand River area, you know, Upper Grand River, what we call Jack Miller. Right. that area. You know, that's the that's probably I can get to that I can get to that body of water the quickest. it's forty forty five minutes from my house. it presents Deep water, shallow water, you know, a lake setting and you know, the bayou setting. So it kind of offers everything in one package right right not far away from the house. So right. I would say that that would be the not necessarily the the home lake, but the home idea of water. Okay. Awesome. Yeah. Let's let's talk about Lake Verette. Okay. Can we? I think you know where I'm going with this, but let's let's let's go with it, okay? Okay. You you often joke on your channel that Lake Verette, man, that's that place that don't like me, but you still manage to pull some solid catches out of it. How do you appro approach targeting fish in those massive cypress lay downs and when they refuse to cooperate with you? Well, To be honest, I've learned more about Lake Verett this year than I've ever known about Lake Verett. And that's greatly due to some of the fellowshipping that I've been doing with other fishermen that go out there way more than I do, getting information from them, talking about their experiences. And just and and taking from that and and using it. You know, you you go out there, they primarily target lay downs. You know. Right. The thing that I hated about and I still kinda hate about Lake Verette is the fact that, you know, they're scattered, they're far and few between, and then you got other people fishing. Everybody's trying to fish the same thing. You know, so you go to an area, you might have four or five boats and you know, there's only so many lay downs in an area. So you spend a lot of time moving around, looking for laydowns, and and and you know, searching for those fish out there. When you find them, you know, the lay downs generally they'll you know they may have fish on them. I mean, I've I've experienced just this year where you find laydowns, and I think I made a post about it, and you With live scope, you know, live scope has changed the game for us. you pull up to that laydown and you live scope it, and you might see 10 fish sitting on it. And you fish and fish and fish, and it don't matter what you put out there for them, they're not gonna hit it. Right. You know? And you could move to another part of the lake and go see the same thing, and you could catch every fish that you see on that lay down. You know, so and the other thing about Lake Verette is If you don't pay attention to that weather, you go out there, you know, and get caught with your pants down, you can run into a problem. 'Cause I've I've had that happen before too. It could be a major, major problem if you don't pay attention to that weather. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yeah, the the waves will jump up on you and yeah. You know. Yeah, you you don't want to get caught crossing that lake on a on a windy day. You're in a small boat like mine. Yeah, you're gonna have problem. Reggie, what is your signature setup and technique for catching sacklite in the fall? in the fall, I guess, you know, the fish are transitioning kind of back to being on structure. So if they are on the structure, I typically would go with an inch and a half. Cigar style float, the clip-on kind with a with a 116th or 132nd jig, smaller medium profile hook with a typical, you know, inch and a half soft plastic. I'll use orange head with the chartreuse, black and chartreuse. That's that's the go-to. Yeah. Then I'll just keep switching up until what pound line are are you using? Are you using the high viz line or I use so lately I've been using the high viz line eight pound test. yeah, that's my preferred, you know, line size. I've tried to go smaller. Don't like it. Too many breaks, too many breakouts. Gotta retire a lot. You lose a lot of fish. like going to a six-pound. Ten pound, I find it to be, it'll work, but my style of fishing, that eight-pound is the sweet spot. Right. Okay. Yeah. That's the sweet spot for me. and as I said, you know, like with using Live Scope, you know, it's it's it has forced me to do different things. Typically I'll use that that cork with the jig setup. But with live scope I've kind of been transitioning to just tightlining. even if even if the fish are on structure, I'll still tight line versus using the cork. Okay. Now if I don't feel like fighting with the live scope or whatever, then you know, I'll just stick with my cork in the in that in that one sixteenth or one thirty second jig and go roll with that. Okay. Reggie, speaking of LiveScope, how heavily do you use LiveScope and do you still keep old school tactics in your back pocket? Well, I use it every time I go out. and it just depends on, you know, the s the the conditions and how I'm fishing. Lately I've been fishing in, you know, deep water going after suspended fish. So, you know, Live scope is definitely gonna be a factor and it it it gets used the whole time I'm out there. Fishing in the bayous, I'll I'll set it up, but a lot of times I'll just fish under a cork, and then if I see something, you know, like a lay down or or a stump or something under the water that you can't visibly see on top, and I see fish on it, then I'll switch. to using a live scope in that moment, but then I'll go back to using popping a cork or jigging in in in treetops and brushtops and stuff like that. So using the cork, the jig and kark, is that your favorite favorite style to fish? Corking, slip karking? Well, not necess not a slip cork. I don't I I I I've tried that. I'm not crazy about it. because a lot of times with with the cycle aid, while that line is is is sliding down, they'll hit that, hit you, hit your jig. If you're not paying attention, you'll never see hit it. And then you go already on there and then you end up losing it because you never really chance to set the hook. So I use my my s my stopper is fixed on my line. I use either I use the the the little cigar floats with the peg or I'll use the ones that clip on the clip at the top and a clip at the bottom. Okay. Hey, Reggie moving on. What is what's your opinion on the new regulations for the s for Sakalay in the Chaflaya Basin that you know they they enacted this past summer? you know, I I'm I'm okay with it. I think that maybe they should have went to ten inch minimum instead of eight. That's what I was thinking, you know. personally, yeah, ten inch. That's what I was thinking they they should have gone to, but yeah, 'cause I mean if you really if you look at an eight inch fish, man, that that's small. Yeah, it is. And I think that that fish, you know, should have an opportunity to get a little bit bigger before it gets cold. I mean, before it gets harvested, you know. it's just it's j especially if you're catching white cycle A, 'cause the white cycle A s they can be They even a ten inch white psycholay is is, you know, small in comparison to a black. Right. but as far as far as the number, you know, that twenty five, I don't have a problem with that either, because you know, twenty five is more than enough. yeah, right. If you catch twenty five Go ahead. If you catch twenty five nice fish per person, that's a that's a nice mess. Yeah, yeah. I mean Yeah, I you know and on in in unless it's like in the sp you know spawn and spawn time or in the spring, average person is not catching twenty-five fish anyway. You know. So so why why do you think they went to those new regulations in in the Chaffalaya? I really don't know. because in conversations with other people, you know, the Chaffalaya is so huge. Right. You know, it's like I could see them doing it in other places, but in the Chaffalaya, it's it's just to me and a lot of other people it didn't really make sense because that place is so huge. That place has so much water that we don't even touch, that we can't even get to, to be able to fish. And those fish have refuge there and and it allows them to continue to to Grow, multiply, and replenish consistently. So why? I have no idea, but that's that's my opinion on it, you know. Right. Okay. Good enough. Yeah. Reggie, a little bit of rookie advice. If I anger and South Louisiana have struck out on on their last three trips trying to catch Sacklay, what is the single biggest fundamental mistake they are probably making? the s the one biggest mistake is is losing patience and not being consistent. I see a lot of people coming to a spot, they fish for 10, 15 minutes, if they don't get a bite, they move it on to somewhere else. And I could be sitting in that same spot catching fish. And, you know, I've even told people before, hey, you gotta do this or you gotta do that, and they they do it for a minute. And then they go back to what they know or what they think is right. And they don't catch any fish. And then they keep moving. So I think that a lot of people need to just slow down, focus on one style of fishing and stick with it. And and and if you do that, you'll turn better results over time. And you learn in as you go. So like just lack of patience. If they just be more patient, yeah. They would they would be more successful on their trips. Yeah. Fishing Sacole fishing in particular requires a lot of patience, you know. yeah, absolutely. Yes, absolutely. All right, I got a tough question coming up next, man. what is what is the signature Reggie Authorway to fry up a best of Sakole? man, it's simple. I don't I don't too do all them fifteen different seasonings and all that stuff. I I sprinkle a light coat of whatever occasion seasoning I want to use at the time. Very light coat. And I use Louisiana fish frying. It it's it's the seas it's seasoned good. Yep. That's what I used to. Yeah. So one thing I'd have learned over time with when you frying Cyclate filets, you don't want them real wet as far as water. You want to kind of, even if you have to pat them off and dry them. And then I use mustard on my fish as a binding agent for the batter. A little bit of mustard, sprinkle that seasoning on there, and and dredge them in that Louisiana fish fry in the blue bag or the blue bucket. And and that's it. Fry up. Yes. I tell you what I do, and I I like the way I fry but I use mustard and Louisiana hot sauce as the as the binding. Okay. And I like I said, I don't put that much season on it. you know, I use a little bit of cajun. And like you said, the Louisiana fish fry is already seasoned, so you don't I mean if you put too much seasoning it becomes too salty, you know. Yeah. Yeah. You know? So But it seems to work. Sometimes I don't put any extra. It's just, you know, yeah. We we so used to seasoning whatever we cook no matter what down here in Louisiana. So yeah. It's kind of it's kind of almost like you know, a sin not to sprinkle a little bit on there. Right. Okay, the last question. Where can the Sakala talk community following your latest catches and adventures? you can follow me on Facebook, Reggie Author Outdoors. You can follow me on YouTube, Reg Your Author Outdoors, and Instagram, same thing, Reg Your Author Outdoors. Okay. not the Instagram. I'm I haven't made it over to Instagram quite yet, but I am on TikTok Reg Your Author Outdoors. And I'll be I've been kind of slow with putting stuff out lately because I haven't been really getting a lot of footage. posting a picture here, a little bit of video there. But my time of the year is coming up. The fall and winter. That's my favorite time to go out there. That's your favorite time? yeah. Okay, awesome man. I'm looking forward to it. Yep. Twenty five, thirty degrees. Reggie, man. Thank Reggie, thank you for joining the show, man. It's it's been a pleasure. Thank you for sharing all your your expertise with our listeners. my pleasure. My pleasure. Glad to be here. Okay. Thank you so much. And we'll talk soon, okay? Yes, sir. That wraps up another edition of Slab Bites right here on Sacklay Talk. A huge shout out to Reggie Author Outdoors for dropping knowledge and reminding us all why we love being out on the water. Make sure to go check out his channel, hit subscribe, and see how he gets it done. If you enjoyed today's bite, hit that follow button, share the show with your fishing partner, and leave us a review. Until next time, and as Reggie says, stay outdoors. And that is how Reggie Author is finding the bite right now. But finding them is only half the battle. You've got to trigger them. To break down the best fall patterns and colors, we're tossing it over to Jerry Kellum. Jerry, the jig is up. Today we are diving deep into the world of custom tackle with a guest who knows exactly what it takes to turn finicky bites into bragging rights. Born right here in the Bayeans of Louisiana, his family-owned business has been taking the crappy world by storm. He is the mastermind behind the highly sought-after slab hammer jig heads, slab clusters. And custom soft plastics designed specifically to look massive on live scope and drive big fish crazy. Whether you are fishing brush piles, shooting docks, or rigging up high-end marine electronics, this man builds the gear that puts slabs in the cooler. Joining us to talk jig design, color patterns, and how to food those heavy South Louisiana Sackalae. Please welcome the owner of Killum Jig Company, Jerry Killum. Hey Mr. Dwayne, how you doing today? I'm doing great, man. thank you for joining the show and and dropping some knowledge on on our listeners. Yeah, yes, sir. Thank you for having me. Okay. Well, Mr. Jerry, we're locked and loaded, man. So let's get started, okay? Okay. Okay, Mr. Jerry, we love supporting local on Sackley Talk. You guys are running a true family business right out of Livingston, Louisiana. Give our listeners the backstory. How did Killum's jig company grow from messing around with leads and plastics to a premier name in the handcrafted crappy baits? You know, Mr. Duane, I really don't know. We we just kind of started making them for ourselves. My dad did it. when I was a kid and I've always done it growing up just and we only made one color back then as far as plastics. It was everything was black and chartreuse. But you know, me and my wife we got into fishing and the next thing you know, giving baits to friends and word of mouth and before you know it it just kind of blew up more than we was expecting and and and here we are now. we've got a great following. We've got some great supporters. And and most importantly, we made some excellent and and wonderful friends along the way. Right. I know by the community I've been talking to, you guys have a a great reputation and there's lots of anglers that love y'all jigs. Yes, sir. And that's that's one thing about us. You know, we fish too. We don't it it's made right there at the house. a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. The whole family's involved in it. And you know, I I I kinda I guess the real reason to kind of rewind back that we got into it. You know, and I I won't name no other brands or anything like that. And and and and they're great, they're great baits all over the world. but but I I I wanted something more durable. you know, most importantly, the reward I get from catching something that I made is just it's bar none. And and that's a and that's another thing is, you know, I I I work a lot, I travel a lot. my wife and my kids are really the backbone of the company. I get all the credit. But really they deserve all the credit. but but you know, while I'm gone, fishing's my passion. I love fishing, you know, God, wife, family and and fishing. That's kind of where I'm at. And and for me to be able to enjoy those moments that people get on their boats by using our baits and getting to see the pictures and get the feedback, that's about as close as I can get to fishing most of the time. And, you know, we just we really love it. We really enjoy seeing other people make memories. with the stuff that we you know, we we produce so so Right. Ms. Mr. Jerry, your business model is turning bites into bac into bragging rights. When an angular ties on a kill jig compared to a mass produced big box store brand, what is the what is the that distinct handcrafted edge they are immediately getting? Well, I would like to think that the the the biggest thing that that we put together is is a lot of our stuff is custom, so it's a little bit different. but the durability, you know, then and that it again, they make great baits all over the country. I I know there's probably better than ours out there, but but something we take a lot of pride in, it's not about the money with us. It's about the the durability, right? So if somebody can go out there and catch thirty, forty, fifty fish on one bait. I love that. That that's what I like to do with my baits. So that's kind of that's kind of the head front for us is is the the the durability of our baits, the be the the abilization to be able to customize baits and and certain colors that people want that they can't get elsewhere. You know, they'll they'll reach out and they'll they'll have a plan in their head and they'll say, Hey, can you do this? Now we might not have it on the website, but yes, we can do just about anything anybody wants. But Right. Most importantly for us i i is the durability of our baits. Okay. Mr. Jerry, let's talk about Beyond the Bates. You guys have a massive reputation as authorized dealers for heavy hitters like Gorman, Marine and Electronics, beatdown. Beat down outdoors and ionic lithium batteries. Why why was it important for a jig company to involve into a full scale rigging and an electronics hub for crappy anglers? You know, Mr. Dwayne, again, it all falls back to the camaraderie. if we're able to help other anglers out and be a one stop shop, by all means, that's that's a that's our aim, that's our goal. also we're also a authorized Lie Time Lithium battery dealer as well. But yeah, just just a a a place that somebody can come and a bait shop i it's kinda like a barber shop. You could talk fish and and if if there's sales going on on electronics, we're able we're able to help and we don't even call them customers at that point. Most most become close friends. So, you know, we're able to to help friends and help the community and things like that. Plus we offer a a a trade in program where We do get used equipment sometimes and we test it and we're able to help out the the some let's just be flat honest, some people don't quite have quite the the funds and financial abilities to go buy something brand new. So it when it becomes to the use stuff, it enables us to be able to to hopefully give something somebody give something to that that that's more reasonable and affordable that we can steal back with with our personal warranty. Okay. All right, moving on, Mr. Jerry. Let's let's talk about your lineup. Besik specifically the slab hammer, jig heads, slab snacks, and bad shads. For someone fishing a classic Louisiana swamp like Henderson or a deep lake like Larto, how should they choose between the profile of a slab snack versus a bad shad depending on water clarity? Well, a lot of it too, Mr. Duane, depends on the season. typically summertime fish will get a little finicky. I like to downsize. That's when I'll go to the bad shad, which is our inch and a half. Slab snack we actually have the inch and a half and the two inch. But sometimes the fish like something a little bit bulkier, a little bit meatier looking. the slab snacks kind of a thinner profile on the inch and a half. and a as to where the the bad shad it has a little more meat on the bone. So you just kinda gotta pick and choose what they like. I I've I I've got a tackle bag and it's probably the least organized tackle bag you've ever seen. Right. I've got zip blocks everywhere. we use a lot of the baits that we don't sell, you know, that have a little blemish here and there. Something didn't go right. So I'll reach in and and and I I frequently, anybody that's fished with meat, I change baits like like it ain't nobody's business until I find out what they like. And but but again that that inch and a half, that two inch profile, depends on the season. Like here in the cooler months, we'll jump it up to a two inch. And actually we've got another bait that we have not released yet. We've been making it. We're we're trying to make sure we have plenty of stock. It's called the boogie bug. It's two inch right now. We will get the inch and a half later. But it's a two inch, it's got twin tails coming off of it with a ribbed body. And we really think that this one's gonna cause a lot of trouble here come the fall in the winter. So we've got a lot of high hopes for it. we've got some people out there testing it. We've tested it. it it holds up great. It's got a lot of action and it's definitely something that the fish don't see. I if they've never seen it before, there there might be something similar, but they've never seen this profile before. So we're excited to release it here pretty soon. Like I said, a lot of times in the beginning we learn when you put something on there, we never wanted to play catch up. So now we're trying to produce a lot of the bait to have stock to put it on there. That way we're not working till one, two o'clock every morning trying to catch up. Okay. All right. Mr. Jerry, walk us through the most effective way to fish killing jigs to put some slabs in the boat. Well, I I I guess the the most efficient way is to is to get out on the water. that that that's number one. Number two i is knowing the body of water. knowing where to go, you know, people talk, people people ask me all the time, hey man, because we've got a camp at Larto. Now Larto's three hours north of me, but I spend quite a bit there when I'm not working, me and the family. Yeah, I I fish Larto many times. I used to stay at Uncle Bud's Yeah, so as a matter of fact, if anybody's listening and you go to Larto, you reach out to Lance and Stacy, the owners of Uncle Bud's cabins and marinas, you tell them I sent you, they'll take care of you for sure. Yeah. Okay, awesome. But I love that. And that's something, it's it's it's it's a slice of heaven, it's off the grid. you know, e your phones don't hardly work up there, and that's probably what I enjoy about it the most. It's a lot of water. It's a lot of water. Some people say it's hard to fish and and I can see that. But man, I get calls all the time, Mr. Dwayne. Hey, I'm going to Larto, where would you recommend? So we've dropped a bunch of structure out there, even though we fish open water. when when I have friends come with me, we always try to put on fish. So we'll find structure and things like that. you know, I I I guess the most effective thing is to get out on the water, know the body of water, get some information, talk to people. The local people can tell you now. Some of them try to guide you wrong, but most of them will tell you right. Right. at Larto, I tell anybody, I've got a color. I they call Grenada Gold and other other brands. We call it Larto Magic, which is a gold body with an orange tail. that thing right there is super deadly at Larto. but getting out there, finding structure. if you're not used to the open water, before I go anywhere, I look at the I look at the maps. I try to find the the channels. I try to find, you know, the bins and things like that where the current flows. just look at those things before I go and try to visualize is this is this where they be. I mean because typically i i if you plan ahead and you get a good game plan, don't just put plan A together. Put plan A through Z. That way you've always got another plan. If that if that location doesn't work, you can pick up and move somewhere else. Right. Yeah, I talked to last week I interviewed the Honey Ho Bandit and I was discussing Larto and see he said he had never been there yet, but he he he he's got it on his list. I said yeah any anybody that wants to come to Larto and I'm available, I have no no qualms about taking anybody and showing them where I fish. They're there. You just gotta you sometimes you gotta finesse a little bit to get to bite. But between Celine and Larto, It's a huge complex with a lot of water. I I I mean, you'll hear people say all the time, and and if you've been there before, Mr. Dwayne, during the the here coming the fall, after hunting season, there'll be ninety boats right there at Youngblood's Landing as you get in the bayou. And and that that area right there, there's a three or four mile stretch in the bayous that see a ton of pressure. And and last year, you know, people would would complain, hey, there's not no fish, and I could go out there and catch a limit. And it's not that I'm better than them, but the fish get smart. They they see that pressure. fish fish move. Fish fish move around. They see the pressure. They get tight lipped. Well peep the fish move, but the people don't. So you you you you can't be s I I've got a I've got a rule. I'll spend about five minutes in one location. And if I'm not catching fish or they're chasing bait and they're not biting, I'll pack it up and leave and I'll go somewhere else. Right. Absolutely. Well let's move on from Larto. How has inter interacting directly with the fishing community online impacted the way you design or test new product lines? You know, it's made things real easy, Mr. Duane. Like like I said as a kid, my dad made some plastics and some and some jig heads. Back then it was just ball heads. And you know, it was never meant to be a a business. Even when we started, it was never meant to be a business. But word of mouth travels fast. When you have a a a a good product, a a a durable, a quality product, people say, hey, where did you get that from? And the next thing you know, you're getting phone calls from people that know people that that know people that you give baits to and and it just kind of it goes from there. Every time somebody tags on on Facebook, it seems like you usually pick up a customer or, you know, on on on TikTok or Instagram or anything like that. when they tag us, it just i i it it promotes a product and I even if it's not us, anytime somebody's tagged, it promotes a product and people, you know, spark interest in it. Next thing you know, when they share it or they get on board, they sh they share it and it just it's a chain reaction. But the biggest thing behind it all is having a quality product. And that's in anything, not just baits, that's anything you do. It's having great customer service and a quality product. Right. Absolutely. Mr. Jerry, have you noticed this ch have you noticed a change in what sack lay anglers look for in a jig, such as weight or profile changes since live scoping fishing has become so popular? I I would say I would say yes, Mr. Dwayne. You know, typically your most common w weights are for jig heads are gonna be a one thirty second and a and and a one sixteenth ounce. My favorite personally is a three thirty second, which is just in between a one eighth and a one sixteenth. But there even now we've actually started production yesterday on a one eighth ounce slab hammer jig head that hopefully will have the mold ready here within the next thirty days or so. And a lot of that too, fish tend to go deeper during the summer times, winter months especially. some some lakes are deeper. so when you're fishing with a weight above, just it helps get that that bait down a little quicker. Right. but yeah, I see a a a a mass major a vast majority of again growing up Sackolate fishing, one eighth ounce head was unheard of. And now you've got live scope, you're able to chase open water fish, which is something you never thought existed pre-Live Scope. Yeah, th it's definitely live scope has changed the sizes of the baits and and weights. Okay. Mr. Jerry, looking ahead, and I think you partly answered this, but I'm gonna go ahead and ask you the whole question because you may be able to add on to it. Looking ahead, what are some new profiles or secret projects you are working on that we can look forward to seeing next from Killem's Jiggs? So we're all my mind's always working, Mr. Dwayne, but right now, within the next month for sure, you'll and we already have. the two-inch boogie bug profile. that's a plastic that we we really, really like. and I'll just kind of some people seen it. I posted it on our Facebook page. It it's basically a grub body with twin tails, but the tails don't come out straight. You know, a lot of baits that have a twin tail that's straight. These kind of come off the the hips at an angle. And in in my mind when we was creating this bait and developing it. y you know, it just it it it it for a fish it gives more appearance. them legs aren't running perpendicular exactly. They're kind of it it it's creating double action almost in the water. And it's just creating something that the fish is like, hey, what is this about? Let me go check it out. And that that was the intent behind it. And then also as I told you, we started production yesterday on a one eighth ounce slab hammer jig head. with the number two and everything we use in our jig heads has the two X strong Mustad hooks. that to me that's the best quality hook. if you're fishing a lot of structure, it might not be the hook for you because it's it don't have no bend to it. There's no give. Okay. But but that's what I like. I like fishing them big slabs out in open water. I don't want something that's gonna give or bend. it it's just a high quality hook. In my opinion, it's the best hook. out out there, especially that must add produces. Okay. But yeah, that's w that's what we got in the works right now. And, you know, I'm always playing with other things. We've got some some stuff, I'm sure you've seen some of the other gels that you can scent that people rub on their jigs and it it's got it's got something in it that right now it's still in in testing phases, but it it's it's gonna make the intent behind it is to make your Your jig shine a little brighter on live scope with with the material that's in it. So it's basically a gel that's scented. Right now we're just testing out garlic, but you know, how depending on how it works, it'll have we'll have anise and and shad and crawfish scents and things like that as well. Okay. Mr. Jerry, let's talk about live scope and forward facing sonar. LiveScope and forward facing sonar have changed bait design. When you are manufacturing your soft plastics, how much do you factor in sonar density or visibility on a Garmin screen so angular so anglers can actually watch their killums jig drop right into a fish's nose? So and that's a that's a good thing, Mr. Duane, just like the jig head, the plastics. I tend to make them just a little bit wider than the average. Because on that live scope, a lot of people, when they're looking at it, and it can be confusing when people first get it. because when you're looking at the screen, it's left and right, which left and right is actually front to back. So when you cast out, what you see is actually coming back to you. So if it's a little bit wider in in in theory, it it's gonna show a little brighter on the live scope. So that's kind of that's kind of what we do with behind most of our products. Mr. Dwayne is we try to make just a hair wider than than the others. That way they have that better return on the live scope when they're swimming back to you. Okay. Okay. Mr. Jerry, if an angler only has one hour left on the water, the sun is high, and the sacchalate are locked up tight inside a brush pile, what exact kilom's bait, jig, weight, and color combination are you telling them to tie on to save the day? I'm gonna go to a one-sixteenth ounce. my my and again, this just depends on the clarity of the water. But I don't think anybody can ever go wrong with the orange head. orange is kind of my confidence color. Anywhere I go, orange seems to always work, whether it's clearer water, dirtier water, murky water, muddy water. orange is definitely a favorable color. And as far as a jig. I would probably d I mean plastic I would probably downsize to an inch and a half. depending if you've got a hour left, you kinda know what they want. but I would say my absolute go to, my favorite bait would always be if I could only have one bait in my boat, even though orange is my confidence color, a monkey milk and chartreuse, you can never go wrong with that. so I'm probably out of my my selection, I'm gonna tie on that inch One sixteenth ounce orange head. I'm gonna put a inch and a half bad shad monkey milk and chartreuse and I'm gonna ease it down on top of that pile and I'm gonna stop my bait and try to get them to to react to it. Okay. Sounds good. Mr. Jerry, what does it mean to you when local tournament anglers or guys put your baits on their lines when money and reputations are on the line? You know, Mr. Dwayne, it's it's one of those things that out of everybody in this world that they could pick, they picked my bait. And and for us, I say my bait, that that's really my wife, because they make just as much as I do if not more. Like I said, they're the backbone behind it. But for somebody to choose our family's baits, out of anybody else they could choose in the world, especially when money's on the line, or even if not, if they're out fishing with their grandkids or their buddy. but But any any time they could pick anybody else in the world and select our baits is a it's a memorable moment for us. It's it's I can't explain the feeling. It's it's the one of the most rewarding feelings you could ever have. You've got multi-million dollar, billion-dollar companies out there, and they chose us right here out of South Louisiana. And we we've got baits all over the country, Oregon, you know, people buy and and and they just keep returning. And like I said. for them to to reach out to us and have enough faith and trust in us to support us. I mean our family is is is is sincerely thankful for each and every everybody that ties our baits on. Okay. Mr. Jerry, last question. Where can the Sacklade Talk community find the full lineup of Killem Jigs and order them? So we have a website, Mr. Dwayne. It's www.killems jigco.com. That's K I L L U S J I G C O dot com. and if they follow our Facebook as well, we're always posting some of our stuff that we're doing, maybe sales that's going on, colors that we're creating. So Our Facebook is also Killem's Jigco. they can find us there. Okay. Awesome. Mr. Jerry, I cannot thank you enough for for joining us and giving us a few minutes and and dropping all the knowledge with our listeners. Yes, sir. I sure appreciate having. I have learned so much from you in this in these few minutes. Thank you so much. Yes, sir. Thank you. Well, Mr. Jerry, till next time. I'll talk to you later, okay? Okay, Mr. Dwayne. Yeah, have a good night. You too. Later. Later. And that wraps up this week's edition of the Jig Is Up right here on Sacklay Talk. A massive shout out to Jerry Kellum from Killum's Jig Company for stopping by and giving us the ultimate blueprint on how to fool those finicky slams. If you want to put more fish in your cooler, stop throwing the same old plastics and head over to Killum's jigsco.com to grab some slab hammers and slab clusters for your tackle box. Jerry, thanks for joining us. And to everyone listening, tie them on, drop them down, and we'll see you on the next bike. That wraps up another episode of Sacklay Talk. A huge thank you to Reggie Arthur for the masterclass on tracking those moving schools. And to Jerry Kellum of Killum's Jig Company for showing us why the jig is up for those finicky slabs. Don't forget to tie on and Killum Jig, dial in your forward-facing sonar, and go hunt some slabs. Until next time, keep your eyes on the screen. Your drag set tight, and we'll catch you right here next week on Sacklay Talk. Cyber's knees rise where the shadows crawl. Ma sang's low like a ghostly shawl. The moon's a land soft and pale. Guiding my steps down a whisky trail Out in the backwoods where secrets grow, the bayous whispers on the wild ones know with an alligator grin and a copper steel bribal chasing dreams in the Bayou firelight.