Hey y'all,
I had to make a second post because I've been wondering a question: why are slabs made vertically? I don't imagine that shad swim in around in the water vertically with their eyes facing up :), yet that's how practically all slabs are made.
I once saw a picture of a slab that TNT180's maker once made. It has a vertical line attachment, so that the slab is horizontal in the water. Seems like a great design to me, so I'm curious why that was never popularized.

I would love to hear y'all's input on this. Thanks!

Probably because they are designed to flutter on the fall. They wouldn't spin and twist freely on the fall with the line tie horizontal. However it would work for dead sticking.

I don't think the eyes really mean much with fast jigging and falling. Catch more fishermen than fish.

I agree.

I have seen videos of how shad react when they are injured or stressed by cold water. They rise abruptly from the bottom and flutter back down. This natural response to stress is imitated by the motion of a slab. It is a normal natural daily observation of an easy food gathering technique of most fish.

agree beltonbill

There are hundreds of variants of the little George. Works well, but most don't fish it vertically.

Ahh I see. Thanks for the responses

For the same reason that smoking a slab works and a lot of bites on live bait come when raising bait up off the bottom. Fish push bait up towards the surface from below.

The ones in this pic are specifically designed for DS by Byron at TnT. I still got some. I got them a decade ago. They are heavier 2 oz so that they stay deep and more horizontal when DS drifting. Those are not meant for chunk and wind like little george ones.

Many call slabs as "spoons" due to their flutter.

Thanks for the insightful responses everyone
SeaPro Todd you mentioned "DS drifting". Why do people like to drift while deadsticking? I personally have just parked the boat on top of a school of fish and spot locked there. Is it better to drift and cover more water? Thanks!

My theory on drifting is that you constantly have fresh fish coming under your thumper. I do spotlock but like Todd I find the fish bite more consistently when slowly moving. Everyone has their own technique, it’s just what you have the most confidence in.
The same argument with holding your lure perfectly still of slightly raising or lowering it. Everyone has their own technique.

I think drifting also mimics the slower moving lethargic bait during the winter months. It also helps you cover more water.

I’m not a slab/jig fisherman for the most part but I think the presentation represents fleeing shad or injured shad. Stripers, hybrids, whites are opportunistic killers and feed on the weak

Good questions Austin Wader! That bait which I produced several years ago which I called 2ez jigs were a dead sticking bait just as Sea Pro Todd mentioned. I liked the way the jig head painted up, and I was making something similar to flukeball jigs, i think they are called used in saltwater applications. For deadsticking they were fantastic at times. When I was fishing a fair amount I liked trying different things to change it up. Now….. you may hear fisherman and many guides only use chartreuse slabs when slabbing, when deadsticking maybe their go to is flukes, maybe prefer certain colors or sizes depending on conditions. I made lures, so I was always playing and testing different things. There were times when deadsticking that the 2ez hammered hybrids and times when flukes out fished the 2ez.

Lastly …why were they never popularized. Well, to tell you the honest truth…. It had nothing to do with how well they worked. I sold a bunch of them and to many repeat customers on them that really gave them a go. Not just hybrids or stripers but walleye loved them. Years ago I decided to chase after career and slowed making them so I never marketed them much at all. Then my health went bad on me… My #1 dressed treble hook maker passed away… So I have saved what hooks I have left for me…

I mentioned months ago about making baits again on a limited type basis, that is still my plan to do slab baits again. Had a neck fusion this spring healing up. There is a video on Youtube I made several years ago, Foss Lake Hybrid Fishing you will see some of the fish we caught on the 2 ezjigs. Good luck.