Z Man Soft Baits

[SS-342]

Anyone fish Z Man soft baits? Advertised as being 10 times tougher and scented. A friend said he fished one all day!

Any kind of report would be helpful.

Thanks

[ced0412]

If they are anything like those Strike King 3x plastics they can be a real pain to rig effectively.

[J Holden]

Only thing I've used by them are their lizards and I echo ced's sentiments about being a pain in the ass to rig. If you use any hook that requires you to screw on the bait like a shaky head jighead or spring hook you literally can not screw the plastic on, it just stretches and twists. Once you do get it on, I find that at least on lizards, if you texas rig them by pulling the point all the way through and then tucking the point, it's nearly impossible to keep the point tucked. The plastic is so stretchy the hook point works loose the first time it hits the water. Using a non wide gap worm hook and running it almost through the body works a lot better. It really is the toughest soft plastic I've ever seen, that part at least is no exaggeration.

They're definitely worth giving a try, if you rig them in a way that works with the plastic they are pretty sweet.

[bman]

SUPER GLUE... they will stay put and last.

[SS-342]

Thanks for the tips.

Next trip into Valdosta I'm looking at all the jig heads and for some Super Glue. My order of Zman baits came in but I see right off my usual rigging will be a problem ( I use Captain Mike's jig heads ). Zman's baits are scented, phew wee, but no messy stuff in the bag. They look good and feel very soft.

[SS-342]

I tried SUPER GLUE and it melted the lure! Ate some right off.

Maybe a reverse barb shank would hold it?

[Artistic Violence]

Back in early June, me and a friend caught our limit on Speckled Trout using the Scented Paddlerz in New Penny under popping corks at St. Marks. We originally started off using shrimp, but ran out quickly catching only juvenile trout, catfish, ladyfish, and sharks. After 4 dozen live shrimp and 2 quart bags of frozen shrimp, we didn't have a single slot sized fish in the bout. So we switched to artificials. My buddy was using a Smelt colored Gulp Minnow and I put on one of the Z-man Paddlerz. My friend continued to catch the same, while I quickly put two large trout into the boat. He then switched to a Paddler, and we limited out in a very short amount of time. The Paddlerz are impregnated with Pro-Cure Mullet formula, so I guess this gives credence to the notion that larger trout prefer mullet. We both only needed a single bait to catch our limit, and at the end of the day, both of our baits still looked as new as when we first hooked them on.

We were using cheap jig heads made by Bayside with the spiraled keeper. Surprisingly, they seemed to hold the Elaztech material in place without much issue. Recently, I've used Slayer Jig Heads which also seem to work well with the Z-Man baits. Here's some videos with the dude from Flats Class showing how to rig the Z-Man Paddletails and Shrimpz...

http://youtu.be/2MVYAh7TJ-4
http://youtu.be/hOyHF75B25g


One cool thing you can do with these Z-Man baits, is you can rig the Paddletails upside down and since they are so buoyant, they can double as a top water. Or you can do this...

http://youtu.be/8aj4czwkMws

[Tidedancer]

Great info on the Z Man baits. I have looked at them but had not tried them. Thanks for the you tube site.

[SS-342]

My wife had her last eye surgery in Thomasville this morning. On our way back home, we stopped at George's Bait Shop in Quitman. Mrs. George had the Zman baits for $4.95 per pack. Bought up some more and had a very nice visit with a real fisher/hunter lady. Always does me good to run into such nice folks!

Can't wait for eye to heal so we can get back on the water!

[Rhettley]

Do they float with a 5/0 hook? I fish a lot of fluke, shad assassin type baits and I prefer to fish then slowly and weightless with only a hook. They sink and twitch through the water like a real wounded bait fish.
I tried the Strike King 3X flukes and without a weight they just floated. Seems you either fish them on the surface or on a jig head. I did like the toughness of the Strike King version but I didn't like the action at all.

[SS-342]

Rhettley, I can't tell you much about the bait other than it is soft, stretchy but tough. Stinks also with no mess in bag. Seems to be hard to bait on a hook but rigging one texas style on a jig, I think it will hold? Never fished the bait but nephew fished one last week out of Spring Warrior and limited out on a bad day. It will float so don't know how to rig the way you pictured but believe that would work. Might have to crip a BB shot on a bass worm hook?

[Seachaser]

I fish them on a weighted worm hook. Wet the weighted part with saliva and it slips right over.

[Tidedancer]

Who carries Z-man baits on the Forgotten Coast?

[leonreno]

they do float with just a regular hook. Their are several companies selling them, Strke King 3x was the first, know several companies are using them. I have used them and they do last and work, though one problem I have with them is if the body of the bait flips around on top of the hook point, you will not get a hook set. And this happens more than with regular plastic baits because they are so soft and bendable.