Elaztec Z Man ZinkerZ storage

[snagged in outlet 3]

When it gets into the 90's I bring my tackle into the AC.

[fishinwrench]

10 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

When it gets into the 90's I bring my tackle into the AC.

Awe, that's cute 🤗

[snagged in outlet 3]

Apparently they are not well suited to their environment.  Kinda like you when Honey Britches keeps your house too cold in the summer.

[fishinwrench]

Wellness check was an affirmative. 

Ya better quit taking better care of your tackle than you do your Honey britches !

[snagged in outlet 3]

Trust me, my Honey Britches is way better taken care of than some rubber worms.

[Dutch]

I've tried several ways to store them.  They won't work in pvc boxes.  They warp the boxes with some sort of chemical reaction.  I had them and worms stored in tackle bags in their own packages.  The went flat and stuck together.  A Zman rep said they were too tightly packed.  So I pulled them out of the bag and just have them in the bag sleeves in their packages.  This seems to be working as long as I keep them rotated to the top of the pile in my boat box.

[fishinwrench]

I'm not too sure that it isn't easier to keep nightcrawlers alive.  

[Dutch]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

I'm not too sure that it isn't easier to keep nightcrawlers alive.  

Prolly is but not as messy.  Those things produced fish for me this spring when nothing else would.

[C Beach]

Flambeau "k" series plays nice with ElaZtech baits. I ordered a couple direct from Flambeau and they have worked fine.

https://www.flambeaucases.com/k-series

 

[ZManFishing]

A friend directed us towards this thread, and we figured we would chime in. We highly recommend storing ElaZtech baits in their original packaging and out of extreme heat (eg, inside a vehicle on a hot day, on the deck of a boat in the direct sun, etc). ElaZtech also has more memory than regular plastisol that other baits are made from, so it’s important not to compress the baits in a way that can deform them).

The vast majority of all melting issues we’ve seen have been due to ElaZtech coming in contact with incompatible substances, namely other types of soft baits. ElaZtech is a completely different type of plastic, and a chemical reaction results when ElaZtech comes in contact with incompatible materials. Most tackle boxes will not affect ElaZtech; rather, ElaZtech may cause the box itself to deform, and baits can be jostled around and bent in ways that cause them to be deformed due to the material’s memory, which is why we recommend keeping the baits in their original packaging.

Normal heat does not affect ElaZtech, and storing baits in a garage or a compartment of a boat will not lead to issues as long as the steps above are followed. We are located in South Carolina, where it gets pretty darn hot. I’ve stored my baits in their packaging either in my boat or my garage for 10 years and have never had a bait melt. In fact, our warehouse is not climate controlled, and we store millions of baits in there both in bulk and packaged. On really hot days like today, temperatures on our top racks are well in excess of 100 degrees, and we have never had a single bait melt in our warehouse.

There’s a video on our YouTube channel on proper bait storage that is somewhat dated but is still worth watching if you still have questions, and we’re working on an updated version that will include some of our recent storage solutions as well as several from other companies like Plano and Flambeau. All that said, we understand that ElaZtech is a completely different kind of material and that there is a learning curve involved with rigging and storing it, so feel free to drop us an email, shoot us a Facebook or Instagram message, or give us a call if you have questions or need assistance. We feel strongly that the benefits of ElaZtech - namely the durability, buoyancy and softness, but also the fact that the material is 100% non-toxic unlike most other softbaits - greatly outweigh any minor inconvenience related to storage!