Z-Man micro swimmer

[Quillback]

Just ordered a few bags and some small jig heads.  Should be fun to fish on the ultra light set up.  

Z-Man Shad Fryz Micro Finesse 8pk - Tackle Warehouse

[Ham]

What colors did you try Jeff?

[Quillback]

6 hours ago, Ham said:

What colors did you try Jeff?

I ordered Purple Death, Dark n Stormy, and something Ice.  Dramatic names.  Won't get them for a week with slow shipping.  

[Dutch]

I hope you like them.  I like Zman stuff.  I know a guy who knows a guy who got me a deal this summer.  I bought 66 packs of ZinkerZs so hope they will take care of me and I don’t have to venture into new baits.

[dblades]

Only swimming Z Man I tried was the Diesel minnow, which had zero action at medium retrieve speeds.

[Quillback]

3 minutes ago, dblades said:

Only swimming Z Man I tried was the Diesel minnow, which had zero action at medium retrieve speeds.

They make a little swim bait, I can't recall the name, Shadz or something like that.  They have a 2" paddletail version and it kicks pretty good.  I have caught crappie and some nice gills on it, but very few bass.  I know some people that catch bass on them, but it has never worked for bass for me.

[Ham]

10 hours ago, dblades said:

Only swimming Z Man I tried was the Diesel minnow, which had zero action at medium retrieve speeds.

Diesel Minnows have worked very well for me. I’m not sure why Z Man makes so many variations, but their plastic is very floppy and all the variations seem to work.

[top_dollar]

               Those look great, but I think with panfish baits the super durability of elaztech is no real benefit.  At least with me, I break off jigs in brush and such before the plastic gives out.  Especially with crappie, I stick with 2 and 2.5 inch keitechs with a no collar jig and a dab of glue.  They seem to be gentle and I can generally catch several on 1 plastic.  Bluegills are way meaner and will rip the keitech tails right off, but for bluegills I like to use powerbait nymphs and panfish magnets.  

               Just this past weekend I had an order come in from Eurotackle.  I got a bunch of various panfish bugs they make.  I used a few this weekend, and caught a bunch of sunfish on the 1.5" Anisoptera.  That thing freaking works!  So does the 1.2" mayfly, but the anisoptera is quite a bit larger and on a 1/32oz #8 hook jig I could cast it far enough.  The little mayfly looks best on a 1/64th oz jig, but I may need a weighted cork or something to cast it. 

                

[Seth]

That would be nice for open water crappie fishing where you don't have to worry about losing baits. You shouldn't ever have to change one out. Problem is lose jigs to docks and brush way too often.

[Quillback]

3 hours ago, Seth said:

That would be nice for open water crappie fishing where you don't have to worry about losing baits. You shouldn't ever have to change one out. Problem is lose jigs to docks and brush way too often.

Might be a good bait for open water spider rigging.