When I’m looking for the right soft plastic, I look for two things more than anything else: its softness and its versatility. Z-Man Fishing designed their line of ElaZtech soft plastics to be softer and stronger than other baits you’ll find on the market, and they did so using eco-friendly materials that will degrade faster if you happen to drop one overboard.
Their RaZor ShadZ Soft Plastics, $4.99 (pack of four), delivers on that second need, versatility. This bait is designed to be perfect as a stand-alone bait, for either throwing weightless or rigged up on a jighead, or added as a trailer to your favorite chatterbait or spinnerbait. I’m dying to throw this soft plastic shad onto a spinnerbait and create the deadliest combination in my tackle box.
The RaZor ShadZ’s segmented, fish-shaped body and forked tail makes the bait extremely lifelike, with nearly the exact profile of a tasty baitfish, but with just as much action that’d you’d want in a swimbait. This bait can float or dive, depending on your retrieve and how you rig the bait, making it both a soft plastic shad imitation and a soft plastic jerkshad bait. To create the perfect presentation, Z-Man fishing recomends pairing the RaZor ShadZ, unweighted, on a 3/0 or 4/0 EWG style hook, which will make the bait float on the surface at rest, while the broad, sloped head causes the bait to dive on a twitching retrieve.
With a variety of colors available (ten to be exact) and a length of 4.5 inches, you’ll be able to entice a variety of species of trophies in your local fishery. Not only will this bait be killer on largemouth bass and other freshwater ambush predators, it’d also be equally deadly on inshore species like redfish, trout and striped bass. The only question is, which way do you want to rig it first?
For more information about Z-Man Fishing, or their line of ElaZtech soft plastics, check out their website, Zmanfishing.com.
