HOME »
Freshwater »
Barramundi
» Soft Plastic FrogZ - Boof!
Soft Plastic FrogZ - Boof!
By Justin Willmer
That sweet sound that a ZMan FrogZ makes as it bubbles and gurgles across the surface, happily making its way from the mangrove, timber, weed or lily edge back toward your rod tip… until. The surface of the water explodes around the FrogZ and a bucket mouth inhales both the FrogZ and the water surrounding it, disappears below the surface, the rod buckles and it’s fish on!
There’s a stack of species out there that love eating ZMan FrogZ, including bass, saratoga, jungle perch, mangrove jack, barramundi, and Murray cod. I have also seen FrogZ draw the strike from a myriad of other species, including flathead, trevally, queenfish and even dolphinfish offshore. That sound, action and bubble trail just makes predatory species angry and gets them fired up enough to produce those heart stopping surface strikes that keep us coming back. Let’s look at a few different FrogZ options, how we might rig and fish them, along with the key species that we may target on the different models available.
ZMan 10X Tough FrogZ
Let’s kick off with the 10X Tough ElaZtech models in the range, including the ZMan 2.75” Finesse FrogZ, 4” Hard Leg FrogZ and 4” Pop FrogZ.
The ZMan 4” Hard Leg FrogZ has been part of the ZMan range for many years and still maintains its position as the go-to for larger predatory species, including barramundi and Murray cod. It has good weight in the body for casting, hook pockets for excellent weedless rigging and ease of hook set, along with aggressive kicking feet that give it the action, noise and bubble trail that sees it continue to attract the bite.
It’s crucial not to discount the importance of the 10X Tough ElaZtech material when looking at surface presentations as there are several key benefits for the angler. ElaZtech is 10X Tough, so it is perfect for weedless rigging as it can be rigged again and again, holds strong rather than tearing when a fish strikes and often stays in position and swimming effectively after a missed strike so that you can nail the fish on the return strike. ElaZtech is also super-soft and flexible, allowing maximum movement and action, to achieve that signature action, sound, and bubble trail. Finally, and another key to the success, is that ElaZtech in naturally buoyant, repelling water, skipping well, riding high and allowing a variety of rigging and retrieves.
The 4” Hard Leg FrogZ is popular as a trailer on a spinnerbait, buzzbait, ChatterBait and TT Lures BuzzlockZ, especially when targeting Murray cod. Rigged weedless it carries a 6/0 hook perfectly and we commonly run it on a 6/0 TT Lures ChinlockZ unweighted jighead for buzzing across the surface or fishing with a pause in the retrieve, stepping to the TT Lures ChinlockZ SWS, belly weighted model, when we require a little more weight for throwing long casts in windy conditions. The 6/0 hook at the heart of these jigheads is a heavy-duty option that is ideal for cod and barramundi, often finding a solid hook set around the jaw hinge.
In terms of retrieves, we commonly fish this plastic on a straight roll (wind), often referred to as a buzzing retrieve as it is quite rapid and gets those legs doing their thing. You will know when you have the retrieve speed correct as you will hear that magic gurgling sound and see the legs kicking away and leaving that bubble trail behind the FrogZ that helps the fish zone in on their target. Other retrieves we occasionally employ to mix things up include a wind and pause, varying the speed of the wind and duration of the pause, or alternatively a pulse and pause, using a sweep of the rod tip to swim the FrogZ, followed by a pause while winding up the slack line.
The ZMan 2.75” Finesse FrogZ has an interesting history as the Tackle Tactics team in the office used the photocopier to shrink the 4” Hard Leg FrogZ, cut out the paper miniatures and found a size that fit perfectly on a 2/0 hook for targeting bass and mangrove jack. The magic size turned out to be 2.75” and following some prototyping and testing, this little FrogZ came to life and became an instant favourite for lovers of topwater fishing.
This little plastic skips well, has that action, sound and bubble trail that is a signature of its big brother, and species such as bass, saratoga, jungle perch and mangrove jack love it! We now had that deadly FrogZ presentation in a bite size to suit species with smaller mouths. Rigged on a 2/0 TT Lures ChinlockZ or ChinlockZ SWS (belly weighted), the 2.75” Finesse FrogZ can be fished deep in and over structure with minimal chance of snagging or fouling yet clearing easily on the strike due to the 10X Tough, super-soft and flexible material and the hook pockets for easy and effective weedless rigging and minimal resistance when clearing the hook.
Again, this plastic can be fished on a buzzing retrieve, wind and pause or pulse and pause, allowing you to mix things up to get the bite. It can also be rigged as a trailer and those trying out of the box techniques have landed some quality flathead and other species rigging the FrogZ on a TT Lures HeadlockZ ‘J’ hook style jighead and fishing it sub surface as a ‘double tail’ presentation.
The other FrogZ in the 10X Tough ElaZtech range is the ZMan 4” Pop FrogZ, which features a cupped face that allows you to slow the presentation down and ‘pop’ the plastic, much like a hard body popper. Sitting in the middle of the previous two FrogZ in terms of bulk, the Pop FrogZ rigs well on a 4/0 TT Lures ChinlockZ for slowing things down or the belly weighted ChinlockZ SWS if you wish to cast longer in wind, buzz the plastic more aggressively or pop, pause and slow sink the presentation.
Again, this presentation skips well, can be buzzed to trigger strikes, or its crazy leg action works well on the wind and pause or pulse and pause. Being rigged on a 4/0 jighead makes this presentation an effective mid-sized presentation that appeals to a stack of species from bass and mangrove jack to larger species such as barramundi and Murray cod.
If you are keen to chase surface feeding predators with an affordable, effective, and easy to rig and fish presentation, then the ZMan FrogZ range are a perfect starting point. Hardcore topwater anglers around the country carry these in their kit and they have consistently produced the bite, fished in and around heavy cover as well as in open water.
5 Tips for Fishing 10X Tough ElaZtech FrogZ
1. Colour can sometimes be a trigger, so we often carry White (white belly), Watermelon Chartreuse (chartreuse belly) and a darker colour (dark belly) so that we can mix things up and find what they want based on water colour, available light, etc.
2. Experiment with your retrieve speeds until you find what works. Listen for the gurgling and bubbling sound and you will find the sweet spot.
3. Carry ChinlockZ and ChinlockZ SWS as you will find times when you want minimal weight and the FrogZ riding high, such as short casts when creek fishing, and times when you will want the additional weight of the belly weighted ChinlockZ SWS, such as buzzing open water weed beds, especially in windy conditions.
4. Take some time to work on your casting accuracy and skip casting, allowing you to make that cast into the shady pockets, under overhanging vegetation and back into those pockets in the weed, where the fish are waiting for prey to full into the water.
5. When a fish strikes the FrogZ I have found it most effective to keep retrieving at the same speed and the fish will often reappear behind the presentation and strike again if it misses the first time. If not, fire a cast back in past the boil and commence the same retrieve. If you don’t get another strike, try a different retrieve through the same area, such as a wind and pause.
ZMan Hollow Body FrogZ
Guided by the ZMan US Pros, ZMan Fishing Products also created some hollow body FrogZ designed for US largemouth bass fishing that have transferred across to our Aussie topwater species. Leap FrogZ feature an extremely weedless hollow body design and double hooks that ride on the back of the frog, while silicone strand legs provide action and movement to draw the strike.
The smaller 2.25” model is the go for smaller mouthed species, such as bass and mangrove jack, while the 2.75” has you covered for barramundi and Murray cod. Each size is available in a ‘Walking’ and ‘Popping’ model, with the walking model able to be fished with a walk the dog retrieve, or alternatively a walk and pause or slide and pause style retrieve. The popping model as its name suggests has a cupped popper face, much like a hard body popper, allowing you to fish a popper in and over heavy structure.
These FrogZ feature high quality painted finishes and 3D eyes on their durable and easily collapsed roto-moulded vinyl body. They also feature a drain hole in the rear to remove any water and keep them riding high. A deep-vee body design allows you to get maximum action out of these FrogZ to draw the strike.
If you’re keen to give topwater fishing a go, don’t forget the proven option of a FrogZ and the ability to fish weedless, meaning you can fish over, in and through the structure that topwater feeders like to call home. Whether it’s skipping FrogZ under overhanging vegetation for bass or jacks, picking pockets in weed beds for barramundi or buzzing laydown timber for Murray cod, there’s no denying the heart stopping and addictive qualities of a topwater ZMan FrogZ bite. BOOF!
See you on the water…
Justin Willmer
Gearing Up:
ZMan 2.75” Finesse FrogZ
ZMan 4” Hard Leg FrogZ
ZMan 4” Pop FrogZ
TT Lures ChinlockZ Jigheads
TT Lures ChinlockZ SWS Jigheads
ZMan Leap FrogZ