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Fishing StreakZ Curly TailZ

By Brendan Blackburn

With the ever-expanding range of lures that are available, many anglers find themselves wondering what their next lure choice should be. There is no doubt that in certain conditions every lure would have the chance of catching a fish, however it's in the tough bites and make our break times that a lure choice can have a significant impact on your day's fishing. This is where the range of ZMan 4" and 5" StreakZ Curly TailZ comes into play.

With today's market flooded with curl tail designs of soft plastic, anglers may find the choice of brand quite challenging. However, there are a number of key reasons as to why the ZMan range has become my go-to when fishing this style of soft plastic. ZMan plastics are 10X Tough, super-soft and flexible, and naturally buoyant, for a 'tail up' feeding pose when at rest on the bottom. These models are also loaded with action and the body and tail design is tested and proven.

A go-to lure of mine for fishing the inshore systems of the Fraser Coast is the ZMan 4" StreakZ Curly TailZ. This plastic can be fished in a number of ways, from the shallows, casting the flats, to fishing the fringing reef systems around the bays and inshore

islands for species including coral trout and sweetlip. Another of my favourite techniques is slow sinking the plastic into schools of mid-water snapper.

The 4" StreakZ Curly TailZ comes in a stack of colours, covering a wide range of species and applications. For example, I run Bloodworm or Pearl for chasing schools of trevally on the flats or an Electric Chicken or Coconut Ice Glow for hopping across the reef. I pair these to an array of different sizes in the TT Lures HeadlockZ HD or Big EyeZ and you have one seriously versatile curl tail presentation.

If I am using the ZMan 4" StreakZ Curly TailZ I like to team it up with a 1/4oz to 1/2oz 3/0 TT Lures HeadlockZ HD jighead and I will fish it in water down to around 20m deep.

Moving up in size to the ZMan 5" StreakZ Curly TailZ and these are better suited to an angler chasing offshore reef species, such as snapper, nannygai, trout and cod. The 5" StreakZ Curly TailZ has certainly found its place in my offshore artillery. With its larger body, compared to its smaller 4" brother, the 5" model can be rigged on larger jigheads, while still maintaining its action. An action that is plentiful and appeals to a wide range of species.

Not only is this lure a hit with the bottom bashing, it is equally at home being cast into the busting schools of pelagic species, to pick up the other predatory species such as trevally that are often lurking beneath the schools of tuna and mackerel. It comes in a range of colours, including the popular Pearl and Electric Chicken, and is ideally rigged on 5/0 or 6/0 TT Lures HeadlockZ HD jighead in your preferred weight for your target species, location and scenario.

For us when fishing this plastic sub twenty metres then it's either a 3/8oz or 1/2oz jighead, and once we get offshore to around 30m+ it's a 3/4oz or 1oz 6/0, or in deeper water a 1.5oz 7/0, again in the TT Lures HeadlockZ HD jigheads.

For an added benefit on those days of timid bites and shut down schools, a quick smear of Pro-Cure works wonders and the belly slot on the StreakZ Curly TailZ is a great spot to add a squirt. If you find yourself short on scent, you can always dip the lure into the likes of the ZMan Scented Jerk ShadZ packet for a quick freshen up of scent.

Both of these lures incorporate the famous ZMan 10X Tough Elaztech material and in turn have incredible durability and continue to produce multiple fish on the same soft plastic.

So next time you're looking for that game changer, cast a tested and proven StreakZ Curly TailZ and see for yourself how effective they really are.

For more information on the StreakZ Curly TailZ or any other gear in the Tackle Tactics range of products, head to www.tackletactics.com.au.

Cheers,
Brendan

Gear List
ZMan 4" StreakZ Curly TailZ
ZMan 5" StreakZ Curly TailZ
TT Lures HeadlockZ HD Jigheads
Pro-Cure Super Gel Scent