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Surface ShrimpZ
Surface ShrimpZ
Will Lee
Will Lee and Ryan Dixon recently teamed up as Team ZMan and took out 2nd place at the Gold Coast round of the Gamakatsu Team Series. Will had also recently finished 2nd with Grayson Fong at the QLD Bream Open using a cut-down ZMan Scented ShrimpZ to land some solid bream. The ShrimpZ was again part of Will's success on the Gold Coast this time though it was an unmodified ZMan ShrimpZ in Natural colour, fished across the surface. We caught up with Will to find out how they rigged and fished the ShrimpZ for the Gamakatsu comp.
How do you rig the ShrimpZ for surface fishing?
I rig the ShrimpZ on a light gauge 2/0 worm hook. By using a bit of Loctite superglue to hold the head of the ShrimpZ in place it stops the bream from 'pulling the pants down' on their first attempt at eating it. The use of a 'stinger' hook helped convert some of the short strikes into hook ups. I use a size 12 treble and like to squash two of the points together until they are on an angle of approximately 45 degrees. I then hook those two points into the tail of the Shrimp leaving the other point neatly exposed. To attach the stinger I tie a short piece of 10lb fluorocarbon between the eye of the worm hook and the eye of the treble.
Where did the idea come from to rig the ShrimpZ like this?
On a recent holiday to the USA I fished The Everglades in South Florida and had a red hot session catching largemouth bass on 'Texas' rigged worms fished on the surface. After the trip I visited a tackle store there and bought a pile of different soft plastic worms and worm hooks to try back home. While playing with different rigs and set ups in my swimming pool I decided to rig a ZMan Scented ShrimpZ 'Texas' on a worm hook and see what it did on the surface! It looked just like a fleeing prawn and sung, 'please don't eat me, please don't eat me'.
Were most fish pinned on the stinger?
My first fish on this rig was a 32cm forker which I caught fifteen minutes into the session and it was hooked solid on the worm hook. The retrieve was constant and steady but in some cases, when the fish were following but not biting, you needed to stop the ShrimpZ before it got too close to the boat. This is where the stinger came into its own. While paused, cautious fish would just suck the ShrimpZ down 'tail first' ever so softly and with a slight sweep of the rod tip, I'd drive the stinger in.
What colour were you using, do you think colour matters?
The most successful colour to date has been 'Natural' but this is not to say others won't work. More time 'Surface ShrimpZing' will tell!
What technique were you using and structure were you targeting?
We fished pontoons and boats. Using the buoyancy of the ShrimpZ and the weightless rig to our advantage, skip casting into tight corners and shady spots was a breeze. The retrieve was simple; with my rod tip held high I would wind the ShrimpZ relatively quickly to leave a wake in its path. I would then watch for any bream following the lure. When a bream was following the ShrimpZ I would keep the retrieve the same until I was only left with 10ft of water between the boat and the ShrimpZ. If the fish had not hit by then, I would kill it completely and let the ShrimpZ float on the surface in front of the bream. This technique allowed me to fish fast and cover a lot of water.
Why do you think the ShrimpZ was so effective?
A ShrimpZ fished across the top looks just like a prawn swimming scared, something bream just can't handle!
How did the event pan out for you guys, were there plenty of fish, big fish, lots of changing location?
We caught the majority of our fish early in the day while the fish were high in the water column. There were plenty of small fish in the areas we were fishing but the small ones tended to stay away from the bigger bait. We did start searching for upgrades later in the session but to no avail. We thought our bag was worthy of a top ten placing but to finish second was a dream result for Ryan and myself!
What advice would you give someone wanting to fish a tournament?
Be versatile and open minded. Don't just throw cranks on 3lb fluoro or fish deep with heavy jigheads because that's what you're most comfortable doing. Spend your time social fishing becoming proficient in all facets of bream fishing from blades, top water, cranks to plastics.
No two days fishing are the same let alone two tournaments.