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What's in my Kit - Sean Bekkers - GrubZ & BugZ

By Sean Bekkers

It fair to say that Australia and furthermore the world has not seen a crazier start to a year as in 2020. For Australia it's been crazy dry weather that saw national parks and impoundments closed due to fires and water bombing aircraft, then within weeks a deluge of rain that flushed a lot of the coastline estuary systems out to sea and now Covid-19, which by the looks of it is going to be a marathon. Depending on where you're located, fishing restrictions may be keeping you off the water all together, while others may be required to stay local and be mindful of regulations and social distancing.

Moving forward, with no clear end in sight, remaining positive and inspired about fishing is super important for us as anglers, our sport and furthermore the fishing industry itself. No matter what your favourite tackle, brands, shops and types of fishing, we are all in the situation together. So, with this in mind, I'm going to write a series of articles based around all my favourite tackle and techniques that have been nailing fish over the last few months and hopefully give you some ideas for your local spot. First off is the ZMan 2.75" TRD BugZ and 2.5" GrubZ.

ZMan 2.75" TRD BugZ

Firstly, when choosing any plastic presentation, you need to identify what species of fish you want to chase, where you going to fish and what bait is likely to be holding in the area. These key aspects need to be taken into consideration for not only the plastic selection but also the jighead that you're going to rig the plastic on.

First up the 2.75" BugZ, as described in the name, looks like a bug. It's quite a short, buoyant presentation, with four little fingers or legs that when combined with a TT Lures NedlockZ jighead allows the plastic to sit up on the bottom during pauses on the retrieve. I tend to look for structure, like a deep edge running along a weed bed, oysters, rocks, pylons and basically anywhere the plastic can settle without being snagged, usually in water up to ten metres deep.

When this finesse presentation is paused the legs themselves move around with the water movement and to be most effective the retrieve needs to be slowed right down and the pauses drawn out, giving the plastic time to sit up off the bottom, imitating a small crab going about its business. To be honest it's quite a clever presentation and one that I have really enjoyed using of late.

This technique has seen me catch a variety of sizable bream, respectable grassy sweetlip, trevally and flathead when rigged on a 1/10oz TT Lures Nedlockz jighead in either Green Pumpkin or Orange colour. Now, in saying all of that, don't be scared to throw this presentation at a bunch of snags as it sinks rather slowly and by keeping your rod tip high and shaking the tip, you have time to get the bail over without getting fouled. The shaking motion of the rod tip will make this presentation dance around like a snack size squid and again this has resulted in some awesome catches. For all of you bream anglers out there, they love it.

Like most plastics, the 2.75" BugZ can also be rigged weedless, using a TT Lures ChinlockZ Finesse hook and although I haven't made the effort to try this in the saltwater, in the fresh this was unreal for chasing shutdown bass. On a trip earlier this year I was struggling to get a topwater bite from the bass and looking through my bag of tricks I found three BugZ and three ChinlockZ hooks. As the stretch of water that I was fishing was likely no more than a metre deep, I rigged the bug weedless, thinking surely this would get their attention.

Having no weight meant that the plastic had plenty of hang time and with a shaking rod technique, my ZMan BugZ was inhaled and the fight was on! This resulted in a respectable mid-40's bass and by the end of that session I had caught fish and lost all of my BugZ to bass and maybe the odd cod.

Now this little presentation has a permanent spot in my ZMan Binders and is nearly always rigged on one of my rods when heading out. Colour wise I predominantly use Hot Snakes and The Deal, as I can cover the majority of my fishing scenarios with these two colours.

Hot Tip: Remember when rigging your BugZ, straight out of the packet, the two big legs are connected to keep their shape from manufacture, so just pull them apart slightly to break the connection and the bug is ready for action.

ZMan 2.5" GrubZ

The Grub is probably the most iconic plastic pattern, well for me anyway. It was the first plastic that I remember seeing as a kid while walking around the tackle shop. Fast forward a good 30 years and the grub pattern has been rehashed by nearly every company out there and with good reason, they work.

Within the ZMan range there is over seventy to choose from, depending on what colour and size you're looking for. In the case of the 2.5" GrubZ there are around twenty colours to choose from, including fluoro greens and pinks, through to more natural colours... you get the picture, there is a lot.

I have the 2.5" GrubZ on hand for areas where I'm targeting fish in shallow water, generally nothing more than two metres. When the bite is tough, the tail on the GrubZ is quite mesmerising to watch when rolled slowly and it will often get the bite when the fish just need that little something extra to commit. Structure wise, I'm looking for all of the same structure that I mentioned for the 2.75" BugZ as well as signs of the fish hitting the surface, including small slurps and boofs.

Rigging wise, I use a 1/12oz 1/0 TT Lures Headlockz HD jighead or lighter if the conditions allow. Conditions that I take into consideration when choosing the jighead weight are wind and water clarity. The wind is an obvious one. If it's blowing hard, then having a light jighead won't be your friend and on the other hand if the water clarity is excellent than the fish are likely to spook before you get close enough for a cast. When the conditions are tough and extra weight is required, again shaking the rod tip and a slow wind will help keep the 2.5" GrubZ up in the water column and off the snags. I have found this technique particularly effective when targeting bream around structure that has the tide ripping past, focusing my casts around all the back eddies and pressure points. Bream can't help themselves, not to mention a host of other species including grassy sweetlip.

Hot tip:  Remember when rigging the GrubZ light, the tail needs to sit perfectly in line with the hook to avoid pulling the plastic sideways and providing the best action.

Being finesse presentations, a light and well-balanced combo is must. Nothing over a 1-3kg rod and 3000 size reel is a general consensus and as far as braid and leader goes, I would keep it as light as possible and not go over 10lb for either. By doing this you'll increase casting distance and accuracy, when stretching for the perfect spot. My go-to combo for this style of fishing is an Okuma 1-3kg Helios SX spin rod, matched up with a Helios HSX-30 spin reel, loaded with 8lb Platypus P8 braid and 10lb Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader. This set up has no problem stopping all of your bread and butter species and with some creative fishing I have managed to put the brakes on some sizable school jewfish that often come out to play when you least expect it.

As always, with any of the presentation, add your favourite Pro-Cure flavour. With these two presentations I try to use Shrimp, however that is not a hard and fast rule and I usually have a boat load of different flavours on board that I will use. Pro-Cure have released some new gear as well, including Saltwater Yabby / Nipper Super Gel and Tinted Bait Sauces, which so far have been excellent additions to my kit.

I hope this has given you some inspiration to try something different in your local estuary system and don't be shy about getting your hand on new fishing gear while in this tough time. Remember the golden rule, N+1 (the number you have plus 1 more) this applies to everything. I'm sure all of the local tackle and boating shops now more than ever would be happy to help you out getting gear to your front door. Take it easy and stay safe.

Screaming Dragz, Sean

Some anglers out there have packed all their gear up and called it a day until further notice, while others are still managing to get out and fish, whilst sticking to the guidelines, staying local, social distancing and so on. No matter what your choices / views are it's important to support the rights of those who can fish and the industry that supports us as anglers.

Sean's Tackle Kit

Okuma Helios SX Spin Rods - HSX-S-702L
Okuma Helios SX Spin Reels - HSX-30
Platypus P8 Braid - 8lb
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader - 10lb

ZMan 2.5" GrubZ
ZMan 2.75" BugZ
TT Lures HeadlockZ jigheads
TT Lures NedlockZ jigheads

Pro-Cure Shrimp Super Gel Scent
Pro-Cure Shrimp Bait Sauce