Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Pro-Lure-Fishing-Tips » ZMan 1.75" Shad FryZ - Rig & Fish

ZMan 1.75" Shad FryZ - Rig & Fish

By Justin Willmer

I have always loved catching big fish on small lures and light gear, especially when fishing shallow water. Whether it be fishing the Ned Rig System, chasing flathead on ZMan 2.5” Slim SwimZ or taking the flathead combo to Fraser Island to spin for tailor, trevally and queenfish off the beach. When I found out we were adding ZMan Micro Finesse BaitZ to the ZMan Australia range, I was pumped to see them in the flesh, rig them and then see what would eat these tasty looking little critters.

In this article I want to look at the 1.75” Shad FryZ in more detail, including initial thoughts, how I rigged and fished them, and in my first few Micro Finesse fishing sessions… what ate them.

Description / Initial Thoughts

Okay, the ZMan 1.75” Shad FryZ is the most traditional of the four profiles added to the range. It is a a finesse paddle tail that has enough bulk in the body to house a jighead, with a rapidly tapering, segmented tail section that finishes at a tiny paddle tail. I was pretty confident that the Shad FryZ would swim well, with that little paddle tail emitting micro vibrations. First impressions were that these would be eaten by bream, but what else would eat them... especially after the 2.5” Slim SwimZ claiming most of my larger flathead of late. First came the challenge of rigging it.

Rigging Time

The bulky little body section on the Shad FryZ allows it to rig well on a jighead and you can pinch the tapered section to hold it securely and feed the hook through straight, with the tiny rigging slot on the back making it easy to bring the jighead out straight and in the correct position.

In terms of jigheads, the Shad FryZ rigs beautifully on a TT HeadlockZ Finesse and HWS (Hidden Weight System) jighead in a size 2 hook, allowing access to a variety of weights. These fine gauge hooks are ideal for maximum penetration on light lines and light drags.

For those wanting to utilise this tiny paddle tail for larger species that zone in on tiny bait, such as giant herring, tarpon, threadfin salmon, etc., along with those wishing to extract fish from cover on heavier lines and with heavier drag settings, the size 4 in a TT HeadlockZ HD is the perfect option.

Testing Time

Once I had the Shad FryZ rigged I couldn’t wait to swim it, so I wandered down to the local boat ramp pontoon. I dragged it back and forth in the water and the softness of the 10X Tough ElaZtech material meant that the tiny tail had plenty of freedom to beat hard and fast. Its tail beat was tight, and it resembled the schools of tiny baitfish that I often see on the flats and around structure, spraying out of the water when attacked by hungry bream.

I had it rigged on a 1/16oz size 4 in a HeadlockZ HD and even in the wind it punched out a reasonable cast, due to its compact nature. The current was pumping back toward me, so I wound quite quickly and twitched the plastic, keen to see how it looked in the water on the retrieve. I didn’t get a chance to see it swimming as it was eaten on the first cast! I was a little shocked as I had just wandered down to have a cast and see how it swum. After a short fight on light gear a 25cm tailor was on the pontoon, unhooked and released. Not a big fish but a sign that this little plastic looked like food to the fish and likely matched the small bait that the tailor was feeding on.

Another couple of casts and I was hooked up to a yellowtail pike, followed by another. Okay, the fish thought it was food, so that was a great sign. Next, I held it in the water and watched the current flow working the tail naturally. It looked perfect, like a tiny baitfish working to hold in the flow. I lowered it down beside the pylon and fish on! A yellowtail pike thought it looked real enough and darted out of the eddy behind the pylon to nail it. This happened twelve times in a row. I was having a bit of fun on light gear in the average weather and the fish were loving the little Shad FryZ. This made me think about vertically fishing bridge pylons and other structure for bream and other species... definitely worth further investigation. Even though ZMan plastics are extremely durable, being 10X Tough ElaZtech, I was still surprised to see the tail perfectly intact after a tailor and fourteen yellowtail pike.

Fishing the Flats

I was now keen to get out onto the flats for a session on the bream, where I have seen them harassing schools of tiny bait that the Shad FryZ would represent well. I was fishing with my cousin Alex, on the last couple of hours of the run in, drifting a flat that was made up of sand, weed and mud patches. The water ranged from half metre to one metre deep, so I rigged a few rods with 1/8oz size 2 TT HeadlockZ Finesse jigheads, paired with the natural Smelt colour in the 1.75” Shad FryZ, allowing us to throw long casts in the wind.

When I handed a combo to Alex, he looked at the tiny presentation hooked onto the guide frame and said “wow, that’s tiny”. I must admit that when I started casting the Shad FryZ across the large expanse of the flat that we were fishing, I started to wonder how the fish would see it in all this water and would they even bother eating it. These thoughts were soon shaken out of me as I felt a tap, set the hook and the hooked fish went screaming across the flat. It didn’t take long to land the fish, which turned out to be an undersize grunter, however this fish gave me a massive amount of confidence that the fish on the flats would not only see it but also eat it.

What followed was absolute mayhem as the next fish hooked felt much larger and with shallow water on the flats, the only escape was sideways. It felt like a trevally and that was proven true as we slid it into the landing net. We were both amazed that a fish of this size had eaten this tiny presentation, while at the same time observing almost identical bait in schools on the flat.

The third fish hooked made the previous trevally feel small as it just kept running and circling wide. In the time it took me to land this giant trevally of around 55cm, Alex had landed two respectable bream. By this point in time, we were both convinced of the effectiveness of this little paddle tail, and I had grown quite fond of it. For the remainder of our couple of hour session we landed a few more grunter and handful of bream. I was relieved when I finally caught a bream, the original target species, although I hadn’t minded the surprise battles with a couple of solid estuary trevally. We went on to land a handful more bream and a few grunter, before wrapping up the short and productive session.

Alex and I were both surprised by the effectiveness of this little plastic and the species that had eaten it. Several times I just held the little lure in my hand and shook my head... much like I did when I caught trevally, snapper and 80cm+ flathead on the little 2.5” Slim SwimZ.

Wrap Up

Trout anglers and anglers that regularly chase species such as tarpon and giant herring are probably shaking their head going of course big fish eat little plastics, especially if that’s what’s on the menu and they’re matching the hatch. The two short sessions that I have had with this plastic clearly demonstrated to me how effective they are going to be and not just on a tough bite and when the bait is small.

If you love your bream fishing, then the ZMan 1.75” Shad FryZ is going to be a must have in your kit and likewise for anglers that target trout and redfin. The exciting thing is going to be what else eats them in the fresh and salt and the species and bites that are going to be unlocked when other presentations aren’t working. I look forward to seeing your images of fish caught on the Shad FryZ on socials and feel free to send them into us on Facebook and Instagram, so that we can check them out and give them a share.

I guess it comes back to the old jellybean theory, that no matter how full we are from dinner, we all have room for that one little jellybean.

See you on the water…
Justin Willmer

Gearing Up:

TT Red Belly Spin Rods – RBS702L 7’ 2pce 1-3kg
Okuma Ceymar HD Spin Reels – CHD-1000HA
Platypus Pulse X8 Braid – 6lb White
Platypus Hard Armour Leader – 10lb Supple
ZMan 1.75” Shad FryZ
TT HeadlockZ Finesse Jigheads – 1/8oz size 2
Pro-Cure Super Gel Scent