Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Saltwater-Estuary » The 5 Inch Fish Catching Machine
The 5 Inch Fish Catching Machine
By Cameron Cronin
When chasing estuary predators such as mulloway and flathead, in the southern half of the country, there is undoubtably an endless supply of productive lures that will produce fish on any given day. Part of the challenge of fishing for me has always involved ticking off fish on new lure styles or colours, and as a result my lure bag for a day's fishing is usually bulging at the seams with just about everything that I can physically carry. With the average angler these days owning so many lures, you often start to ask yourself (or your fishing mates) the age old question: If you could only own one lure, what would it be?
Whilst a predicament like this would no doubt have me losing plenty of sleep, the advent of new ZMan 5" DieZel MinnowZ has certainly made a once unanswerable question fairly straightforward for me. Ever since its release in recent times, I can confidently say this lure has been my most thrown presentation, easily accounting for the lion's share of my recent mulloway captures, with plenty of quality bycatch to boot.
But what exactly makes this lure so appealing, you might ask? There is certainly a heap of other 5" paddle tails on the market and most of them will catch fish in the right situation. While it is impossible to objectively crown the 5" DieZel as the best lure in its class, in the following article I'll be sharing my overwhelmingly positive experiences using this presentation in a variety of recent circumstances... which will hopefully prove a testament to its versatility and sheer fish catching ability.
So firstly, what makes this little paddle tail such a great allrounder? When it comes to size, I have always believed 5" to be the most versatile length for chasing big predatory species down my way (Sydney, NSW). Lures this size are big enough to consistently attract the attention of XL sized fish, in most of the situations they can be found, whilst still being small enough to draw in plenty of run of the mill sized flathead, jewfish and other bycatch. This keeps your day on the water action packed in between those bigger bites.
When stacked against the competition, there are certainly a heap of productive options out there, but I reckon there a few features of the ZMan 5" DieZel MinnowZ that sets it apart from the rest.
Over the years, a lot has been said about the benefits of the proprietary 10X Tough ElaZtech material that the ZMan range has been created with. Many of us have experienced firsthand the extreme durability of this material and have enjoyed catching more fish on a single lure than is possible with any other brand. However, a lesser-known fringe benefit of ElaZtech is that the material is positively buoyant and will require additional weight to make it sink, when compared to traditional soft plastics. As a result, you can get away with using heavier heads on your plastics, which allows you to cast further without speeding up your sink rate. Whist this alone may not be a gamechanger by any means, I have found this aspect very useful when trying to maximise my casting distance, particularly into a stiff headwind.
Another benefit of a positively buoyant lure is the way that it sits on the bottom. Throw a DieZel MinnowZ on a jighead into a pool and you will see the lure resting 'tail up' on the bottom, holding the hook away from any snags. I am by no means saying that you won't get snags with this lure, but it's easy to understand why this feature might save you some money and time re-rigging in the real world, especially when fishing for bottom dwellers like mulloway and flathead.
Moving onto the lure itself, a cool feature of the 5" DieZel MinnowZ is its deep-set body, complete with a split dorsal fin for easy rigging. This deep, flat sided body profile accommodates TT lures HeadlockZ HD jigheads from 6/0 to 8/0 with ease, which is quite large for a lure of this length. Personally, I use the thinner gauge 6/0 hook on my lighter gear up in the estuary for increased hook penetration (TT Lures Tournament Series - with a section of the plastic pulled up over the hook eye to lock the plastic on), while I might step up to the larger sizes for extra strength and better holding power when pulling hard on heavy gear off the breakwalls or ocean rocks.
If you wish to rig up weedless, the 5" DieZel has you covered as well, with a belly slot and soft body allowing it to quickly collapse during a bite to expose the hook. This versatility means that no matter where your quarry is found, the 5" DieZel MinnowZ is a great fish catching option.
Another thing that I love about the 5" DieZel MinnowZ is the huge colour range. From the ultra-realistic naturals, such as Houdini and Opening Night to eye catching, vibrant UV reactive models like Sexy Penny and Sexy Mullet, there is the perfect colour for every fishing style you could ever imagine. I find it very difficult to pick favourites, although Opening Night and Calico Candy for clear water, Sexy Penny and Sexy Mullet for coloured water and Pearl Blue Glimmer and Golden Boy for night fishing are a few great selections to get you started.
Finally, no review would be complete without a few of my own experiences fishing with this lure. I have always been a big paddle tail fan and as a result, I have swum nearly everything out there in the hope of finding that go-to lure. I love the challenge of fishing a wide variety of circumstances, from the mangrove lined creeks in the dead of night, to swell lashed breakwalls and headlands. In the past, despite my best efforts I had never managed to find an allrounder that truly excelled in all of the situations that my favourite quarry (mulloway) could be found. I'm happy to say that the 5" DieZel MinnowZ has certainly become that lure for me.
Whether it be rigged up nearly unweighted, casting to surface feeding mulloway at night, or sunk deep down a wave lashed rock wall on a 1.5oz 8/0 TT Lures HeadlockZ HD jighead with 80lb leader, I have found the 5" DieZel MinnowZ to swim perfectly and produce some great fish in a huge array of rigging scenarios. If I had to pick one way of rigging this lure however, it would be hard to go past a TT HeadlockZ 5/8oz 7/0, which can be slow rolled up near the surface, or hopped down deep in current equally well. Despite this, it pays to have a wide range of HeadlockZ jigheads in the 6/0 to 8/0 sizes, to suit this lure in a variety of circumstances and I have tried my best to include some of my favourite selections and the best times to fish those alongside the pictures for this article.
At the end of the day, we can all breathe a sigh of relief that we will never have to pick just one lure to fish with, however I think that anyone looking to chase big predatory species could do a lot worse than grabbing a few packs of ZMan 5" DieZel MinnowZ to try. Whether you're packing light or just looking to add another option to your arsenal, this lure can certainly do it all and has accounted for some cracking fish across the country in a relatively short space of time.