Cgolf

Just realized that better half rushed me and I didn't realize I kinda buried the fact that the particular concern is a week long trip, but am also curious on the day trip replies too, because when I fish locally I probably go too minimalistic vs packing the shop when I go for a week.

That is my fear exactly. If I leave a certain bait home and I get nailed with a tough bite, the bait at home will be the one that has worked in the past lol. Worst case on the trip if I overpack, is a boat ride back to the store/cabin to restock.

Question for you guys, how do you keep from taking tons of plastics and cranks on a trip. I have been keeping a list over the years of the different baits and colors that have worked for me in the past and adding to it each year with new stuff I want to try. The frustrating thing is that the weather really impacts what gets bit each year. Have had years where a certain bait or color will get 80% of the fish and the next year it will blank. So basically what I have is a spreadsheet packing list with known producers and want to try and it feels like I have too much for a week of fishing. Since I have the room to pack it, do I just do it and deal with the comments from my better half about why did I bring so much, or do I drop some stuff off the packing list?

Well I keep messing with them, the two I have tossed this year have not stood up, maybe the buoyancy difference influences how the bait is presented in the water. They catch fish, so all is good, just noticed a slight difference with them.

Been trying the TRD for the first time this year and so far, it looks like it doesn't kick the tail up at rest vs what I have seen in the ZinkerZ which always has the tail up. Does it take the TRD a bit of use for this to happen? Don't get me wrong they work, caught twin 18"-19" smallies on them, but so far they seem to present differently.

The SK elaztech are Zman baits, so there should be no issue with those. If they aren't somebody correct me, my next purchase will be including both.

From my RC plane building days where CA glue mishaps were the norm, I would just wipe a drip off quickly with a towel and then just spread the rest out by rubbing it so it dried quickly. It seemed to cause no issues other than having slightly tougher skin while it dried. Usually I could pick off the glue easily without damaging any skin.

For glueing baits to a jig head, I have found the loctite gel control to be the best thing going. Unlike most super glues, even the thick ones, it stays right where you put it. Pretty funny we posted at the same time the same thing lol

And when you use a Plano or Flambeu box make sure you use a brand new one, which I do. Have one box in particular that has held baits for 6 months and no issues with either. Even they use Plano boxes, this guy is using the hydro flow series.

After getting many different answers on the boards here, I will post the response I got from Zman about storage of their baits. In my email to them I did ask for permission and was given it to post it. My email, I have a question about the storage of your Elaztech baits. Being a newer user to your product, first tried it last spring, I haven’t quite figured out all the do’s and don’ts with storing them. Thankfully I have not had any meltdowns yet so I have been careful enough. Here is my setup, and dilemma, I fish 4-6 days a week with mixed baits and don't want to put a Zman on a jig head back in the original sealed bag wet. I would be concerned about rust since I generally carry about 8-10 baits prerigged and ready. I currently store them in a double sided Plano 3500 size box that I drilled holes in to allow the water to evaporate. I also added some paper towel in each slot to help with moisture. With this I haven't had any serious rusting issues or worry about what or how I set the used baits in my truck to dry, the box stays in the truck the entire fishing season. My question, is the reaction just a contact reaction, or if this vented box is placed in the same compartment of a soft sided bag with either crankbaits or other soft plastics will I have issues? I do currently have a bag that allows me to keep them separate, but once that bag is gone I am not sure the replacement bag would give me the same luxury. The answers I got on the forum were that Plano boxes do bad things to the baits and the original bag is the only safe option. I figured it would be easier to get the answer from the source. Also let me know if I can post your answer on the forum, I think many others would benefit from it, I get the impression there are a lot of misconceptions out there, including about baits melting due to heat. Answer from Zman Thanks for using our products and for getting in touch about proper storage of ElaZtech plastics. There’s a little bit of a learning curve with our material, but once you get it down, the benefits of the material far outweigh any changes you need to make in how you store or rig the baits! As you already are aware, we recommend storing ElaZtech plastics in their original packaging, as that is the safest bet to prevent them from coming into contact with a foreign substance that may affect the ElaZtech baits, or vice versa. It is also important to keep the baits out of extreme heat (i.e., out of the direct sunlight on a hot day, do not store inside a vehicle in the summer, etc.) because the melting point of ElaZtech is slightly lower than other soft plastics. We are located in South Carolina where it gets pretty hot; I store my baits in a compartment in my boat year-round, and I have never experienced any temperature-related issues whatsoever. Our warehouse reaches in excess of 100 degrees in the summer, and we’ve never had any baits melt here. As far as storing ElaZtech baits in a Plano box or similar storage tray goes, I’m not aware of any storage boxes that will cause our baits to melt. Over time, ElaZtech may cause the box itself to warp, but the baits should be fine as long as they are not mixed with other soft plastics. I would recommend against storing ElaZtech and conventional plastics together in the same storage box, even in different compartments, to avoid the baits inadvertently being mixed and to prevent any kind of cross-k I think the setup you described would probably not present any issues as long as you are very careful about not mixing PVC baits with ElaZtech plastics. While I don’t have any hard evidence to support this yet, I believe that a Plano box with holes in it will allow air to flow in and out of the compartments and eliminate, or at least reduce, the warping issue. Plano actually makes a box with holes in it, and I’ve been using it with ElaZtech for a few months without any negative effects on the box. We are currently working on finding a cost-effective source for ElaZtech-friendly storage boxes and hope to have a series of boxes on the market by next summer. In the meantime, it’s worth mentioning that Flambeau’s K-Series boxes are compatible with ElaZtech. They can be ordered online from several different sources including Flambeau. If you are going to use a Plano-style box, another thing to be cognizant of is how the baits are laid in the compartments. Our material is prone to ‘taking a set’ over time, so the baits and the boxes themselves must be stored carefully. This is not as much of an issue with baits like ZinkerZ, FattyZ, TRDs, Finesse WormZ, etc. but is something to watch out for with baits like swimbaits with 3 dimensional tails or appendages that don’t lay flat as easily. I think that you are correct that there are many misconceptions about the material, melting, etc. When we get complaints from anglers about melted baits, we typically ask the customer to return the baits to us so we can check them out. Almost always, the angler insists that they did not mix ElaZtech with other soft baits, and virtually every time, we find a shriveled up PVC bait among the melted ElaZtech baits! And those are just the people that contact us and send the baits back to us, so I’m sure that many of the people complaining about baits melting have unknowingly and unintentionally mixed them with a foreign substance. Here is a link to video we made about proper storage of ElaZtech baits that you may find helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1wkWQPMcPs. The bottom line is that if you take a few basic precautions, you will not have any issues with ElaZtech. Please feel free to post this on any forums as you see fit. Thank you again for using our ElaZtech plastics and for getting in touch with your question! Mad props to Zman for getting me a very prompt answer. The two times I have dealt with their customer service they have been awesome. They seem like a group that stands behind their product and want to do as much as possible to make it succeed.

If it is truly a monster it is Holy ****! because those are the words that my lizard brain sends to my mouth, I am not in control. Generally it is nothing, but if I have someone with I will say of course get the net if needed, but that is well after the hookset.

Guys here is my setup, and dilemma, I fish 4-6 days a week with mixed baits and don't want to put a Zman on a jig head back in the sealed ziplock bag wet. Since I have been using a homemade hydro flow box, I haven't had any serious rusting issues or worry about what or how I set the used baits in my truck to dry. The Zman in the Plano box and the others on a paper towel on the floor. I did get lucky this time and found an old flambeau bag, where the Zman go in the top zippered compartment and the cranks and normal baits in the larger compartment. My initial comcerns were the double sided box would be too tall for the top compartment and have to be packed with the cranks.

So are Zman baits just a touch reaction? The reason I ask is I have a Plano box I use that I vent to keep the hooks from rusting. I also want to keep the Zman baits in the same compartment of the bag as my cranks. I just would rather be safe than sorry. This is the only thing that frustrates me about Zman stuff, I am still learning the does and donts with it. Would be nice to see a Zman handling thread linked into the Ned rig pinned thread to help out newbies with elaztech baits.

Was trying to think what is down your way, I am not even sure what would be good though. I thought at one time lake Beulah near east Troy was pretty good, and a quick check showed that they run bass tournies on Tuesdays so the fishing must still be ok. Of course you have Lake Geneva as long as you are well before Memorial Day or after Labor Day, now that I have a rig I would love to give that lake a try again.

Congrats on the boat, and he had it rigged up perfectly for ya.

How did you do on the opener? We only lasted about 2 hours in the morning, the lake I was on was a wind tunnel and got really rough with that bitter wind. Still managed two pike and a solid bass before we gave up, hope you had a good opener. And go figure Sunday morning was beutiful lol. You will get the hang of trailer in it, just takes practice, you will be a pro in no time. Boat looks nice, as you figure out storage and stuff you should post some pics, I have customized my boat a lot over time with some cheap homemade add ons to make it even better, tinkering with it is half the fun lol.

I got out on our opener yesterday and we had 53 degree water temps and in the little bit I got to fish it, a girthy 16" fish got both of the trebles in the mouth when she took it, I don't see that very often. Three casts later I bounced it off the console windshield and broke the bill, one of the drawbacks of fishing out of a small boat.

If it is just the nose that is getting ripped you could run the tip of a toothpick through the bait and part way into the hook eye and try hitting it with some super glue. I have always used slider style heads for T rigging so I just glue it to the head on the jig.

Take a look at Swing Oil baits. He has a 4" U tail worm. I have some tubes from him and a few other baits and was happy with the quality. A while back I was looking for a chartreuse silver flake worm to replace some rattlesnake 4" ribbon tail worms I had years ago. When I contacted him he was willing to do custom colors. I just haven't pulled the trigger on an order yet My local tackle shop had some 4" Kalins, but when I contacted Kalins looking for my color, they said they don't make them anymore which was weird because they were new last fall to the store. Now that I have written a book check the culprit site, I think they still make a few colors in the 4", maybe you can order direct. Do keep in mind though that they usually have a thinner body so they may not work on a swim jig hook.

I have two. The first has now happened to me twice on the river. I hooked and landed a rock, I am amazed that they didn't fall off. I even was able to get a picture of one of them it wasn't exactly tiny. The second was pretty awesome. We were trolling with bottom bouncers and spinners for a Walleye and my rod just doubled over. Killed the trolling motor thinking I had a snag, but it kind of felt like it was fighting. Well somehow I got to the boat. My father in law had the net ready and well it was a 5 1/2 ft piece of wood I snagged. Well now the rest of the story lol. It was at night and I had him drag it in the boat for a picture. When he tossed it back in he almost went over the other side of the boat, it was not light and made a splash like someone fell in the water. I of course opened my big mouth and not quietly said 'man it sounds like we just tossed a dead body overboard'. And as I looked up well crap, another boat was slowly motoring past not 20 feet away. Funniest thing that has happened to me on the water, not sure what that boat thought was going on!

Realistically I really don’t have a preference, but when I get in a zone I am not a good conversationalist. It is always tough to find the line of just enough conversation, and it really depends on the bite too. I do like taking people on a body of water I know well and I can teach them some new techniques. There is one time though that I like to myself. Those early morning trips on the vacation lake when the sun is coming up and I have had loons within 10 ft of the boat doing their assorted calls, the eagles are out and active, Muskies poke their heads out and check you out, and just the peace and quiet because I pretty much have the lake to myself. Those are the moments when you realize how awesome life and nature are.

Congrats on the boat and good luck on the opener. One thing you could do is practice backing up in an empty parking lot to get the hang of it if you have never pulled a trailer. That will help ease the nerves when launching on a busy opening day. The good news on the opener is you got fishermen on the ramp that should help you out instead of the lets go out and party crowd.

Based on the timing of your post I may be a bit late. When I first got my 16 ft deep V boat I had a roller trailer and it was a struggle for two people to launch and land the boat. We tried stronger and different keel rollers and nothing helped. Two seasons ago I traded in that trailer for a bunk trailer and can now launch and land the boat solo in a 1/4 of a time two of us could with the old trailer. Not saying there aren't good roller trailers out there, but the only people I have seen truly struggle had them.

I tied three jigs with EP fibers and a quick test in the sink showed that they puffed, but nowhere near as much as a silicone skirt. This could be a bonus giving it a more of a finesse look. I do have the video of the jig in the sink out on Instagram, but I don't think I can link it here like you can a you tube video.

I have some tubes like that and some of the Netbait worms I toss Water jelly, table rock red, and sun perch are layered worms and I do really well with them. I have never really thought about if I had a worm that was one of the colors of the layered worms how would it do. I think with the laminates you are trying to match some sort of prey with the two colors. It is an interesting thought. I am surprised that a few years back when northland came out with the slurpies tube they had a layered perch, Shad, and craw were the colors I bought and they worked great, but they were discontinued pretty quickly. Not sure if people didn't buy into the concept or if they wouldn't buy bass baits from a historically walleye company. If I think of it while I am on the water this summer I may experiment a bit with this, but not try to overthink it, because I would then carry way too many colors in the boat lol.