Hey fellas.

I am looking for firsthand accounts of what trays work with Elaztech Z Man baits.  I plan to have a tray of only Z Man baits and prerig a lot of Ned and Neko rigs.  I super glue my heads and sinkers.  This past weekend I went through a lot of baits and would like to be a little more organized in the future.  Thanks for any suggestions.  

I keep mine in Flambeau boxes.  They warp the regular boxes.

I put mine in a Plano Edge and had no issues.

They definitely warp Edge boxes. I had 2 pieces of Elaztech in there, a TRD and a Diezel Minowz. 2 pieces of soft plastic warped the grey permanent walls of the Edge box. 

I had mine in a standard plano 3700, and it warped.  Switched to a flambeau like @Jig Man, and haven't had warping issues.  Sure wish flambeau made thin 3700/3600's.

When the elaztech baits first came out and we're offered by (I think) Strike King 3X and Terminator, there were special clear polycarbonate or acrylic boxes that weren't affected by the material. Don't know if they even offer that anymore.  I have never tried them in Plano boxes in fear of them damaging the boxes and turning into goo.

 

The other concern I would have with keeping pre-rigged Neds and Nikko rigs is that I would worry about it eating the hooks. I left a couple ned rigs set up on a couple rods and when I came back to them, the hook had been completely been eaten away by corrosion over the winter.

 

Don't know if that is normal, but both setups did it. I picked them up for some reason and when I tried to hook it back in the hook keeper, the whole hook point fell off.

On 10/6/2025 at 8:26 AM, Bass Junke said:

They definitely warp Edge boxes. I had 2 pieces of Elaztech in there, a TRD and a Diezel Minowz. 2 pieces of soft plastic warped the grey permanent walls of the Edge box. 

Interesting. The photo I uploaded is a Plano Synergy Edge Flex. It's full and had been that way for a year.

 

No warping or damage whatsoever.

6 hours ago, FrnkNsteen said:

The other concern I would have with keeping pre-rigged Neds and Nikko rigs is that I would worry about it eating the hooks. I left a couple ned rigs set up on a couple rods and when I came back to them, the hook had been completely been eaten away by corrosion over the winter.

I prerig all my Neds and I've never had any of them rust the hook.  Some have sat for a while.  And with Neko rigs, I'm just gluing in a sinker.  

I keep mine bagged up, all plastics. I take what I need for the trip and nothing more. Easy peasy..

My test results from a polycarbonate box, which is what zman recommends. 

For what it is worth, I moved to just making a dark bag a light bag, and using the original bags for that. One tip though, don't mix zinkers in the boxes - there's a bunch of salt in them and over time it just sort of dehydrates the others, for lack of a better way to describe. Doesn't make them useless, they just don't look new anymore. 

 

Learned a bit today. I have always left in the bag that it came with after learning my lesson ...when it tried to become "the blob". 

12 hours ago, FrnkNsteen said:

The other concern I would have with keeping pre-rigged Neds and Nikko rigs is that I would worry about it eating the hooks. I left a couple ned rigs set up on a couple rods and when I came back to them, the hook had been completely been eaten away by corrosion over the winter.

If you dry them out before putting them back into a box, they should be ok.  The outside of the hook may have some corrosion build up where it exits the bait.  The hooks Ive had break the most was strangley the heavier wire TT Nedlockz heads, the thicker wire ned heads with the cone keeper.

9 hours ago, Junk Fisherman said:

I prerig all my Neds and I've never had any of them rust the hook.  Some have sat for a while.  And with Neko rigs, I'm just gluing in a sinker.  

Interesting... Both of mine are the hook right where it exits the Ned body. The rest of the bend and hook point just fell off leaving just the hook shank coming out of the jig to the start of the bend. Both were Zman Ned jigs. Standard 1/10oz if I remember correctly.

 

3 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

If you dry them out before putting them back into a box, they should be ok.  The outside of the hook may have some corrosion build up where it exits the bait.  The hooks Ive had break the most was strangley the heavier wire TT Nedlockz heads, the thicker wire ned heads with the cone keeper.

Makes sense, but both mine were kept clean and dry on the rod rack in my garage. Mine rotted off in the area where it exits the bait just like you mentioned. They were the standard Zman ned jigs.

4 hours ago, FrnkNsteen said:

Interesting... Both of mine are the hook right where it exits the Ned body. The rest of the bend and hook point just fell off leaving just the hook shank coming out of the jig to the start of the bend. Both were Zman Ned jigs. Standard 1/10oz if I remember correctly.

 

Makes sense, but both mine were kept clean and dry on the rod rack in my garage. Mine rotted off in the area where it exits the bait just like you mentioned. They were the standard Zman ned jigs.

I make my own jigs and use Mustad hooks.  And now that I think about it, I did have an old jig completely break off on the hook shank recently.  It was an old TRD/jig that I'd had in my boat a long time.   It was the first one with a Mustad that I've broken like that.  I used to break the Z man hooks often enough that I started making my own jigs.  I routinely straigthen my Mustad hooks when snagged so I often stress my hooks.  

Zman baits seem to destroy all kinds of hooks.  I also pour my own heads.  For the Ned I use Victory hooks that fit the Midwest Finesse weedless mold and Gamakatsu hooks for the open ones.  Over time they all will rust and break.

They have melted every box I put them in so I keep them in the original bags.

 

Allen

8 hours ago, Munkin said:

They have melted every box I put them in so I keep them in the original bags.

 

Allen

I have two old clear polycarbonate 3600 boxes that I keep some of my common items in safely, but the rest of mine are kept in their original packages as well.

My neighbor keeps his in the original packaging in a tackle bag.  He also keeps his Keitechs that way.  You could get a bill through congress faster than he can find a particular color.

I use these. Rather impressed with them. 3600 size.

Have one fully Z-man, my Ned box. I keep my minnowz

in their bags for now.

 

On 10/8/2025 at 2:14 PM, RRocket said:

Interesting. The photo I uploaded is a Plano Synergy Edge Flex. It's full and had been that way for a year.

 

No warping or damage whatsoever.

Correct. The customizable edge boxes do not have any permanent grey walls. The interior thin grey walls are what warped. It didn't really affect anything, box still closes. 

 

Elaztech the most durable fragile soft plastic known to man. Can't keep it with other plastic, can't store it in certain materials, can't dip em in JJ Magic. But one piece of plastic will catch a couple hundred fish.