High Floater…
When is a plastic egg not a plastic egg? The answer is when it’s made of ElaZtech—a proprietary material produced by ZMan Fishing Products.
The company has a line of soft baits that, truthfully, are oriented more to the bass and Gulf inshore markets than they are trout or steelhead. However, Glenn Young, a former guide on the Oregon Coast, works for the company and his influence has helped create a line of soft baits that work well for the adipose crowd.
What makes these baits different from the usual run is the material. While ElaZtech looks like soft plastic, it isn’t the common stuff. It is very buoyant, and it is very tough; the company claims it is 10 times tougher than what you’ll find elsewhere.
You’ll notice this when you try to put an egg on a hook. The ElaZtech material resists penetration when compared to other plastic eggs; you have to push the hook in while you’re pushing the egg on. And if you’re trying to slide the egg up over a snell knot, you’ll have a bit more difficulty.
It’s equally hard for a fish to pull the egg off. It stays on, even after you’ve caught a trout or a dozen or two. This is less evident with the EZ EggZ than say, the two-inch GrubZ you might use for trout or the steelhead-colored floating worms. To get those two to sit in place on a jig, you are well served to add a small drop of super glue gel to the head of the bait then place it in position.
ElaZtech’s buoyancy is another benefit, especially when you want whatever you’re using to float. Thread four or five eggs on a light-wire egg hook and it’s likely to be neutrally buoyant, floating around with any current. This reaction depends upon the weight of the hook.
Or you can make the process easier by simply tying the right number of eggs on a hook or slipped into an egg-loop snell. This latter method is possible because the EggZ are produced in a strand, with a small tab of the ElaZtech material between each egg. This connection allows you to loop the strand of EggZ back and forth through the egg loop until you get the flotation you want or the size of lure you want. And while I’ve not tried it, I imagine you can also use thread to tie the egg strand to the hook, looping the strand back and forth until you get the lure you want.
Also, because ElaZtech is so soft, it has a lot of action when moved, not something you’ll see with the egg unless you tie a string of them to a hook and allow the tail of the strand to float free. However, the GrubZ and floating worms are incredibly supple and move with the lightest twitch, so I’m guessing the same will hold true with a string of EggZ.
Another thing worth noting—the EggZ are impregnated with “natural” scent and come in four very eggy colors. For more information, go to: www.zmanfishing.com.