Gear Guide: Baits & Accessories - Part 4

By Perry Mack

Savage Gear USA 3D Suicide Duck

Best of Show Hard Lure goes to the suicide duck. Musky, big bass, and pike like to munch on baby ducks, and this ABS constructed hard body lure has semi-soft feet that spin and give the illusion of paddling. Two feather-covered treble hooks, one on the chest and one on the back ensure better hook-ups. Line can be attached to the duckling’s beak so it runs lower or to its chest, which makes the lure run higher in the water, like panicked little ducklings. Available in 4.25- and 6-inch sizes.

MSRP: $15 USD - savagegear-usa.com

Tomic Plugs

For decades, these lures have been proven to work by discerning sports fishermen and commercial trollers. They are hand painted and assembled on Vancouver Island, and have been for over 60 years. There’s a size and colour to attract every sport fish. The line up includes 2” Wee Tad, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7” Classic plug as in the picture above. 3, 4, 5, & 6” Tubby - similar to Classic but just a bit fatter for more action at slower speeds, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7” Multi (classic shape but with a ring to support tail hook and rigged with trebles), and 3, 3.5, 5 & 6” spoons. Thousands of colours available include glow, UV, iridescent, holographic & fluorescent - and they’re open to suggestions to design new colours.

MSRP: $7 - $18 CAD - Tomiclure.com

Z-Man ChatterBait® Freedom™

A partnership between Z-Man Fishing Products and Freedom Tackle, the ChatterBait Freedom combines Z-Man’s patented bladed swim jig design with Freedom’s proprietary advanced interchangeable hook design. Unlike other ChatterBait models, the ChatterBait Freedom allows for easy weedless rigging with a variety of soft plastic trailers using the 5/0 VMC X Long Wide Gap Hook, as well as more lifelike movement of the skirt and trailer thanks to its swinging hook design. The bait is easily customizable, and hooks can be changed quickly to provide the perfect match for various trailers and fishing scenarios.

MSRP: $8.49 USD - Zmanfishing.com

Z-Man ShroomZ™ Micro Finesse Jig

A skirted, Midwest finesse-style mushroom jighead that’s known to entice strikes in tough conditions, the 100% silicone skirts in custom-designed patterns provide a realistic appearance, lifelike action, and tantalizingly slow fall rate that is deadly on finicky bass. Armed with a light-wire, size 1 black nickel jig hook perfect for effortless hooksets on finesse tackle and a dual multi-strand wire weedguard for improved snag resistance, its wire trailer keeper is compatible with ElaZtech baits—namely the Finesse TRD™, CrusteaZ™ and Finesse ShadZ™—and traditional soft plastic trailers.

MSRP: $4.49 USD for 2 skirted jigs - Zmanfishing.com

Z-Man TRD TubeZ™

Engineered with a solid nose for easy rigging on Finesse ShroomZ™ jigheads, the 2.75” TRD TubeZ exemplifies, quite simply, the perfect Ned Rig-sized tube bait profile that’s ideal for both Midwest finesse bass and crappie fishing tactics. Its buoyant ElaZtech® makeup and thin, round tentacles cause the bait to stand up and come to life at rest, and its salted, super-soft, and dimpled body provides an incredibly natural feel to ensure longer holds and more consistent hooksets.

MSRP: $4.49 USD for a package of 6 - Zmanfishing.com