Story by Billy “Hawkeye” Decoteau, For Z-Man Lures. Most bass anglers within the northeast have winterized and stowed their bass boats come November. Turning to woodland hunting grounds, the thought of pursuing Black Bass on open water is in a state of hibernation. However, diehard savvy bass anglers like myself are elated their hunting grounds are less crowded. Turning to my Lowrance electronic eyes the search for large schools of baitfish along sharp contour drop-offs, ledges and extended points begins. Bass are creatures of habit. More often than not bass will return to the same structural locations year after year. That is providing the batfish are present!
Idling my Bass Cat/Mercury rig slowly, I monitor my Lowrance Structure Scan within the Down-Scan image. As I locate the baitfish I continue to slowly idle until they are just off my screen, then I start dropping buoy markers. Dropping buoy markers around the outside of the school provides a visual area to cast to. (Note: Having 5-6 buoy markers outlines the school perfectly.) Switching your Structure Scan unit to either a left or right side imaging mode allows closely monitoring the baitfish activity as you rotate around the buoy markers. I’ll start off making long horizontal cast allowing my bait to sink within the same depth as the baitfish. If the bass are active, then a horizontal retrieve will entice them!
To cover water for active fish, I rely on two baits for my horizontal retrieve. A Z-Man QuadZilla Spinnerbait and a Z-Man QuadZilla Rig. The QuadZilla Spinnerbait profiles a bulkier baitfish image, allowing the addition of just a trailer hook or an ElaZtech trailer of your choice. More often than not my ElaZtech trailer is a 3” MinnowZ or a 4” DieZel MinnowZ in Pearl Blue Glimmer or Smokey Shad.
The Z-Man QuadZilla 4-Arm Spinner Rig, offers anglers a multitude of bait sizes, shapes and jig-head weight options. Mimicking a school of baitfish the QuadZilla Spinnerbait and QuadZilla 4-Arm Spinner Rig can be retrieved from a slow crawl along the bottom to a burning retrieve on the surface. Another outstanding design feature of Z-Man’s QuadZilla baits is the incorporation of four-willow leaf blades. Each willow leaf blade is attached with ball bearing swivels for smooth rotating vibration. While, a centered weighted keel arm keeps the QuadZilla upright and running true. Best of all an angler can utilize a spinnerbait or crankbait rod, covering water quicker and easier than a standard umbrella rig. And, forget about tangles and storage problems! These QuadZilla baits have a sliding head that collapse the entire rig for safe tangle free stowing!”
When it comes to my choice of plastic baits I am a bit adamant as to what goes on my hooks! Without a doubt Z-Man baits last longer and in the frigid cold water they stay soft and pliable. Keeping it simple I opt for Z-Man’s three, four and at times six-inch SwimmerZ swimbaits in natural baitfish colors. Depending upon the retrieve speed of my QuadZilla 4-Arm Spinner Rig, I’ll rig a Z-Man 3” MinnowZ or 4” DieZel MinnowZ on fast retrieves and rotate between a 3”, 4” and 6” SwimmerZ for slower retrieves.
Anglers utilizing Z-Man’s QuadZilla Spinnerbaits or QuadZilla Rigs will be pleasantly surprised at how weedless and effective Z-Man’s QuadZilla baits produce when bumping into hard cover or ripped out of vegetation!