Fishing pressured water can be very difficult, as more fish get caught and get used to seeing artificial lures being thrown around them. On any day this can make for tough fishing, and anglers have to adapt to this in order to catch the more finicky, easily-spooked fish. These are a few Z-Man baits that have proven success when fishing high pressured water, and should be in every tackle box. When the bite is slow, you can turn to these lures and trust that you can bust the skunk.

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Video transcript:

Jeremy :
Have you ever fished in one of those bodies of water that are really pressured and you might have to do something a little bit different to catch them? Absolutely, we all have. And that's what we're going to talk about in today's Monsterbass video.

Jeremy :
Hey, what's happening guys? Welcome back to the Monsterbass channel. My name is Jeremy. I have a YouTube channel called Fishing the LoneStar, but today you're watching this video over on my Monsterbass channel. Today we're talking about pressured bodies of water, or just some unique lures that you may want to use that you maybe haven't tried yet, that are something that's a little bit different than what bass have seen before and are therefore going to cause them hopefully to react to your lure to help you catch fish. Or maybe others aren't, or in situations, or in places where it's been pressured or pretty heavy pressure.

Jeremy :
We all have the neighborhood pond, or local ponds, or even a public lake that you fish at that likely has been fished often. And even if you don't, even if you're fortunate enough to have either a private place or either other bodies of water that don't get a heavy amount of pressure and see a ton of different baits and lures, these two lures we're about to talk about and different baits actually are ones that are pretty unique because they provide a feature that just a lot of bass don't see in your typical bass lure. Little bit unique variations. So let's dig in and talk about what they are, because I think they can really help you go catch more fish.

Jeremy :
All right, the first one's going to be a unique pairing of the Swimbait Eye by Z-Man paired with the Minnows Swimbait. now, I've already got one out of the packaging so I'll show you what this looks like. So here's the two, you get the Swimbait Eye and the Minnows and this color is called the deal. I really like the deal color because it's a very natural color. It's kind of that two tone. I've also thrown this in the T.R.D. made by Z-Man and a couple other baits they offer.

Jeremy :
But what I really like about the Swimbait Eye is a couple of things. One, they pair really well together. Two, this eye really looks like a bait fish or a bait fish eye. This was constructed very well to look a lot like a bait fish is going to look like. It actually looks like a real fish eye. And this big eye is just not something that you usually see on any other type of paddle till swim bait set up. Now, this little paddle tail, I'll turn it this way and you can see how cupped that toe is, has great movement in the water so it swims really well. When you pair the two together, well, I'll just show you what it looks like.

Jeremy :
When you pair the two together, this is what you get. Now, what I really like again, is this very stout hook. It's got a very thick, good bait keeper. Let me show you that again here. You can kind of see a double bait keeper there on top and bottom. And when you pair it with that Z-Man plastic, it's not going anywhere. I mean, it is stuck on there for good. That didn't even budge off the tip here, and that's not super glued on there. That's just straight put on there, the plastic on this jig and it does really well, but you got a style hook. You got a great bait keeper. You've got a great visual for bass to key in on right here. And then this little paddle till, so this is a great little size. It's a smaller bait fish imitation.

Jeremy :
So the point to that is in bodies of water that are really heavy pressure, downsizing to a little bit smaller profile instead if throwing a four or four and a half inch, or maybe even a five inch swim bait, downsizing to a little three or three and a half inch swim bait, but still giving something for fish to key in on with that eye is really going to help you catch some fish or maybe you're not normally catching fish that particular day.

Jeremy :
All right, real quick, the setup that I use for this, the real speed doesn't really matter, but this is actually an 8.5 to one, I'm sorry, 8.3 to one gear ratio. Doesn't really matter as long as you're just working this to the right depth or water column that you need to, but this is pretty much a cast and retrieve, a cast and retrieve. One tip though is to point your rod right at the swim bait as you're reeling. That way, you've got a full range of motion to set the hook when a fish bites. If you're already kind of cocked this way, you don't have as far to set the hook, but if you're pointing straight at it, you have a full range of motion. So that's just one helpful tip.

Jeremy :
The line I like to use is anywhere between 17 to 20 pound fluorocarbon. I'm in Texas, our waters are not very clear so I can get away with 17 to 20 pound. Plus you have a pretty thick gauge heavy hook on this little swim bait jig. I like to use heavier line for that. Again, 17 to 20 pound fluorocarbon is what I use. And then the rod, this is a TFO 7'3" heavy, but it probably acts a little bit more like a medium heavy with a fast action to it, but a medium heavy to a heavy fast action. And that seven foot to seven foot three length range is going to do really well for you. So that's my setup. That's the swim bait. Let's talk about bait number two.

Jeremy :
The second one, and I can't believe that I'm about to say this particular type of technique but I'm going to, but let me tell you about the bait first, is the Finesse ShedZ. Now this particular color is Pearl or just a white, but it's called Pearl. This is a four inch, well, Finesse Shed and it comes in an eight pack and just like any other Z-Man plastic, it is really stretchy. But there's two ways that I'll tell you to use this lure in pressured situations.

Jeremy :
The first one, believe it or not, I am going to say it, is a drop shot. I personally don't like to drop shot, not because I don't think the technique is phenomenal or that it doesn't work really well. I just like to fish with moving baits. I get bored just sitting there. Anyways, that's a personal issue, but this big Finesse Shed rigged on a drop shot, because the Z-Man plastic is buoyant this tail is going to sit and be a little bit buoyant in the water calm. It's not just going to sag and do this. It's going to be buoyant, provide a lot of subtle action even if you're not even really moving it with your drop shot, it's going to provide some great action. And because it's so durable, you're going to catch a ton of fish on this particular little soft plastic.

Jeremy :
Now, the other way that I like to fish it is on the WillowVibe, which is a unique bladed jig or a unique ChatterBait by Z-Man. Here's what it looks like. You've got this willow blade, which is why it's called the WillowVibe that sits in the front. And I'll tell you this little bitty blade puts off a ton of commotion. Now, this is the three eight ounce size head. It does come in a quarter ounce, different other variations of sizes. The hook is pretty stout though so it's not really a finesse hook, although I would use a little bit of a lighter rod. I'll get that in a second. But between this blade in the front and this plastic down here in the back, this thing has a lot of movement and a lot of commotion in the water.

Jeremy :
Literally sometimes when I'm using this, my rod tip will actually vibrate from this little bitty willow blade. It does extremely well. It's a little bit of what I would call a Finesse bladed jig, or a Finesse ChatterBait, but it works really well and it's something that quite honestly bass just haven't really seen. You still get the vibration and that movement, but it's also subtle. And it looks like a small profile bait fish, which I mentioned earlier is really key to helping you catch fish in pressured situations. It just, it works really well. Trust me on this guy's. I recently seen picked up the WillowVibe and was super impressed with this.

Jeremy :
You can throw other paddle tails behind it. You can even pick up the minnows and put this on here and that works really well too. In this particular case, I will say that this tail and this whipping motion does really well on the back of this. WillowVibe, I would imagine though, that you could also use this on the back of just any other vibrating jig and that tail's going to work really well and look really well behind any type of other ChatterBait. Something to consider there again on pressured waters.

Jeremy :
I'll tell you really quickly when I'm throwing this on. I like to reel a little slower with a bladed jig. I like a little bit slower reel. This one's still though like a 7.5 or no, it's a 6.8 to one. You could probably even go a little bit slower, but 6.8 to one is what I'm using. 14 to 17 pound fluorocarbon is what I normally use for my ChatterBaits.

Jeremy :
This one though, because the hook is a little bit thinner diameter I'd probably go with a 12 to 14 pound fluorocarbon, especially if you're using the quarter ounce WillowVibe, I would use a 12 pound fluorocarbon. It's just going to help it get a little bit deeper in the water column. However, this one I believe is either 14 or 17 pound fluorocarbon. I like to throw mine. This is actually a medium heavy fiberglass rod, but it's got a really, really, really soft tip to it because it's a fiberglass rod. I would suggest if you don't have a fiberglass rod, I know not a lot of guys have one, but you can also throw it on just a moderate action. Moderate instead of fast or a medium power moderate action rod is ideal.

Jeremy :
If you don't have that, if you have say, for example, what's considered an all around rod, which is like a 7'3" medium heavy fast action, just do me a favor. Do yourself a favor. Do not hook set very hard on the WillowVibe because what's going to happen, trust me, is if the fish comes up and eats this entire thing like this, and they cover their mouth over this blade. And as soon as you feel it, you set the hook really hard that blade's going to push the fish's mouth open and that hook's going to come right out without ever being set. So when the fish bites it, you want to wait just a second, let that blade fall down and you notice what happens when it falls down. That hook gets exposed and then you set the hook and then you catch the fish.

Jeremy :
Just don't set very hard or very fast if you're using a medium heavy, or a fast action rod. If you're using a medium power or a moderate action, then you should be good to go. Just lean into them and reel. And this little hook right here will penetrate the fish, the fish's mouth, and you'll get a good hook set.

Jeremy :
That's it guys. I do think, I think this is a great tip. Use both of these, the Minnows, little smaller [inaudible 00:10:59] or the Finesse Shedz on some of those days, that either the day is high pressure, meaning high barometric pressure, or when just the body of water or the place you're fishing has a lot of pressure. Throw that swim bait eye. It's got a great feature that bass can key in on, or that WillowVibe, just something different that the bass haven't likely seen before and you're probably going to have a lot of success catching fish with both of these setups.

Jeremy :
All right, guys, drop me a comment below. Let me know either A, if you've used these before, what success you've had, or if you've not, hopefully you're picking these up and you're going to give them a try. I can almost promise you're going to catch some good fish with them. Draw me a call below and let me know your thoughts. Also, please subscribe right here to the Monsterbass Channel. We're providing you videos and content to help you just go fish better, be a better angler and a go catch monster bass. And if you haven't yet hop over to the Fishing the LoneStar. We'll love for you to come subscribe to my channel as well.

Jeremy :
That's it guys. Make sure you're subscribed. Like the video comment below, stay tuned for more awesome videos like this on the Monsterbash Channel. Monster bass, go catch one.