Fishing - Rigging The ZinkerZ™

The do-nothin or sink bait has become bass bait that most bass fisherman has made part of their fishing arsenal. This bait looks like an earth worm that is straight, round, and fat with a slight tapper at both ends. By adding heavy amounts of salt and or sugar sand, the bait is weighted to sink slowly to the bottom without any additional weight. What sets the ElaZtech® Zinker™ apart from the other lures of this type is its durability. Because of the heavy load of salt or sand, these lures are very fragile and normally will only last for 1 or 2 fish. The Zinker™ by design will out last any plastisol sink bait by a factor of 10X. Most commonly used in mid to shallow water presentations, this bait is a great choice for both largemouth and smallmouth bass.

Pro tip 1: Wacky style. To rig this bait wacky style, simple thread the hook thru the center of the worm and leave the hook exposed. I like to use a small diameter wire hook when fishing the sink bait wacky style. I don't want a heavy wire hook that will detract from the falling action. When fished this way, the Zinker™ will slowly float on a horizontal plane to the bottom. Because of the fat body and slightly tapered ends, the bait will have a little fluttering action on both sides of the hook that will cause very aggressive strikes. This fluttering action seems to be the key to these aggressive strikes. The down side to this system is a greater chance snags.

Pro tip 2: Wacky style (circle hook) this is a relatively new twist on a proven method. Being bass fisherman, we are always experimenting and trying new ways to improve on existing methods. I don't know who tried it first, but some fisherman bought some small size saltwater circle hooks and tried them on these do-nuthin worms. The results were we now have a good wacky style presentation that gives us a more weed less or snag resistant method of fishing these worms. The hook up ratio seems to be good and the majority of the time you will find that the fish is hooked in the side of the mouth. The best part of the circle hook method is the conservation aspect. The circle hook was designed to eliminate the gill or gut hooking of fish. A point to remember when fishing the Zinker™ circle hook style, do not make a hard hook set. Just simply point the rod at the fish and reel to a tight line. The hook will automatically catch in the side of the fish's mouth.

Pro tip 3: Texas rigging with a light slip sinker. This method changes the fall of the do-nuthin and adds a new dimension to the presentation. Being that the Zinker™ is already weighted the addition of a small weight to one end of the worm will cause it to have a gliding action as it goes to the bottom. Unlike the normal worm that has a straight downward fall, you cast past your target, hold your rod tip up and allow the worm to gently swim or glide to the to the target.