Meet the Z-Man Big BallerZ

Meet the Z-Man® Big BallerZ™

New bootylicious ElaZtech® bait shakes its money-maker

Ladson, SC (January 22, 2025) – It’s a real rump-shaker. A twitchy-tailed minnow. A saltwater sight-fishing dream bait. A soft, bouncy, buoyant, tough-as-nails slinky that simply can’t stop shaking its big round booty. Jig it. Flick it. Swim it. Kill it. Twerk it. Cast it anywhere near a selective seatrout and hang on.

An effective antidote for aquatic predators reluctant to slash traditional softbait silhouettes, the Z-Man® Big BallerZ™ recently landed at fishing tackle retailers—just in time to conquer cool water bites, Texas to the Atlantic Coast.

“It’s like a parade of paddletail swimbaits out there,” interjects Z-Man pro, Captain Ernest Cisneros, referring to Texas’ Lower Laguna Madre, where fishing pressure with traditional swimbaits gets downright silly.

“Even on those bright, sunny, glass calm days when everybody’s on the water—when the big trout and reds are turned off by the stronger vibrations of a traditional swimbait— the Big BallerZ’ subtle tail movements hit all the right notes and continue to catch ‘em.

“See the bait’s juicy little ball tail? On a steady, straight retrieve, this orb-like appendage wags and thumps at half the speed of a paddletail. Those tough fish become so accustomed to the same vibration and action of a paddletail that they’ll downshift and key on these less intrusive, non-mechanical movements. To me, the Big BallerZ has proven itself by producing bites even on those extra challenging days.”

Empowered by V-shaped ridges and diamond cross section, the Z-Man Big BallerZ jives with multidirectional tail action.

Breaking Down the BallerZ

Director of Product Development and confirmed saltwater sneak Jose Chavez describes the design essentials driving Z-Man’s newest inshore ElaZtech® creation. “Z-Man pros and guides immediately praised the Big BallerZ’ erratic, unrestrained tail action,” notes Chavez. “While other jerk-minnow style baits mostly tail-kick with either a side-to-side or up-and-down vertical motion, the BallerZ does both, depending on your retrieve.

“We built the segmented tail to wag vertically during slower, rod-shaking moves or horizontally with straight retrieves—and an array of other motions in between,” he explains. “The BallerZ is sculpted with a streamlined, tapering profile. It’s built to slide cleanly through tight spaces in grass or other cover, while its unconventional tail design rattles cages like a wrecking ball.”

Chavez further explains the bait’s V-shaped dorsal and ventral ridges and articulated, diamond formed cross section, which empower the BallerZ’ erratic quivering, thumping action: “I’d describe the bait’s range of motion as unhinged, exhibiting multidirectional tail wags with various twitches of the rodtip. Rigged on a ZWG™ Swimbait Hook, the BallerZ also does a wicked subsurface walk-the-dog dance. Possibilities are almost limitless.”

Captain Ernest Cisneros hoists a bonus Big BallerZ redfish.

Cisneros’ Inshore Intel

To ease hook placement and arrow-straight rigging, the Big BallerZ features back and belly hook slots. “When rigged weedless with a weighted ZWG™ Swimbait Hook, the bait slides cleanly right through the grass,” he says. “If I want to add extra dimensions of bait movement and retain max snag-resistance, the articulated Texas Eye™ jighead is an ideal match for the 5-inch BallerZ. And when conditions get tough, my go-to is a 4-inch Big BallerZ on a Texas Eye Finesse Jighead.”

Further, for exposed hook jighead rigging, the 5” Big BallerZ fits a Swimbait Eye™ Jighead, while the 4” size matches a Trout Eye® X jighead to perfection.

Beyond its unhinged, wrecking ball action, the Big BallerZ’ natural buoyancy means it triggers bites even while sitting on bottom, tail up and wagging slowly in place. “One deadly method is to swim the bait into a pothole, which is a sand clearing or subtle depression in the bottom surrounded by sea grass,” reveals Chavez. “Swim the bait through the grass and give it a couple pops before killing it right in the pothole. These are key ambush zones where big trout or redfish will hold, rest or intercept bait.

“Because the bait is buoyant, you can just let it soak in place on bottom, which activates the tail and imitates a minnow feeding in the substrate. If fish are following but not biting more active retrieves, they’ll usually inhale a dead-sticked BallerZ like it's livebait.

“Of course, because it’s made with 10X Tough ElaZtech, you can expect to catch a bunch of fish on each BallerZ, saving money and time spent re-rigging. These are rare, super cool qualities in a softbait, and bigtime reasons this thing’s been crushing it for big trout, redfish and bonus snook.” 

Freshly stocked at fishing tackle stores now, the made-in-the-USA Big BallerZ features 12 guide-inspired colors and two sizes. MSRP is $5.99 per 4” (5-pack) or 5” (4-pack). For more intel, visit www.zmanfishing.com.

At Texas' Laguna Madre, an epic BallerZ bite incites a rocket ship salute.
(Photo by Aaron Cisneros)