Z-MAN - FINESSE TRD 2.75" x 8PCS SOFT LURE SOFT BAIT

Z-Man Finesse TRD 2.75" x 8Pcs Soft Lure Soft Bait

The Finesse TRD — The Real Deal — is the bait the Ned rig was built around. Z-Man designed it for the Midwest finesse style: a short, stubby, ribbed stick worm fished on a light mushroom-head jig, with almost no action imparted by the angler. What makes it different from every other small soft plastic is posture. Z-Man uses a softer formulation of its floating ElaZtech material with a custom salt content, and the result is that the bait stands upright off the bottom at rest, tail cocked into the water, nodding on the smallest current or rod movement while the jig head sits on the substrate. A conventional PVC worm lies flat and dead; the TRD keeps working while you do nothing. Z-Man also rates the material at 10X the durability of ordinary soft plastic, so one bait commonly takes a run of fish without tearing. Supplied 2.75" long, eight per pack, in eight colours.

Key Features

• Purpose-built Ned rig / Midwest finesse profile — ready to fish, no trimming required
• Floating ElaZtech formulation stands the bait upright off the bottom at rest
• Custom salt content tunes the sink rate for a slow, natural fall
• Soft feel that Z-Man rates as producing longer holds and better hook-up ratios
• ElaZtech, rated by Z-Man at 10X tougher than ordinary soft plastic
• Also fishes on a drop-shot, wacky rigged, or as a compact jig trailer
• 2.75" body, 8 per pack, eight colours

How To Fish It

• The Ned rig — drag and pause — Thread it onto a 1/10–1/6 oz mushroom-head jig (a Finesse ShroomZ style head), cast, let it hit bottom, then drag it 30–60 cm with the rod and stop. The pause is the presentation: the bait stands up and waves while the line goes slack. Most bites come during the stop, felt as weight rather than a knock.
• Dead-sticking pressured fish — In clear or heavily fished water, cast to a rock, stump or dock piling and simply leave it there for ten to thirty seconds. The standing tail moves on its own. This is why the TRD keeps catching in water where moving lures have stopped producing — nothing about it looks like a lure being retrieved.
• Hop and shake — Small upward lifts of 15–30 cm let the light head fall slowly and the buoyant body swing tail-down. Useful when fish want a little more movement, on gravel points and rocky drop-offs.
• Drop-shot and wacky — Nose-hook it above a drop-shot weight over deep structure, or hook it through the middle for a slow horizontal fall along vertical cover.

Target Species By Region

• Southeast Asia — Hampala barb (sebarau) on rocky river and reservoir bottoms, peacock bass along margins, jungle perch and mahseer in clear highland streams.
• North America — Its home water: smallmouth and largemouth bass on gravel, rock and clear reservoir flats, spotted bass on deep points, plus crappie, walleye and perch. The standard answer on post-frontal, cold-water and high-pressure days.
• Japan & East Asia — Largemouth bass (blackbass) in pressured reservoirs where finesse rigs dominate, plus rockfish (mebaru, kasago) on light game tackle.
• Australia, Middle East & Europe — Australian bass, estuary perch and bream on rock and oyster; European perch and zander on canal and lake bottoms, where the standing pause suits cold, clear winter water.

Specifications

Colours: New Money, Coppertreuse, PB & J, California Craw, Mud Minnow, Canada Craw, Junebug, Green Pumpkin.

Store ElaZtech away from ordinary PVC plastics — the two react in contact.

Recommended Pairing

• Jig head: 1/15–1/5 oz mushroom-style finesse head; 1/10 and 1/6 oz cover most situations, lighter in shallow or clear water
• Light or medium-light spinning rod, 6'6"–7'0", with a soft tip to let fish take the bait
• Line: 10–15 lb braid with a 6–10 lb fluorocarbon leader, or straight 6–8 lb fluorocarbon
• Fish it on a slack or semi-slack line — a tight line stops the bait standing up