Time for the tiny stuff

I’ve had a nice selection of Z-Vibes in the smallest size since last spring but water levels pretty much parked many chances to really use them as I wanted to…. vertically on submerged wood. Now with the fall pretty much winding down and dock fishing ramping up I have added them to the fishing bucket and will try them on pilings.

On one occasion I did get to play with these last spring I did very well on decent sized blacks. I tried them as they came from the package with that hinky Jap hook, but much preferred them with the #14 Mustad treble up-grade. The single hook had several pull-offs while the treble outfitted bait never lost a fish.

This purple shad puppy was the best color last spring but I have every color they’re made in so I can switch colors real handily. I’ll be fishing these with a fly-sized Qwik-clip again….really great action. I picked up some of the new “Frost” ice line in #4 test to try with them. I did a break test with a good scale and got almost a solid 6 pounds before the break came. We’ll see how it stands up to real use today. The line is in the slate gray color and at #1 diameter its like trying to tie knots in a baby’s blonde hair. The line is unbelievably thin and a challenge for these old eyes. Last spring when I used these baits they were on #4 Nanofil and worked fine. This new line should offer even more action from the tiny baits given the fact there’s very little stiffness to the line and being a braid it should offer some incredible sensitivity to hits. Again, we’ll see how the line works in the real world today. I’ll be trying some 1/32 ounce Forage Minnow jigging lures on this new line as well. I’m hoping the new line works well because I need to replace my Nanofil and will do so using the Frost if its a solid line. The Frost costs about ten bucks as opposed to twenty for the Nano and the Frost is about 1/3 the diameter of the Nano. And this new line should cut wind way better than Nano.

Today’s trip will be a small bait trip but I’ll have the second rod rigged with the plastic and 1/32 ballhead that got fish on Weds. The water temp was still at 50 degrees on Weds and there was zero need to be super small. The guys using the ice rods and ice jigs and waxies had plenty of dink fish but the good fish came on full-sized 1 1/2″ to 1 3/4″ plastics fished on the simple ballhead yet. I’m thinking the fairly broad profile of these Z-Vibes is large enough to hold the attention of the larger crappies since the crappies I’ve filleted of late have been full of shad minnows up to 3″. The Forage Minnows get a full 1″ rat tail plastic hung vertically on one of the trebles and will target some of the nice sunfish I’ve taken, several in the 9″-10″ range.

This is a fun time of the year and with water temps slipping into the upper 40’s soon the best of the fishing is yet to get here. With deer opener a week later this fall we’re getting a bonus week of pannie fishing at it finest but one has to be ready to down size as the water temps go down. I think I’m ready.

Not sorry I spent the money on these baits or the Frost line. The line has incredible sensitivity, hangs straight as an arrow and a casual cast with a 1/32 jig/plastic went about 75 feet. I’ll be replacing the 4 pound Nano on the other dock rod now with Frost.

The first drop today with the purple shad ZViber in 1/16 ounce got a decent crappie. Others followed, just no keepers, but then nobody was doing well on keepers that I saw.

Do you think that Frost would have freeze up problems like all the largeer diameter braid that I have used?

I would think that not much water can find a way to hold onto that super thin line. In good broad daylight I have a hard time seeing it to tie even with glasses. Ain’t much there for water of any kind to hold onto.

time for the tiny stuff,it aint funny when you hear a gal say that.

ahem,back on topic,I have caught more panfish in the summer with ice jigs than I ever did with a chunk of worm under a bobber,those look fantastic Tom ! got any extras???

as far as icing up the line?? its going to happen regardless of what you use when its coldernell.

now,about that three burner stove and meeting up in New Hampton??
wont be tomorrow,sigh,another plane engine to finish up,no rest for the wicked.

Yup-even mono ices some. You can add chapstick to the part of the line that contacts the water (todays tip) Will have to order that plug and line. Tom is it alot better than the smallest Slab Rap?

Tim, the smallest Slab Rap is 1 1/2″ in length. The Z Viber in 1/16 ounce is barely an inch in length, if that even. I swap out that single hook for a size 14 Mustad treble.

I can’t imagine that Joes won’t have the line Tim. They have the lures…or did have last winter and had the Mustad trebles hanging right with them at the display.

Using the Frost line at 4 pound test, I was vertically jigging the Z Vibers at around 20 feet along side of pilings in a couple areas and when even a slight lift was made with any speed to it I could feel the lure run in a circle and vibrate like crazy…..way faster wiggle than any of the Raps. I could track the lures path with the line going in a circle at the surface. All of the fish taken on the Z Viber yesterday hit with authority, no little nudges or bumps. I watched gulls plucking small, 1″-1 1/2″ shad fry from the water about the size of the Z Viber so profile-wise they’re spot on. And in addition to other small crappies I caught a few smaller sunfish using the Viber. I suffered on bite-off using a Viber that could have been a pike or a walleye.

Here’s a Viber next to a dime Tim. Maybe this will put the size perspective in a better line for you. On the company website the 1/16 Viber is advertised as the world’s smallest commercial crank bait and thus far this claim seems to hold true. I’ve found floating crankbait body blanks for airbrushing that are just a hair smaller in length but floaters don’t get to the water that these Vibers do.

After looking at the picture, lay a dime next to your smallest Rapala or whatever and you’ll see just how dainty these 1/16 Z Vibers actually are, but you’ll be amazed at what these small packages deliver. Check Joes out Tim and see these first hand, then look for the deals on line if you want to. Here’s a great place to order on-line from ….

https://northwoodsoutlet.com/product/eurotackle-z-viber-16oz-crank-bait/

Scheels is also claiming to have these on hand but I didn’t see any at the Rochester store….but then I wasn’t looking for them there either. But I will later today as there are a couple new colors I want.

Scheels Rochester does have the several different baits in the line-up of the ZVibers. Lots of ice sized baits including the small ones I have been referring to. Of course some new colors came home with me.

I forgot to mention on the lures that they can be cast and swum back using a slight jigging retrieve with good results too. A couple of the crappies taken yesterday came to this retrieve.

I always have an affinity for the tiny ultra light hard baits.

Yes the single hook that came on the Z-Viber has too small of a barb and too easy for fish to come off. I also replace mine with a single sproat hook.

I have only used mine for ice fishing. I did not get on bite on the bare lure so I had to resort to baiting the hook.

The best feature about this lipless crank is it’s ability to vibe on the lift comes much easier than other lipless cranks.

slipperybob wrote:

The best feature about this lipless crank is it’s ability to vibe on the lift comes much easier than other lipless cranks.

You’re right on that. It takes nothing to get action that feels like a slight electric shock on braid line. I did some lifts fairly shallow the other day so I could watch the action on these guys and they really take off in a wide circle if they’re given a decent lift. Very tight wiggle as they swim, hence the unreal vibrations.

I lost one of these to a 12-15 pound Buffalo fish on Tuesday morning. I thought I maybe snagged it but it hit way high up in the water column and when it made its appearance it was indeed mouth hooked. Not the kind of fish I wanted to see on 4 pound test especially when the dock in that area was completely covered in gull crap and I’d needed to lay down on the dock to land the sucker. One good run took care of the issues though.

I’m in the club-bought 2 of the buggars at Joes today.

Damn…. I almost never get to go fishing any more and I may have to get a couple…. love the little stuff!

Our 55 degree water is long gone for this year. Mid 40’s now, but the crappies will still get after a micro-crank, especially those designed to be vertically jigged. The little Z Vibers in the shad color mimic the current forage in both size and color.

If they are smakin’ shad of course-not the case for maybe 75% of us here in the land of the Loon
Gonna give it a shot in the perch pattern up in pine city tomorrow.

“Gonna give it a shot in the perch pattern up in pine city tomorrow.”….so how did you do?

Personally I am finding the best fishing jigging these guys vertically near dock pilings. I’m sure if a person fished tight to bridge pilings the same success could be realized. I haven’t tried vertically over deep wood or other deep structure yet and will likely have to wait until next spring now but I am betting they’ll do equally as good doing that.

I was down to Lake City again late in the last week for an hour and caught a couple decent crappies [11″ & 12”] on the shad colored Viber but I also found a couple willing to hit on a bald Jigging Rap in the smallest size too. The ones on the Rap were small fish….6-7 inches. Sunfish wouldn’t touch either bait, but would pop a Jigging Demon with a small Gulp grub piece on one of the hooks. These sunfish were pretty small too. I tried four different color patterns in the viber bait and only the shad got fish so I think in addition to the profile and action the color came into play.

Really nice lures. Easy to fish. Lots of vibrating action. Great color schemes and the fish seem to take to them.

Also on this last trip. I took two identical rods/reels, one spooled with 4 pound Nanofil and the other with the Clam Frost line in four pound. Hands down the Frost line dealt with these small baits the best and was as close to ice free as one can get using a braid in my opinion. Guides would ice but the Frost didn’t collect the ice, Nano did.

Z-vibe on bottom , the teeny one is called a k-rip. Have yet to actually fish a k-rip. But they sure look good in tank.

My small solution box. It goes with me on ice or open water.