JackHammer 2.0’ Resonates with Selective Largemouths, Smallmouths

Z-Man® / EverGreen International set to unleash new ChatterBait® JackHammer™ StealthBlade™ bladed jig

In a wink, it flashes and disappears underwater. Suggestive of a preyfish tail-kick, the luminous blade hums a subtle but palpable harmony; seems to be singing directly to the bass. As the thin-edged razor cuts water with the speed and precision of a Santoku, it vanishes and reappears in rapid succession. Inside the brains of bass, alarms bells toll. Although they can’t see it at first, predators in the neighborhood can feel its pulse—a sweet tune that pings lateral lines and incites mandibles to snap.

A valuable combination of refined energy, unpredictable action and visual stealth, the new Z-Man 

"JackHammer StealthBlade is about to add an exciting new chapter to the book of the bladed jig.

The StealthBlade is the antidote for bass that have seen endless parades of traditional bladed jigs,” divulges Brett Hite, pro angler and designer of the eminent Z-Man ChatterBait JackHammer and its radical new finesse offspring, the JackHammer StealthBlade. “Throw it in clear water. Skip it under heavily-fished docks and laydowns. Cast it for big smallmouths. Pitch it anywhere you want, and present bass with a totally different sound and cadence than other bladed jigs. We’re super pumped about the way this bait turned out; another fish catching collaboration by Z-Man and leading Japanese lure maker, EverGreen International.”

Back In 2017, no one could have anticipated the lure that would ultimately turn the pursuit of bass on its head, a bait that would go on to produce more giant fish and more tournament dollars than any other in recent memory. The Z-Man ChatterBait JackHammer created a singular subset of pro-grade bladed bass jigs—a lure anglers now bring to almost any lake with the assurance of big fish and mega limits in the livewell.

BASS Elite Angler Jeff "Gussy" Gustafson Joins Z-Man Team!

You might call it the ultimate tackle testimonial.

Long before Jeff "Gussy" Gustafson flashed the Z-Man logo—or cashed a sponsor check from the cutting-edge South Carolina tackle company— the versatile tournament angler was already boating big sacks of bass with ChatterBaits and other Z-Man creations, under the radar.

Actually, at the March 2018 FLW Tour event at Florida's Harris Chain of Lakes, Gussy made no secret of the fact he and fellow Ontario angler Chris Johnston wielded identical Z-Man ChatterBait JackHammers to finish 2nd and 1st, respectively. (In truth, Johnston' tourney-winning ChatterBait came from Gustafson's personal stash.) At the time, neither angler was sponsored by the company whose lure earned them a cool, collective $155,000.

The lure Gustafson calls the 'crankbait of grass fishing'.

On the heels of the 2019 season, Gustafson's first in the Bassmaster Elite Series, Z-Man has legitimized the alliance, inking an endorsement deal with the popular Canadian angler.

"Formally linking up with Z-Man is especially cool because I've been friends with these guys and have fished their baits for years," said Gustafson, while packing for inaugural Elite Series events, two-thousand miles from his Keewatin, Ontario home. "These days, you almost have to fish ElaZtech softbaits and ChatterBaitsto stay competitive. Z-Man makes some high-level stuff that helps a lot of guys cash checks."

2018 BASS Elite St. Lawrence River Day 3: David Walker Takes Lead with 72-05lbs!

Walker leads by 3 ounces.

By Thomas Allen

BASS PRESS RELEASE

David Walker drop shotting his way into the lead.
(Photo: BASS)

For the third day in a row, David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., stayed consistent with huge smallmouth bass to take the top spot heading into the final round of the 2018 Huk Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River presented by Black Velvet.
 
Walker caught a five-bass limit that weighed 22 pounds, 15 ounces to push his three-day total to 72-5 — giving himself a legitimate shot at the $100,000 first-place prize.
 
The last time the 12-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier took home top honors was in 2011 during an Elite Series derby on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake.
 
“It’s been way too long since I won on this tour, and I’m itching to take home another trophy,” Walker said. “It’s so hard to win at this level, so I know better than to take good days for granted, and the last couple of days were nothing short of magical. I sure hope I can keep the consistency going for one more day.”

Walker started Thursday’s opening round in second place, remained the same on Friday, and now he is in the lead by only 3 ounces. Arizona’s Josh Bertrand is in second after he weighed 23-9 for a three-day total of 72-2.
 
Just like most of the Top 50 anglers at this event, Walker has been moving often from spot to spot, drifting a dropshot across assorted types of structural elements. But he feels his presentation is different enough that it’s continuing to appeal to larger smallmouth bass.
 
“I shared a few spots with other anglers this week, but tomorrow I think I’ll have most of them to myself, which should only help me,” he said. “I know it sounds strange, but I know of too many places to catch a quality limit. I really had to focus on what I felt were the best locations today. I have no plans to change my game plan tomorrow. It’s been working wonders, why fix what isn’t broken?” 
 
This derby is the final regular-season event before the Top 50 pros in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race will advance to the AOY Championship event at Georgia’s Lake Chatuge in mid-September.
 

The EverGreen / Z-Man Jackhammer Chatterbait Unboxing!

The EverGreen JACKHAMMER Chatterbait lures was IBASSIN.com's #1 searched post in 2016 and for good reason. A cloud of interque grew as BASS Elite angler Brett Hite scored numerous Top 10 in Elite tournaments with a secret Japanese lure. The mystery grew deeper as it was declared illegal to sell in North America due to Z Man's patent. Everyone wants what they cannot have so as demand intensified smarter heads prevailed and the two companies joined forces. As of 2017, Z Man and EverGreen USA have developed the most refined chatterbait ever.

Videos
https://www.zmanfishing.com/cms/chatter/introducing-chatterbait-jack-hammer/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx-Ixg8TLEs

Z-Man Site
https://www.zmanfishing.com/cms/chatter/introducing-chatterbait-jack-hammer/

Let's review its many quality features.

The patented coffin style blade is thin, tough and perfectly cut from stainless steel.
Available in brilliant silver and green pumpkin
which is Brett's most favourite blade colour. 

Just look at that hook! A wide, heavy wire Gamakatsu hook
with 2 wire prong trailer keepers is amazing. The original chatterbaits
had smaller, cheaper hooks. This thing is a beast. The trailer is a huge part
of the chatterbait's success. Fighting to keep it on is a drag.
This should easily take care of that problem.

A sleek fish shaped head is very compact. It will slip through cover with ease.
I really love that the weight of the bait is labelled on the head of each bait.
Always hated trying to determine which size I was fishing.  The bottom of the head
is white with a splash of red for dark and light coloured skirted jigs.
MORE BELOW

When to Fish a Bladed Jig or a Spinnerbait with Brett Hite.

Bladed jig or spinnerbait? Which one is the best to fish where? BASS Elite angler Brett Hite is a master at both. Learn as he explains when to fish the bladed jig and when to use a spinnerbait. Brett won his first Elite tournament with a bladed jig. Brett helped create the Evergreen Jackhammer Chatterbait which just got released to the North American market.

Z-MAN’S NEXT SHOWSTOPPER IS HERE—NEW CHATTERBAIT® JACK HAMMER™ CUSTOM BLADED JIG TO BE UNVEILED ON WORLD’S PREMIERE BASS FISHING STAGE

Evergreen International Co., Ltd. and Brett Hite to launch the most premium 
ChatterBait lure ever built in conjunction with the 

2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic

Z-Man Fishing Products, manufacturer of Original ChatterBait^® brand bladed swim jigs and 10X Tough ElaZtech^® soft plastics, is pleased to announce the release of its next game-changing bait—the new ChatterBait Jack Hammer custom bladed jig—on March 24^th at the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo. A free, open-to-the-public event that showcases the latest and greatest in fishing and outdoor products, this year’s Expo will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX.

As with its ChatterBait Freedom^™ release at the 2016 Bassmaster Classic, the ChatterBait Jack Hammer reflects Z-Man’s willingness to partner with another forward-thinking tackle company—in this case, leading Japanese lure maker Evergreen—to offer anglers more bladed jig options based on its patented, tournament-winning design. Built in Evergreen’s factory, the Jack Hammer will be marketed and distributed exclusively by Z-Man in the United States.

The latest example of Z-Man’s commitment to continually evolving, improving, and expanding a bait that’s unmatched in its ability to deliver a crankbait action, jig profile, and spinnerbait flash, the ChatterBait Jack Hammer raises the bar on premium construction and detail, yet again. Built around a heavy duty black nickel Gamakatsu^® flipping hook, the Jack Hammer’s head shape—equipped with lifelike 3D eyes—facilitates a low center of gravity for balance and easy skipping. It also touts a super-strong, snag-resistant Decoy^® Egg Snap line tie, and hard and thin, stainless steel hexagonal ChatterBlade^®. Additionally, its dual-wire trailer keepers hold all types of soft plastic trailers more securely than ever before. To round things out, the Jack Hammer features hand-tied silicone skirts in patterns that have been personally designed and selected by ChatterBait pro and bladed swim jig guru Brett Hite, in addition to highly detailed, color-matched head and blade paint schemes.

Why Z-Man ElaZtech plastics are so good with Lonnie King

Outdoor writer Lonnie King knows a great bait then he fishes it. He's a huge fan of the Z-MAN ElaZtech baits and for good reason. They last forever. If you're tired of re-rigging after every fish then you need to listen to Lonnie. The ElaZtech baits work with all game fish.

NEW CHATTERBAIT® FREEDOM™ BLADED JIG

Freedom Tackle and Z-Man Team Up!

Z-Man Fishing Products, maker of The Original ChatterBait brand bladed swim jigs and 10X Tough ElaZtech® soft plastics, is pleased to introduce the ChatterBait Freedom vibrating jig as a new addition to its ever-evolving lineup at the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic. Widely regarded as the ‘Super Bowl of bass fishing,’ the event will take place March 4-6 on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The ChatterBait Freedom launch is the culmination of a product partnership between Z-Man and Canada-based Freedom Tackle Corp. that merges Z-Man’s patented head-to-blade connection with Freedom Tackle’s interchangeable, swinging-hook design made possible by the company’s proprietary internal connection. The result is an all-new bladed jig that allows for easy hook changes, infinite lure customization and snag-free fishing. As important, the new product launch showcases the sharing of advancements and intellectual property between two tackle companies that also share the common goal of providing anglers with a unique—and genuinely better—product offering.

“We’ve been prototyping and testing bladed jigs with swinging hooks for several years now, and the best design we’ve found—bar none—is Freedom Tackle’s interchangeable hook design because it not only allows for easy customization and weedless rigging, but prevents fouling altogether,” states Z-Man President, Daniel Nussbaum. “While other companies in the industry seem intent on copying and working around the intellectual property of others, we felt that we could provide anglers with the best product possible by partnering with another innovator like Freedom.”

Vibrating Jig Makers Beware!

If you love Chatterbaits your choices might becoming much narrower. Z-Man Fishing Products have just announced the issuance of United States Patent No. 9,253,967 (the ‘967 patent) entitled “Snag-Resistant Fishing Lure and Method for Making and Using” covering the unique, bladed swim jig design of its revolutionary ChatterBait® brand lures. 

So that cool hex shaped blade is now the property of Z-Man fishing making it even more difficult for companies to legally produce vibrating jigs. How much with Z-Man enforce their patents is yet to be seen but they are getting one step closer to dominating this growing market. 

ICAST 2015: HeadlockZ HD Jigheads

A winner of the Australian Fishing Tackle Association’s ‘Best Terminal Tackle’ Award, HeadlockZ HD jigheads are designed with a unique split grip keeper system that makes them easy to rig with ElaZtech soft plastics and locks all types of soft baits in place securely.  Thanks to their award-winning design, anglers can cast their lures hard, work their plastics aggressively, and keep fishing confidently without the need for constant re-rigging, even after hard strikes, knowing that soft baits are locked in position and swimming correctly.

HeadlockZ HD jigheads are built on extra heavy duty, chemically sharpened Mustad® UltraPoint® hooks and are available stateside in 3/0, 4/0, 6/0, and 8/0 hook sizes in weights ranging from 1/8 ounce to 3 ounces to cover a variety of fresh- and saltwater applications.  The smaller 3/0 and 4/0 sizes feature stronger hooks than other similarly sized jigheads, pair perfectly with a variety of three to five inch ElaZtech swimbaits, jerkbaits, and Scented BaitZ, and are ideally suited for both bass fishing and inshore saltwater fishing applications that call for extra-strong tackle.  The 6/0 and 8/0 versions match larger baits like the 6” SwimmerZ, 7” Scented Jerk ShadZ, 8” Mag SwimZ, and 10” HeroZ and are perfect for targeting bruisers like cobia, grouper, tarpon, jacks, striped bass, bluefish, tuna, and more using high-test braided superlines.

ICAST 2015: Z-Man's Brand New RaZor ShadZ™

In fresh or salt, fished as a bladed jig trailer or by itself, the RaZor ShadZ™ performs like no soft plastic baitfish imitation thanks to its realistic design and buoyant, 10X Tough ElaZtech construction.

Featuring a segmented, fish-shaped body and forked tail that create an extremely lifelike baitfish profile, the RaZor ShadZ pulls double duty as a first-of-its-kind floating/diving soft pastic jerkbait and the perfect bladed swim jig trailer to complement the new Project Z^™ ChatterBait.  The combined softness, buoyancy, and extreme durability made possible by its ElaZtech construction allow it to perform above and beyond other soft plastics for both applications.

The RaZor ShadZ is the ideal bladed swim jig trailer when conditions call for a bulkier ChatterBait profile to mimic full-bodied forage like bream, shad and herring.  While other segmented swim jig trailers are notorious for ripping apart, Z-Man’s exclusive 10X Tough ElaZtech material allows for deep body cuts that cause the bait to move in a lifelike manner while still holding up to repeated strikes without tearing.  The RaZor ShadZ is sized to pair perfectly with the newly released Project Z ChatterBait, and its durable super-plastic construction and broad head allow it to stay put securely on the Project Z ChatterBait’s twin keeper barbs without sliding down throughout a day of hard casts, bass bites, and fish catches.

Help Fuel Continued Advancement for America’s Fastest-Growing Lure Brand

Driven by a steady increase in retail product placement stemming from heightened consumer awareness and sales, Z-Man Fishing Products is excited to announce several key extensions to its 2015 marketing mix. The bulk of the company’s upward media progression will focus on Pro Staff expansion, a growing commitment to leading industry broadcast show sponsorships, and the continued creation and distribution of original digital video content.

If you have what it takes contact them. 

Contact: Jeff Espy, Adventure Advertising, LLC


jeff@adventureadv.com; (678) 730-4770

2013 ICAST Z Man Drop Shot Leech with Casey Martin and IBASSIN

Come with IBASSIN.com to the Z-man booth at the 2013 ICAST show. Casey Martin explains the new Z-man Drop Shot Leech.

2013 ICAST Z Man's New Tubro Crawz and Chatterbait with Casey Martin and...

IBASSIN.com finds recent FLW winner Casey Martin at 2013 ICAST. He explains the new tubro crawz and chatterbaits from Z-Man fishing lures.

Z-Man Settles ChatterBait® Patent

Z-Man Settles ChatterBait® Patent
and Trade Dress Lawsuit

Z-Man Fishing Products, Inc. (Z-Man) and Phenix Rod & Bait (Phenix) announce that Phenix has agreed to discontinue all manufacture, marketing and sale of its “Vibrator Jig.”  After the unprecedented success and growth of the ChatterBait®, the “Vibrator Jig” was one of many knock-offs to hit the market.  A lawsuit was filed by Z-Man on March 28, 2011, alleging that Phenix’s “Vibrator Jig” infringed the patent and trade dress rights in the ChatterBait lure. 

“After reviewing the facts of the case and conferring with counsel, Phenix now has a much greater respect and understanding of the intellectual property rights surrounding The Original ChatterBait,” stated Charles Benge, co-owner of Phenix.  The settlement amount was undisclosed, but in addition to a monetary settlement, Phenix has agreed to cease all sales of the “Vibrator Jig” and any other infringing design within sixty (60) days. 

Z-Man Unveils Premiere Pro Staff

Luke Clausen, David Walker and Stephen Browning to lead Z-Man’s Pro Team.

LADSON, S.C.  Z-Man Fishing Products is proud to announce the signing of professional anglers Luke Clausen, David Walker, Stephen Browning and David Goshorn to Z-Man’s national freshwater pro-staff.

These top-notch anglers will assist Z-Man in the design and promotion of ElaZtech® baits, as well as educating anglers on how to achieve maximum results when fishing ElaZtech space-age soft plastic baits.

“We are thrilled to have four of bass fishing’s best aboard to help promote and design ElaZtech baits for Z-Man,” said Daniel Nussbaum, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Z-Man. “In addition, these pros will be very active on our social media channels, providing a look inside the lives of pro anglers for our Facebook fans and Website visitors.”

Luke Clausen of Spokane, Wash., is one of only five pros to have won both the Bassmaster Classic (2006 at Lake Toho) and the FLW Tour Forrest Wood Cup (2004 at Lake Logan Martin). He will be fishing the FLW Tour in 2011.

“ElaZtech is a product of the future and I’m really pumped to be a part of it,” said Clausen. “ElaZtech has a lot of advantages fishermen have yet to discover. Yes, it’s a departure from conventional plastics, and just as fluorocarbon is different than monofilament and tungsten is different from lead, there’s going to be a period of adjustment for anglers to get used to it. But once anglers realize the advantages of ElaZtech, they will definitely incorporate it into their arsenals.

David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., won the FLW Tour Angler of the Year title in 1999, has qualified for the FLW Tour Forrest Wood Cup 10 times, the Bassmaster Classic six times, and has amassed an amazing 32 top-10 finishes in FLW Tour and Bassmaster Tour competition. He will be fishing the B.A.S.S. Elite Series in 2011.

“This is a huge opportunity to influence the future of soft plastics, and I’m certainly looking forward to it,” Walker said. “The supreme durability of ElaZtech in high-impact situations such as skipping docks, flipping heavy cover or punching mats will reveal just how much unnecessary plastic we go through and time we waste in a day’s fishing due to conventional plastic tearing up so easily. I started fishing ElaZtech baits on the Redfish circuit years ago and have been a believer ever since.”

Stephen Browning of Hot Springs, Ark., has 15 top-10 appearances in Bassmaster Tour and Elite Series competition, with one Tour win, and seven Bassmaster Classic qualifications, including the 2011 Classic coming up in New Orleans.

“I’m excited about being involved with Z-Man,” Browning said. “The Original Chatterbait® lure has been a big plus in my fishing the last couple of years. This fall I had a chance to try some of the ElaZtech products and it opened my eyes to how much fishing time and money can be saved with it. The days of constantly stopping your fishing to dig out a new jig chunk or creature bait are over.”

Rounding out the Z-Man pro staff is David Goshorn of Harleyville, SC. Goshorn fished the FLW Tour from 1997-2000 and recently re-qualified for the 2011 FLW Tour through the FLW Series.

For more information, visit Z-Man at www.zmanfishing.com . Learn more about Luke Clausen at www.lukeclausenfishing.com  and David Walker at www.davidwalkerfishing.com .