Gear Review: Z-Man HellraiZer

WHAT IS IT?

Z-Man HellraiZer

WHAT SETS IT APART?

Billed as a “self-walking” topwater lure, Z-Man’s new HellraiZer is designed to create the most obscenely intrusive, yet undeniably tantalizing presentation the fish have ever seen. The brainchild of Ron Davis, who created the original Z-Man ChatterBait, the HellraiZer features a slender body with a flat underside that tapers into a cigar shaped end that sprouts an exclusive, weighted tail blade. This bait includes two feathered trebles, one hanging from the bait’s belly and one from that tail blade. 

HOW DO I USE IT?

This 5-inch, 5/8-ounce bait is built with a line tie a third of the way into the flat underside. With this pull point, water resistance works comparatively like the blunt head of a lipless crankbait, so on the retrieve, the lure planes to the surface like a buzzbait. On a straight retrieve, the HellraiZer produces a back-and-forth motion with lots of slashing and sputtering. All the while, the blade oscillates and vibrates with a fish-temping display. Ten body-blade-feather patterns cater to any situation or water color.

HOW MUCH?

$14.99

MORE INFORMATION:

www.zmanfishing.com

ANGLER’S INSIGHT:

If I’m describing this new bait to someone who had never seen it, I’d say “imagine the love child of a topwater walker and a ChatterBait.” But seriously, this new bait will stand out from everything else in your tacklebox. Anything but subtle, the HellraiZer looks to be a good bet for shad spawns, schooling fish, and anytime you need to call fish up from deeper spots, or from a distance. Z-Man says this bait has a lower posture than other topwaters, so fish don’t knock it out of the water. This should prove effective at maximizing hookup ratios — always a key selling point.