New Shadtron™ LT merges realism & sturdiness with cutting-edge line-through hook system
A golden age of angling now underneath the bridge, the period of true-to-life swimbaits and bass of freakish, blimp-like proportions nonetheless reminds us of the lures’ doubtlessly outlandish attracting energy. Everybody who as soon as slung these massive slabs of PVC has a loopy fish story to inform. However what swimbait practitioners right now nonetheless mourn are the variety of fish most of those lures fail to hook— and the way ceaselessly the gill-rattling headshake of a giant bass can eject the baits and crush our spirits in a single breath.
Precisely one yr in the past, Z-Man® improvements in swimbait design nullified earlier hookset and hardiness requirements instantly, because the Mulletron™ LT (line-through) shined the highlight on a brand new swimbait archetype, successful the 2024 ICAST Finest Saltwater Mushy Lure award, and displaying Florida and the world what was potential when good lure-making melded with 10X Robust ElaZtech®.
New for 2025, the Z-Man Shadtron™ LT has shifted the swimbait paradigm as soon as once more. Visually gorgeous and seemingly primed to flop out of your hand, the Shadtron LT reveals all of the realism of a stay shad, whereas a groundbreaking twin line-through system empowers unimaginable upticks in hookset success and holding energy to the nth diploma.
“Empowered by its delicate, buoyant, sturdy ElaZtech physique and precision line-through harness, the Shadtron LT is completely balanced to take care of a pure, upright posture always— together with on the freefall and at relaxation on the underside,” notes Z-Man Director of Product Improvement Jose Chavez.
A real-to-nature shad-mimicking swimbait in 4.5- and 6-inch sizes, Shadtron LT is supplied with an industry-first over/underneath line-through harness that enables for each dorsal rigging with an included single hook or stomach rigging with a treble hook (not included). “The result’s a high-performance swimbait that affords optimum fish-hooking and holding efficiency in all situations,” provides Chavez.
“Some fairly spectacular engineering went into the Shadtron’s inside Y-harness, giving anglers the very best of each worlds,” suggests Z-Man professional Luke Clausen. “If I’m swimming the bait round laydowns, docks or vegetation, I’ll rig up with the one hook, which permits the Shadtron to swim cleanly by heavier cowl, bouncing off rocks and logs with ease. Or, for fishing open water or for smallmouth or noticed bass, I’ll deploy the stomach treble and skyrocket my hookset stats.
“And since each hook programs enable the bait to slip up the road and out of the way in which after a hookset, even the gnarliest headshakes are negated, so that you land virtually each bass that eats,” provides Clausen.
Chavez elaborates: “We wished to arm anglers with the last word two-way swimbait hook system, which meant developing our line-through harness slightly in a different way.”
Topside, Chavez notes, the Shadtron LT is supplied with a specialised hook pocket and harness that stations a customized, heavy-duty 3/0 (4.5”) or 5/0 (6”) sickle-shaped, black nickel needlepoint hook parallel to the dorsal fin.
“The harness is designed so the hook slides in and sits recessed inside the bait’s backbone,” explains Chavez. “Thread your line by the bait’s nostril and out the slot, tying to the one hook. Pull the road tight and the hook clicks again into place, giving the entire bait a clear, seamless look, like a molded-in jighead. Hook eye and knot are recessed and utterly protected contained in the bait. However when a fish eats the Shadtron and makes an attempt to dislodge the hook, the bait physique slides up the road, the place fish can’t leverage its weight to come back unbuttoned.”
Alternatively, to make the most of the secondary stomach line channel and a treble hook, Chavez suggests folding a crease within the fishing line, inserting it into the nostril in a downward orientation and again out the decrease exit level. Tie to a treble hook of your selection and click on the shank into the specialised friction clip, which positions the treble parallel to the bait for a stealthy, seamless presentation. When the hook units, drive from a fish releases the hook from the Shadtron’s physique, permitting for a pure, unencumbered combat to the web.
To guarantee predators engulf the bait with out hesitation, Z-Man sculpted the Shadtron’s physique with anatomical precision and true-to-life photo-printed and painted by hand eye, scale, gill and fin patterning. Beneath the floor, the Shadtron springs to motion like a stay shad, subtly tail-thrusting itself by strike zones, activating on the slowest retrieve speeds.
Producing essentially the most lifelike shad-swimming motion attainable, the Shadtron’s rounded wedge-shaped tail empowers a flexible vary of motions—from slow-roll to flee velocity. Additional imitating the locomotion of a stay shad, the Shadtron swims with minimal physique roll and only a trace of head wag—all within the identify of persuading eagle-eyed predators.
“The flexibility to reel a swimbait just like the Shadtron additional sluggish—particularly efficient in cooler water—after which to intensify its aspect flashes with twitches of the rodtip . . . these are killer strikes to trick massive, educated bass that comply with however in any other case hesitate to chunk,” explains Clausen. “I’m additionally digging the bait’s flat sides, which let me skip it underneath cowl like the proper pancake rock.”
“Anglers will completely recognize the Shadtron’s two sizes and two rates-of-fall,” he continues. “In shallower water and in environments with barely bigger shad, the meaty 6-inch measurement in Gradual Sink attracts a ton of consideration from bass of all sizes. For deeper water or off-structure, attempt the Quick Sink, 4.5-incher, which is sort of a cheat code for smallmouths, spots or for portray a pleasant strong mark on forward-facing sonar.”
From Florida’s massive bass lakes to TVA reservoirs and past, the brand new Z-Man Shadtron LT mimics the bass’ most prolific meal on each stage. Obtainable in November, the Shadtron LT options two sizes and charges of fall (ROF)—4.5- and 6-inch sizes in each Gradual Sink (ROF 5) and Quick Sink (ROF 12). Provided in eight lifelike photo-printed and painted by hand shade schemes, every Shadtron sample was ascribed by enter from prime Z-Man execs. MSRP $12.99 (4.5”) and $15.99 (6”).
For a primary have a look at the brand new Z-Man Shadtron LT, go to Z-Man on the 2024 ICAST present (sales space #4808 or On the Water media expo, 10am to 2pm on Tuesday, June 16), or on the New Product Showcase (Freshwater Mushy Lure.)
About Z-Man Fishing Merchandise: A dynamic Charleston, South Carolina primarily based firm, Z-Man Fishing Merchandise has melded vanguard fishing deal with with expertise for practically three many years. Z-Man has lengthy been among the many {industry}’s largest suppliers of silicone skirt materials utilized in jigs, spinnerbaits and different lures. Creator of the Unique ChatterBait®, Z-Man can be the famend innovators of 10X Robust ElaZtech® softbaits, among the many most coveted baits in fresh- and saltwater. Z-Man is among the fastest-growing lure manufacturers worldwide.
