z-ray lures

[tomcat_rc]

Trying to rebuild my fishing lures supply after a 10 year absense from fishing. Z-rays are my favorite - but noone locally seems to carry them and if they do, then they are not the right size or colors patterns(at least in my opinion). Anyone know of a good local source within driving distance of So Cal or Bako that you can recommend.

Thanks - Tom

[teejay]

I recently placed an order directly from the Wittmann Lure website. They charged me $7.50 for shipping and my order arrived in 3 days.

[tomcat_rc]

Used to be Wittman had a "minimum" order to send to private - do you know if still is the case.
Thanks for the reply.

[teejay]

This was my first order with them so I'm not familiar with how they used to do business. However, I don't believe that they have a minimum order any longer. Their terms are $7.50 shipping on orders less than $50.00. No CA sales tax either.

[giantbrookie]

I don't believe Wittmann has a minimum order, although I've never checked given that I order in stupendous amounts (my smallest order I've made in the last 20 years is something like 160 lures). Because I do that I haven't paid very close attention to where Z-Rays are actually sold over the last 20 years (since I started ordering direct). I can tell you that I do see them in a moderate number of stores, but the available selection tends to be well short of what I'd like in terms of sizes and patterns. I know that various chain stores commonly have a few Z-Rays on hand in their fishing department. Some Big 5's will have them, as do some Sports Authority stores. My wife mentioned seeing them in Walmart last week (Fresno). My recent experience is that sporting goods stores or fishing sections of stores (such as a Rite Aid or Raleys) in Sierra towns (Tahoe area, Mammoth, Bishop, etc) have a greater tendency to carry Z-Rays than stores in the flatlands.

In addition to ordering directly from Wittmann, you may try emailing them to get a list of dealers in towns/cities of interest. They are very nice folks.

[Crawler]

I ordered about 10 of them direct from whittmann last year (after reading giantbrookies recommendations). Quick and cheap shipping. They even threw in a bonus one! I havent caught anything with them yet though. I need to work with them more and learn the action better. I had never heard of them before reading about them here, and never seen them for sale here in socal.

[tomcat_rc]

Thanks for the responses all. I only had one of the nickel/blue spotted favorites and I lost that after 2 days up at Big Pine Lakes last month. The fish sure enjoyed it up until then. I will look at placing an order with them later - I saw their online catalog. Maybe if I stick with fishing for another season, I can learn to fly fish also. I will probably have a ton of new questions then.
Definate thanks in advance for that time - Tom

[treadwell]

Just order from them directly. Good Folks. Plus they did throw in an extra lure with my order.

[Jaeger]

With all this Z-Ray talk I'm jumping on the bandwagon for my next trip. I just ordered a mess of Z-Rays from their website. I was wondering though, how to get the most out of the lure. In other words, how do you fish these things?

[oldranger]

I can't help myself. To use the z-ray I usually cast it into the lake then let it sink a little and then reel it in!

Mike

[ERIC]

I can't help myself. To use the z-ray I usually cast it into the lake then let it sink a little and then reel it in!

Mike

Haha! Smartass.

[Jaeger]

Haha, rip on the newbie. Thanks OLD ranger.

I was attempting to get a little discussion about technique started but I guess it's just as simple as tossing a lure into a lake and pulling out a fish. I'll let you all know how it goes.

[giantbrookie]

Regarding Z-Ray use, they are designed to be used as most "bent spoons": solid body lures such as Kastmasters etc. The action of the lure is very minnow-like, perhaps more spectacularly so than any other lure in its class. As with any lure there are many options in terms of retrieve types, and what works will depend on the given situation, and time of year and day. A lake that was easy fishing with relatively shallow retrieves may be slow fishing with bottom-hugging retrieves on another. I will say this, as I once said on my (for now) defunct website: the main thing that separates lure fishers who catch fish from those that don't is the willingness to fish lures deep IF it is necessary to do so. It is actually fairly rare that fish will take lures in shallow retrieves, even when they rise in abundance on the surface and take flies--the exception is a shallow retrieve in shallow water (which is sort of a fast version of a bottom retrieve). Lure retrieve depth can be adjusted two ways: 1. by actually letting the lure sink before reeling in or 2. by the speed of retrieve: the slower the retrieve the deeper (a deep retrieve done this way is "spoon shaped" in profile--in our household we call this the "Patterson" retrieve because I was very successful with this at a lake of this name in the Warner Mtns). A shoreline parallel retrieve is often deadly, too, because many fish hang out along the shore but cannot be directly approached. Lure retrieve irregularity can be imparted by various wrist action on a sidearm retrieve (making it jerkier), with the caveat that at no time should there be slack line during the retrieve. In some lakes that look utterly lifeless, I've found that sinking the lure all the way to the bottom (you'll see the line slack as the lure hits the bottom) then retrieving can occasionally be the only way that fish can be caught. Yet there are some lakes with very rocky or loggy bottoms for which this means almost certain lure loss. In fact deep retrieves bring with them a higher risk of lure loss through snagging, which is why I carry so many lures in my lure box (forget exactly how many, but probably something like 70 or more, which is why my little lure box weighs so much).

[Jaeger]

That's exactly what I was looking for! Thanks GB!

I have no qualms about fishing lures deep. I've been fishing long enough to understand the risk involved and I've lost plenty of lures, but I've also caught plenty of fish. I see what your saying about fishing lures shallow. Even if you fish your lure right past a fish they will seldom bite in this situation. Perhaps the bottom retreive is simulating a sculpin, crawfish or other bottom dwelling prey. Maybe I should order a few more Z-Rays?

[markskor]

Good beta from GB...I think he sells stock in this lure.

A caveat about the treble hooks that come with the lures...lose them. Instead replace with single (Gamakatsu) hooks. For me, has the effect of preventing fish gill damage (C&R), helps prevent many frequent bottom snags/ lost lures...(nothing helps though when a pesky tree jumps out of the water and snags them mid-air.) and it does seem that the single hook does not deter/ loses any appreciable amount of strikes.