It's been covered a little bit before, but given the options now in terms of the stretchy, buoyant, rubber type softbaits on the market, I wonder if any of you have longer term on-water use results to share with Daiwa Bait Junkies versus Catch Livies (particularly the newer Black Label range) versus Z Mans (which I guess led with the original stretchy material).

Daiwa and Catch brought out some more or less identical colours to the popular Z Mans - imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

Up north in May I had a couple of packets of Junkies, but put on Z Man because that's what i have caught fish on before, so obviously success was self-perpetuating.

Has anyone given the Black Labels a good go? I see you can buy them from Catch directly for $10 a packet.

(I'm leaving Gulp out, which I really like in some situations, and always have in my armoury, but aren't the same type of compound, so would be comparing apples with oranges).

Good to hear what you're using.

Whereas there must be international lure brand reps bumping into each other outside factories in China, going inside to say "We want a stretchy one identical to this, but put [insert name riffing on Banana] on the packet". 

So far we've got Bananarama, Banana Split...

Like Kandrew, microjigs have replaced softies for me with one exception, and that's winter fishing when the fish are lethargic. Then I use Gulp. I know you want to leave Gulp out of the equation, but it's damn effective under these circumstances. As a point of interest I have alternated between Gulp and Zman when fishing over sign in 40 metres. Guess which got a fish, or at least a decent bite every drop. Guess which got a very occasional tentative bite? 

I totally get that re Gulp, MB. Not ditching them any time soon. They are often my go to over the sand, with Crazy Legs or Squid Vicious being particular favourites. Those shapes seem more durable than the shads or grubs in terms of the compound used. But I find i snag a lot more with Gulp among foul stuff, presumably because of the lack of buoyancy. 

As you can tell by my choice re Gulp, i have an inkling that movement often attracts fish - wriggling tails etc. hinting at some kind of injury or life. Daiwa has made a lot of the waist on the Junkie jerk shads, supposedly providing extra side to side movement. 

I know a lot of tackle stuff is marketing hype, just mulling over this while i've been sitting in lockdown!!

My observations from watching fishing on YouTube is that Aussie anglers use way more paddle tail softies than Kiwi fishos, with 'slow rolling' or other winding techniques to suit the fish they have over there.

To be fair, Secret Sauce is actually just Pro-Cure scent re-labelled as well 

Here's an interesting one. When using Gulp, my preference is Squid Vicious, a great fish catcher. As with other types of Gulp, downside is the legs get nipped off. I came up with the rather brilliant idea of adding Catch Water Wings to the mix. Logic was that the remaining Gulp body would provide scent and the Water Wings would provide movement once the Gulp legs get nipped off. Result: Very few bites!

The review is here -  http://https://www.fishing.net.nz/fishing-advice/product-news-and-reviews/catch-black-label-livies-review/" rel="nofollow - http://https://www.fishing.net.nz/fishing-advice/product-news-and-reviews/catch-black-label-livies-review/

Have yet to have a take on zman yet gulp get bitten in half,why would that be??

Well, Gulp in particular and to add a bit more context, I rig them on a jig head as normal, but basically fish them like bait. Send them down vertically and don't move them much at all.

To be fair, Secret Sauce is actually just Pro-Cure scent re-labelled as well 

Though Secret Sauce isn't a Z Man product, it's separately sourced and imported from wherever by Ocean Angler isn't it? Like the OA Sliders etc. not affiliated with Z Man.

Hi PJC, 

The scented Gulps can be deadly, for sure. Odd that you aren't catching any fish on Z Mans at all, though. 

Hard to offer up suggestions why without knowing how you fish them, and where. 

I've had decent success on Z Mans around Auckland and elsewhere, including plenty in the rod holder (usually ones with tail movement like the grub) while I cast ahead with the other and fish it back to the boat. But out of the corner of my eye I see that I miss a lot of fish that bite the Z Mans in the rod holder and just aren't big enough to nail the bait and swim off with it, thus hooking themselves. Those fish leave the Z Man untouched aside from some tiny dots from their teeth, but the same fish would destroy a Gulp quickly.

I had one trip when I was learning to softbait that really cemented my confidence with Z Mans. I was lucky enough to be invited out one day with some guys who have baches at a great spot in the Far North and fish nearly every day when they're up there, catching plenty. They kept it simple, and only had tubs of Gulp 5" Jerk Shad in Nuclear Chicken on board. Never needed to buy or use anything else. But I took my own Z Mans on my day out with them and more than held my own using Bruised Banana 5" shad and 4" Paddlerz, including the fish of the day. 

Great discussion. 

Hey Josh, fYI I think that link has one too many https in it. I get an error message.