This Grub Catches Big Fish!
All fluke are flounder, but not all flounder are fluke. All of them are flatfish, and just as many taste delicious. Certainly, only the biggest and baddest among them have earned the name doormat. Got it? Good.
You’d never know it by their seemingly shy, clandestine dispositions: Flounder, the size of doormats, are a different animal than their placemat-sized underlings. Beyond their preference for locations far removed from their smaller counterparts, trophy-class flatfish (aka doormats) can be a truly nasty predator, lashing out and attacking live prey with all the attitude and ferocity of those “glamour” fish.
Big flounder like their forage fresh, too, preferably something that swims like a fish and tastes like a fish. Checking all these boxes and more, Z-Man’s new super-soft 6-inch DoormatadorZ™ has quickly become a go-to bait for anglers in hot pursuit of whopper flounder, black sea bass and any other big, mean fish attracted to the alluring action of a twister tail—in other words, every fish you want to catch.
Built-in a super-tanker grub size with a proven curly-tail profile and action, the 6-inch DoormatadorZ matches the back of a bucktail or plain jig or any of the bottom or double rigs in vogue today. Accentuating its rhythmic, constantly-flapping curlytail, the DoormatadorZ benefits from a bold infusion of 100-percent natural Pro-Cure Flounder Pounder Super Gel scent. The most proven, potent fish attractants ever made, Pro-Cure’s flounder formula is made from fresh baitfish, supercharged with powerful amino acids and bite stimulants.
“By its nature, ElaZtech is the perfect carrier of oil-based attractants, such as Pro-Cure,” notes Z-Man president Daniel Nussbaum. “While you must constantly reapply scent to traditional soft plastics, ElaZtech baits such as the DoormatadorZ soak up oil-based scents like a sponge. It penetrates the bait’s body and sticks. Even after a ton of casts and time in the water, you can still see, feel, and smell the scent on the bait. And, when the scent finally does start to wear off, you can always add a little bit more to recharge the bait. Unlike other soft plastics, ElaZtech will reabsorb the scent again. That’s a huge deal in saltwater or really, any fishing situation where scent plays a major role in bite attraction.”
Once again proving ElaZtech’s seemingly supernatural powers, the DoormatadorZ’ buoyancy keeps the bait and its active tail aloft, presenting a highly-visible strike target to more fish, near and far. Also, separating itself from every other grub you’ve fished, the DoormatadorZ won’t come back to the boat missing its tail. That’s because ElaZtech is super soft and implausibly tough to tear at the same time—equally mind-blowing as an ultrathin superline with the break strength of a tow strap.
“Beyond all its other amazing qualities, the efficiency of the ElaZtech DoormatadorZ is a pretty big deal,” says Z-Man sales manager Glenn Young. “When you’re down in 80 to 100 feet of water, you want to know for sure your bait still has its tail intact. That kind of assurance is a major time saver that means a lot more fish in the boat. With other soft plastics, you never know when you’ll reel up and find your plastic tail missing because some little nuisance fish with teeth just took you out of the game. The DoormatadorZ tail is soft and lively, yet withstands the toothy gashes that instantly ruin other baits.”
Although the DoormatadorZ has gained its fish-catching reputation among veteran flounder fishermen, its actual applications range from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, south to the Gulf of Mexico and all the way to the West Coast. “We’ve talked to anglers who are loving the DoormatadorZ for Pacific rockfish, halibut, and lingcod,” adds Nussbaum. “The bait’s also a natural for tipping bucktails and jigging big redfish, cobia, and grouper—plus snapper down south. As most anglers know, a curly tail grub is among the most versatile and desirable bait shapes ever made—and this one takes things several steps beyond.”
“The big DoormatadorZ sports a super-active, exaggerated curly tail that mimics bait species like squid, herring, spearing and sand eels,” says Nick Honachefsky, topnotch angler and host of Saltwater Underground TV. “One of the killer aspects of this bait is that it’s naturally buoyant and continues to put out tail action, even when it’s stopped on the bottom. Combine the DoormatadorZ’ action and Pro-Cure Scent, and it’s almost like fishing livebait.”
Coast to coast, if there’s a fish that won’t chew a lively DoormatadorZ grub, anglers haven’t found it yet. Nor have they found another bait that holds up to multiple strikes and fights and then goes back for more. Displacing an abundance of water with its bulked-up grub body and extra-flappy tail, the 6-inch DoormatadorZ features eight bright, high-vis colors, available now at retailers nationwide and at www.zmanfishing.com. MSRP $4.99 per 3-pack.
Jeremy Mallette is co-founder of International Sportsman. An avid hunter and outdoorsman, he has spent more than a decade in the outdoor industry, from hiking and camping to silencers and hunting. His father taught him to shoot at age six, and he received his first firearm at age eight — a 1942 Colt Commando .38 special revolver. He enjoys yearly trips to Kansas for pheasant hunting, spending time with his children at the deer lease, and collecting unique firearms.