Feider’s New ‘Secret Agent’ Smallmouth Bait

Z-Man® Fishing professional Seth Feider reveals finesse Llama TubeZ™ system

You possibly can catch llamas. That’s a pleasant llama. You possibly can go llamaing. Llama on. You possibly can throw it wherever in a sentence. That’s the gist of it. There’s no improper place to place it.”     – Seth Feider (through bassmaster.com), explaining Llama logic

Ladson, SC (July 3, 2025) – When Seth Feider talks bronze bass, everybody keen on hooking extra smallmouths drops what they’re doing and tunes in to the language of the Llama. However when the dude with the lip strip and the spicy blonde mullet breaks out his latest “undercover agent bait,” 5-pound smalljaws come to play for retains.

Feider (a.okay.a. The Llama) recollects a latest stand-out bass chew, and a key discovery that turned the tide. “I’d been on Inexperienced Bay for just a few days, and after getting bit fairly good in your typical 5-inch tubes, the bass simply shut off,” notes the favored Z-Man professional and Bassmaster Elite Collection star. “The larger fish ignored all the usual stuff, however once I ultimately tied on somewhat crappie-sized tube, each cruising bass I noticed swam proper over and ate it. First cellphone name I made was to Jose at Z-Man, begging him to create a finesse ElaZtech® tube and an identical jighead.”

When prototype Llama TubeZ™ and Llama TubeZ™ jigheads lastly arrived on Feider’s entrance porch, the baits went proper to work. His subsequent journey to the Nice Lakes proved the brand new tube legit, numerous soccer bass coming to the boat with a Llama TubeZ means down the hatch.

“Do we actually want one other tube bait?” Feider asks, rhetorically.  “Nah. Not likely. Loads of cookie cutter 4- and 5-inch tubes on the market already. However a micro tube? Comprised of buoyant, bulletproof ElaZtech®? That’s a distinct animal. And it this level, this little bait has 100-percent develop into my go-to bait for giant smallmouths— Nice Lakes or some other tough-bite situation you’ll be able to think about.” 

Freshly juiced with Z-Man’s ElaZtech® superplastic, the brand new 2-inch Llama TubeZ™ (and Llama TubeZ™ Jighead) is already activating these selective bass Feider calls “cruisers”; the tube can also be scoring suspended bass ‘scoped with forward-facing sonar.

Not like conventional tubes that tear aside after a handful of bites, Feider praises the Llama TubeZ’ 10X Powerful ElaZtech composition, which retains the identical bait on the jighook for hours of bass motion. The tiny tube’s cutting-edge materials is of course buoyant, too, for a critter-like tail-up posture on backside and leisurely spiraling motion on the drop—giving bass an prolonged alternative to look at and eat. To stimulate prolonged chew retention, Llama TubeZ are salt impregnated.

Reasonably than replicating the artificial pencil form of conventional tube baits, Feider advised a barely fatter midsection to present the Llama TubeZ distinctive curves that higher match the anatomy of aquatic animals. The bait is noticeably softer than most tubes, too, providing a naturally squishy, sculpin/goby-like texture smallmouths like to chew.

To spice up the bait’s multi-level motion, Feider requested for elongated 1.25-inch tentacles which quiver freely and vigorous, because of the buoyant materials.

“The longer tentacles are key to creating the correct spiraling motion on the autumn, which is aided by ElaZtech’s pure flotation, giving the bait a extra relaxed drop, so bass have time to examine and react,” explains the Llama, whose codename has develop into a battle cry for his cult of 1000’s. “Given its pure ‘critter’ silhouette, compact dimension and spiraling, darting motion, they nearly by no means reject it.

“It’s only a superior bait in tremendous clear water for finicky smallmouths, the tweaky ones. Particularly in spring, the 2-inch Llama TubeZ completely matches young-of-the-year forage pursued by bass. However anytime the chew will get powerful, the little bait presents fish with a virtually fishing-pressure proof providing.

“Stuff like gobies, darters, sculpin and crayfish . . . these little critters function by mixing into the underside, scooting from rock to rock,” Feider explains. “The take care of this little tube is to match the underside, not give bass a superb take a look at the bait, which mockingly, provokes large smallmouths to eat it much more.

“On the freefall, this little tube glides and spirals completely—the precise motion that fires smallmouths up,” he provides. “On backside, the bait creeps and quivers among the many rocks, nonstop. However as a result of it’s ElaZtech, the tube slips proper by means of the sharp terrain with out ripping, and catches dozes of fish per bait, so I not often must cease fishing to re-rig.

“A whole lot of us on tour have dreamed a few tremendous smooth, buoyant, loopy sturdy finesse tube produced from ElaZtech for a very long time. As soon as I received my arms on ‘em this season, in all places I’ve encountered large smallmouths— gin-clear and hardcore pressured water, significantly within the Nice Lakes— this tasty little tube has cracked the code. Fish it beside a conventional 4- or 5-inch tube—or any finesse bait— and discover out for your self.”

Created to match the brand new 2-inch Z-Man Llama TubeZ, the teardrop-shaped Llama TubeZ Jighead includes a vanadium metal VMC® 1/0 RedLine Collection® hook, chosen by Feider for its stay-sharp abilities round rocks and different hardcover. The Llama TubeZ Jighead is offered in 1/16-, 1/8-, 3/16- and 1/4-ounce sizes, with weights printed on the jighead for straightforward ID (MSRP $4.99 per 3-pack). New Llama TubeZ are supplied in 8 professional chosen coloration patterns (MSRP $5.99 per 6-pack)—each merchandise made within the USA. 

About Z-Man Fishing Merchandise: A dynamic Charleston, South Carolina primarily based firm, Z-Man Fishing Merchandise has melded vanguard fishing sort out with know-how for almost three a long time. Creator of the Unique ChatterBait®, Z-Man can also be the famend innovators of 10X Powerful ElaZtech® superplastics, among the many most coveted baits in fresh- and saltwater. Z-Man is without doubt one of the fastest-growing lure manufacturers worldwide.