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Swimbait Review


Gan Craft's Jointed Claw Zepro : A Surface Glide with the Little Kicks (continued)

If you begin your retrieve immediately after the bait touches down on your cast, it will wake as advertised, swimming right on the surface in that familiar S-like fashion. However, if you do so after letting the bait sit for a few moments, it will swim at the depth it sank to with a more labored, rolling, side to side swim. Throw in some twitches of your rod tip and the Zepro will arch up, then back down, flash its side, and perform a series of erratic, unpredictable behaviors.


I'm still unclear as to what "Type-Neutral" really means because if left to sit for a few seconds after the cast, the Zepro sinks slowly in the water column

My motivation in acquiring the Zepro was to swim at or just under the surface above vegetation that had grown to within a foot of the surface. I couldn't get my floating 230 or 178 Jointed Claws over this vegetation, so I thought the Zepro would be just the ticket and boy was it. On one occasion, while I was still trying to figure out what the Zepro does, a fish came up from below and blasted the bait two feet into the air. When the bait came back down, the bass attacked again and I was able to hook, land, photograph, and release the crazy fish. While I managed a few other fish that day in similar spots, that first, crazed hit was all I needed to sell me on this bait.


Like all Jointed Claw baits, the tail is easily removed and/or replaced

Design/Ergonomics: Despite releasing the bait somewhere around 2015, Gan Craft only offers the Zepro in six colors. At least that's all I've seen. Conversely, the standard 178 has close to twenty standard colors and countless other limited edition, celebratory schemes that only crazies like myself bother to chase down and purchase. The Zepro variant is only offered in the 178 size. I'd like to see it in the 230 myself. That's my favorite size for the Jointed Claw in general.


Gan Craft's Jointed Claw Zepro 178 is effective any time fish are targeting prey in the top two feet of the water column

Price & Application: Gan Craft's Jointed Claw Zepro 178 carries the same retail price as the original, $69.99. It's effective any time fish are targeting prey in the top two feet of the water column. I really enjoy throwing it when the weeds are too tall to work other glide baits and while I'm sure it's just as effective in super skinny, one to two foot backwater spots, I didn't have any success in those situations.


Retail price is $69.99

Ratings:

Gan Craft Jointed Claw Zepro 178 Ratings (?/10)

Construction/Quality Gan Craft rarely disappoints. My Zepro baits have all been finished well and contrary to the practice of most, I do fish the stock hooks. 8
Performance Takes a bit to get in tune with this bait's erratic behavior, but once you do, it's super easy and fun to fish 8
Price Caught between a good value and premium price point. 7
Features Removable/Replaceable tail, serviceable hooks 7
Design (Ergonomics) Available in only 6 colors that I've seen and just the one size. I'd like to see a version of this bait in the 230 size. 7.5
Application A good, skinny water glide option 8

Total Score

7.53
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable!
For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

 

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus

Minus
+ Performs well even in 0-2 feet of water - Only available in the one size
+ Can be made to swim very erratically  
+ Stays at the top of the water column better than the standard, floating Jointed Claw  


With proper coaching, the Zepro 178 will dance as erratically and awkwardly as Elaine Benes getting down with Shining Star

Conclusion: Gan Craft's Jointed Claw Zepro 178, reminds me of the 6th man in basketball. In case you're not familiar, the 6th man in basketball refers to the first player off the bench when it comes time to give someone in the starting lineup a few minutes break. This player usually specializes in offense or defense. In the case of the Zepro, this bait specializes in skinny water, but not just water that's a couple feet in depth. We're talking where there's only a foot or two of clear surface water for a lure to swim in. This means over submerged structure and more importantly, above big, overgrown patches of weeds. You know, places where your standard glides can't swim. In these situations, Zepro will not only wake, but with your coaching, it will dance as erratically, and awkwardly, as Elaine Benes getting down with Shining Star.

 

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