Z-Man Redfish Eye Jighead VS. Trout Eye Jighead
- By: Justin Ritchey
- on November 22, 2021
What are the main differences between the Z-Man Trout Eye Jighead and the Z-Man Redfish Eye Jighead?
When should you be using either jighead?
Both jigheads are designed for different lures and different situations!
Check out more below!
Redfish Eye Jighead VS. Trout Eye Jighead [VIDEO]
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Featured Equipment:
- Z-Man Trout Eye Jighead
- Z-Man Redfish Eye Jighead
- Slam Shady 2.0 Paddletail
- Gold Digger Paddletail
- F.R.E.D. Paddletail
- Slam Shady Bomber
- Alabama Leprechaun
- Z-Man Slam Shady MinnowZ
- Z-Man Slam Shady DieZel MinnowZ
- Slam Shady Jerk Shad
- Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ
First off, the Trout Eye and Redfish Eye jigheads do not only catch trout or redfish, respectively!
They can catch a whole variety of inshore fish!
There are subtle differences between the jigheads that make them uniquely applicable in different situations.
Moreover, there are different soft plastic lures that match up perfectly with each type of jighead.
Differences Between The Jigheads
The Trout Eye has a 2/0 Mustad hook as its base hook.
On the other hand, the Redfish Eye is a 4/0 Mustad hook.
The Trout Eye jighead is about an inch and a half in total length from nose to end of the shank.
While the Redfish Eye is just a bit over 2 inches in length.
The difference in shank length means that these two jighead styles will match up better with different-length soft plastic lures.
Upon closer examination, you will notice the eye-point or tie-point, where you tie your leader onto the jighead, are at different angles on the two jigheads.
You will notice the eye-point on the Trout Eye is a bit further back on the jighead in comparison to the Redfish Eye.
On the Redfish Eye, the eye-point is further forward.
The forward-facing, straighter eye-point on a jighead is more conducive to straight-retrieving your soft plastic lures.
The Redfish Eye can work when bouncing bottom, however, will work best when using a paddletail or a lure with a straight retrieve.
Matching Soft Plastic Lures To The Jigheads
While all of the jigheads mentioned in the video can work with a variety of different soft plastics, some jigheads work better with different lures.
The biggest factor is the length of the soft plastic and the length of the hook.
The Trout Eye Jighead will pair better with shorter soft plastic lures.
A 3-inch paddletail will pair excellently with this jighead style.
The shorter shank of the hook won’t be so far in the paddletail and impede the intended action of the lure.
As far as the Redfish Eye goes, it is a longer shank jighead that will pair better with longer, 5-inch paddletails.
The longer shank on the jighead will go further back in the lure and will still not impede the action.
You could put a longer paddletail, such as the Slam Shady Bomber, on the Trout Eye and it would work.
However, the benefit of having a longer shank hook on longer paddletails is to prevent short strikes.
This means if a trout, redfish, or even flounder looks to strike your lure, they might only bite the backside of the lure.
Not all fish are going to fully commit and engulf the entire soft plastic lure.
If you are using a longer shank jighead matched up with the appropriate-sized soft plastic lure, you can prevent short strikes.
What Do You Do With 4-Inch Soft Plastic Lures?
If the 3-inch lures are best with a Trout Eye Jighead and the 5-inch lures are best with the Redfish Eye Jighead, then what should you rig a 4-inch soft plastic lure on?
At the end of the day, either style jighead will work well with 4-inch soft plastic lures.
If you decide to go with the shorter shank Trout Eye Jighead, you are aiming to maximize the performance of your soft plastic lure.
More of the back end of the lure will not be impeded by the shank of the hook.
The other school of thought is that if you go with the Redfish Eye, you could reduce some of the action, but you are focused on preventing short strikes from trout or redfish.
Conclusion
Various lengths of soft plastic lures will pair better with different lengths of jighead shanks depending on how they either enhance or impede the lure’s action and improve hook-up performance.
While soft plastic lures and jigheads can be used universally, there are benefits to having certain length soft plastics paired with the right jighead shank length.
Be sure to keep in mind the desired action and presentation you want when choosing the jighead and its soft plastic lure pairing!
If you have any questions on any of the tackle used in this video, please ask me down in the comments!
And if you know an angler who wants to learn more about Z-Man Jighead styles, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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Thanks for this post! I’ve mostly been using Trout Eye, never thinking about why I would want to use Redfish Eye.
Will either of these jigheads work well well for 1)4 crabs?
Hey Brian! Do you mean will these be a good jig head to use if soaking 1/4 of a Crab? The Redfish Eyes would be the better option of the 2, but personally I would prefer to use a Mission Fishin Jig Head if soaking bait on bottom. The football style head helps keep the bait positioned upward when at rest on bottom.
well done , Thanks
Nice video Justin – it really clarifies the best approach for the Soft plastics
Happy to share, Pablo! Glad you found it helpful.
Well done … clear, concise, and informative. You guys really do “get it”! Thank you
Thanks Durbin!!!
The screwdriver to screw comparison was a nice touch. It seems that this same principal can be applied a lot in the wide world of fishing and even for a lot more things. That standard screwdriver can work ok in some cases with the phillips screw, but will never do as good as the phillips to phillips pairing. Like it!
Glad you liked that, Steve. Makes sense!
Thanks for the video
Thanks for tuning in & commenting, Johnnie!
Nice tip, appreciate the detail in your tutorials.
Happy to provide the detailed intel, Rick! Thanks for watching & commenting.
Thanks for this. Duh. I had not even noticed the difference. I just thought it was about the color of the eyes. Luckily, I have been accidentally catching fish with both. —Now, maybe I’ll do better. lol
Haha! Accidentally or on Purpose, we will take fish any which way we can!
Hey Justin, just a side question/comment, with the slam shady do you prefer a straight or a bouncing retrieve, or does it depend on water depth and current speed?
Always a good question, Bob. There are so many variables that play into determining “When To Swim” and “When To Bounce”. Yes, Current & Water Depth plays the largest role in this equation. But if I had to determine “When To” between both retrieve styles, I ask myself 2 questions:
Generally, when I know fish are not very aggressive, I tend to bounce my lure on the retrieve. This tends to work best when I’m using a TPE/Z-Man ElaZtech type of lure, because the lure will sit somewhat Vertically at rest on the bottom because it is very buoyant. But on the flip side, if I’m using a Slam Shady BOMBER 5″ Paddle Tail, I tend to straight retrieve this type of lure, leaving the focus on the big boot Tail to create all the action and better imitate a large Prey on the go. Now, that isn’t to say you can’t Bounce a Slam Shady BOMBER on bottom, as Wyatt recently landed a really nice Redfish doing this method. It just hasn’t been as productive for me in my local waters (which is another variable to consider).
Hope this helps Bob!