Z-Man Texas Eye Finesse Jighead Review: Pros & Cons
- By: Justin Ritchey
- on
Have you had the chance to use the Z-Man Texas Eye Finesse Jighead?
What are the pros and cons of the different style Texas Eye Finesse Jigheads?
Learn what situations and lures will work best with the Finesse Jighead down below!
Check it out!
Z-Man Texas Eye Finesse Jighead Review [VIDEO]
Click here to join the Insider Club
The Z-Man Texas Eye Finesse Jighead is a smaller, extra-wide gap hook with lighter weights than the Texas Eye Jighead.
A Z-Man Texas Eye Jighead comes standard with a 4/0 size hook attached to a 1/8 ounce jighead.
The Finesse Jighead is a 1/0 hook paired with a 1/10 ounce jighead.
Both hooks include a keeper on the hook to hold your soft plastic lure in place.
The Finesse Jighead is a lighter-wire hook, however, it is not that much shorter in distance between the point and shank than the standard Texas Eye Jighead.
These features make the Finesse Jighead perfect for shallow water conditions where you are targeting redfish and snook.
Z-Man Texas Eye Jighead
Most 4 or 5-inch soft plastic lures match better with the standard Texas Eye Jighead.
Tough lure material that Z-Man paddletails are made with or TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) that the Power Prawn is made of are perfect matches for this larger jighead.
Due to the weight placed on the head of Texas Eye Jigheads, the material of the lure will want to float and sit upright in the water.
Consequently, the challenge with the Texas Eye Jighead is that it does not match up well with smaller, 3-inch soft plastic lures.
Salt Strong paddletails such as the Slam Shady 2.0, the Gold Digger, and F.R.E.D. are tougher to have sit correctly on the larger Texas Eye Jighead.
The hook is a bit too long and the hook’s thickness tears away some of the plastic at the head of the lure.
Z-Man Texas Eye Finesse Jighead
The Finesse style Texas Eye Jighead is excellent for shorter paddletail lures.
It has a lighter-wire gauged hook with a shorter shank.
Further, the piece soldered at the chin of the hook is smaller than the original Texas Eye Jighead.
In turn, when you rig a soft plastic lure weedless on the Finesse Jighead, you won’t tear as much plastic away from the head as the standard Texas Eye.
This gives an angler the opportunity to fish a shorter paddletail with a lighter, smaller Texas Eye.
If you are targeting redfish in the coming winter months or really picky trout and snook, the Finesse Eye is an excellent choice for shallow water applications.
The Finesse Eye Jighead also works in perfect tandem with the “Nub” rig.
In order to create the nub rig, just simply remove the tail of a paddletail lure.
This manipulates the action of the lure and creates a total different profile and presentation.
If you are bouncing a lure off the edge of a dock for trout or aiming for redfish, this presentation will work best.
Cons Of The Z-Man Texas Eye Finesse Jighead
The light wire hook of the Finesse Jighead is extremely delicate.
If you crank a hard hook set into a fish, you will risk straightening out these hooks.
An intense hook set on a medium-heavy rod is not the intended use for the Finesse Jighead.
The jighead is meant for shorter, smaller lures in shallow water settings where your hook sets are lighter.
Keep in mind that you may have to back off of your drag to ensure you don’t straighten these hooks.
The hook will still pierce through the mouth of a redfish or trout.
But if you plan on hooking a snook near structure, you will likely straighten out this type of hook.
Moreover, the Finesse Jigheads are not going to match up well with anything larger than a 3 or 3.5-inch paddletail.
The Slam Shady Bomber will be way too big to rig on the Texas Eye Finesse Jighead.
The larger, 5-inch paddletails like the Bomber and Alabama Leprechaun are better suited for the original Texas Eye Jighead.
Be cautious when using the Z-Man MinnowZ with the Finesse Jighead.
The MinnowZ is a bit wider and chunkier than the Salt Strong paddletails.
Salt Strong paddletails are slimmer and that design allows for better hook penetration and connection to your fish.
You might not get as secure of a connection with the fish when using the MinnowZ paddletail.
The slimmer variety of shorter paddletails are going to work best with the Texas Eye Finesse Jighead.
Conclusion
The slightly smaller and lighter features of the Z-Man Texas Eye Finesse Jighead force it to be exclusive in certain specific fishing scenarios.
Shallow water situations paired with a shorter soft plastic lure are excellent conditions for using the Finesse Jighead.
Remember not to set the hook with too much intensity or you could risk straightening it!
Get the Z-Man Texas Eye Finesse Jigheads here
Click here to check out the Z-Man Texas Eye Jigheads
Get the Slam Shady 2.0 Paddletail here
Click here to get the Gold Digger Paddletail
Get the F.R.E.D. Paddletail here
And if you know someone who wants to learn more about the Z-Man Texas Eye Finesse Jighead, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
P.S. Want access to our best fishing spots and tips, plus discounts to our online tackle store? Click here to join us in the Insider Club!
Related Articles:
Related categories:
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
Great review of our product! We appreciate y’all giving unbiased reviews and I’ve always found them to be honest. Just a minor edit: The OG Texas Eye are built on a 3/0 hook, not a 4/0. The hooks are TXF 1/0, TX 3/0 TeXL 5/0. I’ve personally been very impressed with this little 1/0 VMC hook, it’s stronger than you think – but 100% you can’t jack a fish out of structure or it will bend out. That being said my pb fish using them is a 32″ red and 25″ trout. Some other profiles to try with them: 3″ Slim SwimZ, StreakZ 375, TRD CrawZ. Thanks again for an honest review with pros AND cons.
What’s up Dave! Appreciate the kind comment, and thank you for the hook sizing correction (hindsight really is 20/20). I’m also a big fan of finesse applications, not only because it could offer a competitive advantage on the water, but also because of the healthy set of challenges it provides us. Looking forward to this Winter Season! Maybe I’ll be able to rival that 32″ Red of yours! Thanks again Dave.
Good review on here! I use the Texas eye and for a lot of my fishing has been too large gauge and gap. I know I’ve lost quite a few decent reds to that bend of the shank. This new finesse version looks better and great for me with my new BFS approach and light leaders. I mainly pre ordered the 1/15-1/10 for my bfs and 1/8-1/6 for really windy days. Hooks are good and fitment on slim swimz and shrimpz is good. Like you said Justin, it doesn’t fit very well on the Minnowz with that fatter body, but that’s where I use the regular bulletz for weedless approach as well. My only disappointment is that the 1/8 starts getting block shaped on the head and the 1/6 even more so, more like a football head and makes me wonder how much grass that’s going to pick up or even come through structure freshwater bass fishing. Definitely going to be using the 1/15 and 1/10 a lot with my bfs gear and hopefully the other weights as well.
Thanks a bunch Casey! I’ve personally been wanting to customize a BFS setup to experiment with it over here in FL; the challenge alone sounds interesting to me.
This looks like a good match for the smaller Gulp shrimp. I will say though that when I first joined, I liked the simplicity you brought to shallow water fishing. My bass bait collection had become overwhelming. I hope I don’t get caught up in that again! You guys have helped me improve my strike count, though. I need more time to fish. My new Maverick is feeling neglected!!!!
That’s a GREAT idea, Russell. Didn’t even think about Gulp! This would be a perfect hook for those type of lures.
Thanks for video Justin. Those would be perfect for SS2.0 but don’t like the thin hook wire. Got burned by a weighted hook (not OTL) that failed on me because it bent out of shape. Good advice on backing off the drag!
Yep, it’s definitely a thinner/lighter wire hook than the current Texas Eye Jig Heads, so lightening that drag and allowing the sharpness of the hook to penetrate as intended is a much safer/smarter approach!
So with the insiders using the tx eye currently and experienced straightened hooks, is the benefit of using a smaller profile worth the heartache of increasing the likelihood of straightened hooks with a smaller thinner 1/0 hook? Curious to see how the hook strength compares to the trout eye 1/0.
I have not personally experienced straightened hooks with the regular Texas Eyes, at least not on Redfish up to 30″ in the past few months. For some, having a lighter/smaller profile is desirable, especially if they would prefer a weedless weighted option that falls head-first and want to link it to a smaller 3″ soft plastic.
The regular Trout Eye is a thicker gauge hook, so the Trout Eye will be more rigid/durable than the Texas Eye Finesse. You could opt to go with the Weedless Trout Eye, but then again, it’s not nearly as weedless as an extra wide gap hook option.
Consider this a tool for the toolbox. I for one will be pairing this jig head on a 7’0 ML Star Rod VPR 4-10lb. (Mod-Fast) Rod and a 1000 sized spinning reel an 8lb. braid. There are times I enjoy fishing for Redfish & Trout in extremely skinny water and intentionally downsize anyway I can get away with to help decrease the noise/vibration/profile of the lures I use in those scenarios.
There’s the rest of the equation. Its more a combination for sure. I have had a few straightened out but I think it was a combo of a heavier action more drag an not being ready for the bigger fish. Its all about balance and this new combo with a lighter drag should be perfect for when the fish get picky. Thanks again.
For sure, it definitely performs best when it’s a “system” (Rod, Reel, Line, Lure & Hook all being Finesse Focused). Glad to help!
Thank You for a very informative video.
Glad you found it helpful, Ron!
Justin, thanks for bring attention to the new Z-Man Texas Eye Finesse Jighead. I wanted to point out that the standard Z-Man Texas Eye Jighead comes in a 3/0 hook, not 4/0 . . . https://eyestrikefishing.com/store/#!/Texas-Eye-Jig-Heads-3-0-Worm-Hook/c/29517624 (it’s correctly shown in SS tackle store). The supersized Z-Man Texas Eye TeXL Jighead is a 5/0 hook. I’ve fished the Trout Eye Finesse Jig Head with a 1/0 when presenting baits smaller than 3”. But that 1/0 hook seems a bit stouter than the Texas Eye 1/0. Good review!
Yes, you’re correct Rob! Thanks for clarifying. And yes the 1/0 Texas Eye is thinner wire than the 1/0 Trout Eye Finesse (different hook style altogether).
The weight is super light. This is for less than a foot of water?
Nope, you can still effectively fish this in 1-2′ of water. With the placement of the weight being towards the front of the lure, it will sink through the water a little faster than an equivalent sized weighted weedless hook.
I have been looking for weed less application for zman shrimp and power prawn jr. This might work!
*Caution: this particular hook might work well with the Z-Man EZ Shrimp, but it’s definitely too thin of wire for the Power Prawn Jr. It will be challenging to get enough clearance on the Prawn with this finesse hook, just a heads up.
If you are set on using Zman soft plastics with the ZMan Texas eye finesse… the Trout Trick seems completely perfect for this rig in every way. Small, thin, Super durable, and buoyant.
Both the Trout Trick and the Slim SwimZ in 2.5″ and 3″ are also great Z-Man products to rig with this jig head. Our Slam Shady 2.0, Gold Digger and F.R.E.D. paddle tails are similar shaped & performing product to the Slim SwimZ. Good option, Jos!
Hey Lance, here’s the best solution I’ve found for rigging the Power Prawn Jr. weedless for fishing the shallows in case you haven’t already seen it: https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/rig-power-prawn-owner-twistlock-hook/
Appreciate the video Justin! I saw these on the shop page last week and was curious.
So the finesse jig doesn’t tear conventional plastic (non TPE/Elaztech) tooo bad? I used the Texas Eye with some senko type worms for bass. Effective, but the worm was only going to last a few fish before being trashed. Same if you wanted to remove the worm for a different profile lure.
Thank Jonathan! That weighted keeper at the neck of the hook is smaller on this finesse jig head than on the standard Texas Eyes, so it will not tear up smaller soft plastics nearly as much.