Overview
Featuring a small rounded paddle tail to deliver subtle yet lifelike swimming action, the Z-Man Gobius Swimbait is a super life-like pre-rigged goby imitation designed with a highly refined body, gill plates, fins, and tail details. Molded from Z-Man’s 10X Tough Elaztech super-plastics to outlast the competition by a wide margin, the combination of balanced weighting and highly buoyant plastic enables a tail-up posture when at rest to mimic a small baitfish feeding on the bottom.
Armed with a custom 1/0 medium wire black nickel sickle hook, the Z-Man Gobius Swimbait is built with a split dorsal fin brush guard and structure jig lead harness to provide excellent sang-resistance and allow it to easily deflect off of cover. Finished with hand-painted body details and life-like eyes to create an extremely natural appearance, the Z-Man Gobius Swimbait is available in a variety of vibrant color patterns and multiple sizes to effectively fish all depths of the water column.
| Weight | Length |
| 3/8oz | 3" |
| 1/2oz | 3" |
| 3/4oz | 3" |
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Customer Reviews
Great SMB swimbaitI mostly throw these for Smallies, but end up catching lots of different species. Great durability, hook up ratio, colors. The hook is a medium thickness hook, so I usually don't go above 12lb leader. Very nice bait!
Better option than a Dark SleeperIf you know how elastic plastics work with storage and etc, this one lure can last you 20 Dark Sleepers and save you a ton of money. Fish after fish the bait holds up, and not lose an eye after one skip under a dock or such. Highly recommended, not sure how Zman isn't losing money for this awesome product since it lasts so long.
Great hopping baitI catch tons of SMB on these. Standard 8"-12" hops and some slow pulls now and then produces lot of fish. Great durability. Nice hook. I use 20lb braid to a 12lb leader.
GoodGets bit a lot but you will have to set the hook very hard to catch them.
The review you need before buying!Here's the deal with the gobius. DO NOT fish it on a heavy rod with 17lb+ flouro or 40lb+ braid, you'll bend out the hook. I use a 6' 11" medium-fast jerkbait rod with 12lb flouro and I can whack a fish on a long cast even, and with the stretch of the line and limber rod, the whole setup will load up perfectly. I've had no issue with hook-to-land ratio. Another thing most Zman customers should already know, KEEP THE BAIT IN THE ORIGINAL PACKAGING, THEY WILL MELT IN A BOX OR WHEN STORED WITH OTHER BAITS. Simple as that. This bait is extremely durable because of the elaztech which is awesome for getting your money's worth, but it will not replace the dark sleeper. Where this bait shines is in rivers and current where the fish can't get a really good stare down on it, the sleeper is still the clear water king when fished super slow. I fish the gobius like a standard swimbait 80% of the time, the rest of the time I will yo-yo it if I think a reaction bite is needed. My colors are simple, deeply stained/dirty water, the perch color has been most productive, that orange on the belly is very bright. And for clearer water, the deal is the best. Imitates a small bluegill very well. I live in Minnesota and the pike here can be extremely annoying with stealing baits and also just shredding the lure itself. Walleye and pike don't do much to the gobius obviously, I tend to use it instead of the sleeper when fishing certain waters. Overall, I love the bait, no complains really. Do I wish the hook water slightly stouter? Yes, but that doesn't make it a bad bait, this style of lure is a more finesse based approach anyways. Use proper technique and equipment and you'll catch fish on it without a doubt.
Oh wellI don't mind losing a lure due to broken lines bent hooks even on a snag, but damn unpacked the 3 that I bought fished one for a couple of hrs and as many bites, go to change size and color only to find they're melted and unusable had the same problem with chase baits, maybe your supposed to keep them in a cooler, won't buy again
Hook bent outI was light flipping into some sticks where I saw a 4 or 5 lber guarding some fry, and when it bit I set the hook then it came up for a jump then as it went back into the water I just see the goby flying out. The plastic was all twisted up and a bent hook. I would recommend the dark sleeper, it has more action and better hook
Buy heavyIf you usually throw 1/2-ounce Megabass Dark Sleepers and Berkley Agent E swimbaits, you will want to buy the 3/4 ounce version of the Gobius to maintain a similar bottom feel and contact, as the extra buoyancy of the Elaztech body produces a noticeably slower fall.
Otherwise, it swims great -- doesn't have the frantic "wiggle" of the Agent E, but the tail-flutter and the slower fall of the Gobius makes it the easier of the two to fish shallow. The mushier body also reduces feedback through the rod, so if you're accustomed to feeling the gravel, you won't be able to feel it as clearly (in any weight configuration). I plan on using my 1/2-ounce Gobius in applications shallower than 15', and the 1/2-ounce Agent E will remain on deck for deeper rock piles, channel swings, and shell beds.
As another reviewer said, the hook is quite thin (compared to other goby-style swimbaits), so take that into consideration when pairing it with a rod. The 1/2-ounce (and especially 3/8 ounce) would be well-suited for a M/MH spinning rod.
Bring SuperglueThey catch fish, but if you fish a lot of rocks and ledges. The plastic starts to tear at the line tie, eventually pulling the weight out of the body on hooksets...very annoying, luckily you can just glue it back, but Ive had the heads come out as quickly as the 10th cast when river fishing for smallies
Great Profile, Weak HookI don't know if the two baits that I purchased were made with hooks that came from a bad batch of wire, but a ~3 l smallmouth completely straightened out the hook at the boat and popped off. For reference, I was not fishing this on heavy gear. I was throwing the 3/4 oz version on a 7' M spinning rod with 15 lb braid mainline to a 12 lb fluoro leader. The drag was not cranked down and was set to allow the fish to run. This was disappointing as I really like the profile and subtle tail kick from this bait. I've used this same set up to fish a drop shot around cover and have never straightened out a drop shot hook, so a jig hook should not be straightening out.
ImpressedI honestly thought this was going to be nothing short of a bad dark sleeper knockoff and the idea of extra durability made me give them a try. I was totally impressed. They hold up really well after a dozen fish, still catching. The action is awesome and these have a great glide and tail kick on the fall. Will be grabbing some more.