ZMan GOBIUS vs Megabass Dark Sleeper

[@Choffa09]

Nice breakdown comparison. I’m Interested to hear what you think about the swimming action with the gobious. I use some of the Zman products and I love the durability, but I find the ElaZtech buoyancy sometimes hinders the action on certain baits, such as the turbo Crawz ,DeiZel minnowZ, and MinnowZ, which I have used as a trailer on the Zman chatter bait line up. I like the Megabass Sleeper lineup, but as you mentioned they all have durability issues. The Sleeper lineup catches fish no doubt about it. Thanks for the comparison! I plan to give the Zman gobious a try!

[@live2fishofficial]

Thanks and appreciate you checking it out! Here’s my take on the swimming action (I’ll be getting into more of that in the spring). You’ll notice a lot of comments about how the action isn’t as profound as a normal paddle tail or as aggressive as the dark sleeper. That’s where this bait shines! There’s a reason why presentations like the ned rig and the tube are so successful - less is more. I hear you on the buoyancy issue as well, as I ran into the same thing with bullet weights that weren’t pegged in my comparison of their CrawZ. However, just like with the neds on a jig head, the keel weight keeps that bait from rising up on you. I don’t want to spoil it, but there will be more on this come spring for sure. There’s no doubt they knew what they were doing and it’s far from being a dark sleeper imitator. Not only is it more durable, but they have a better design IMO. Thanks again for watching!👊💥🎣

[@Choffa09]

Can't wait to see! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[@live2fishofficial]

@@Choffa09 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well!

[@HenriVineFishing]

Great comparison Joe! The Zman gobius looks so good and you convinced me to get myself a few! I hope you had a great Christmas and I wish you a happy remainder of the holidays!

[@live2fishofficial]

Thank you Henri! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and have a Happy New Year! Congrats on winning Rich’s giveaway!

[@JoeNajorFishing]

Oh man, I’m excited about this one Joe! I actually just started using the Dark Sleeper this spring and love it. If the action on this bait is comparable to the Dark Sleeper, game changer! Can’t wait. Great review buddy!👍

[@live2fishofficial]

Thanks Joe! This combines two of my FAVORITE baits - made into one heck of a swimbait. I can’t wait to throw this in the spring. With a retail price point at $5.99, how can you go wrong with this one? The durability will pay for itself 💯! Thanks for the support Joe and let me know what you think of them.👍🎣

[@AnglingSpiders]

Fantastic side by side comparisons and looking forward to seeing some field testing.

[@live2fishofficial]

Thanks Sean! Pike love ‘em too!😉

[@ThePerfectComboFishing]

Great review. Chris at Bogoly’s linked you. Not sure what happened to my notifications. Absolutely love the Dark Sleeper. Durability has been an issue. I’m itching to get out there and try the Zman. 👍

[@live2fishofficial]

Awesome and thank you for checking it out! Chris was on 🔥 with it!

[@MrFishBlood]

Been a dark sleeper fan for a few years now. I have 3 colors of gobius arriving this week, can't wait to let the smallies see them!

[@live2fishofficial]

Heck yeah! Let me know how you do with them. Can’t wait to fish these!👊💥🎣

[@fishinfrenzy2544]

Have you tested them??

[@MrFishBlood]

@@fishinfrenzy2544 not yet... Water in my area has been frozen.

[@golfishuntim]

Great video Joe. Thanks 🙏🏼 Any thoughts on a good storage box for these? I don’t really want to keep a bunch in the original packaging, and I know that they don’t play well with others. TIA

[@live2fishofficial]

Thank you! The ones I don’t have the clam shells for I store in an adjustable slot Plano box dedicated to them. I usually store one per slot. If you pack them in together, make sure they’re the same color and set them next to each other opposite facing. This helps with any color bleed and keeps the tails straight. Since I store them inside, they don’t get jostled around, so I’m not sure how well they would do stored like that in a boat setting.

[@owlsnestoutdoors]

Great video brother. Can’t wait to try mine.

[@live2fishofficial]

Thanks man! It’s almost GO time!👊💥🎣

[@LarrysFishing]

Great comparison against its competitors and it looks fantastic. Nice job as always Joe!

[@live2fishofficial]

Thanks Larry! Like I said, these gobies look a lot like a smaller version of those ones you have down there. Can’t wait to see how they do! Good luck this season!👊💥🎣

[@ParabellumFishing]

I like it! Always a fan of the Zman plastics. Definitely on my list to try. Great job with this video Joe!

[@live2fishofficial]

Thanks Joe!

[@patrickonasis1]

The problem I’m having with the Z-Man is there is not enough gap between the body and the hook. I’ve had to trim off a lot off the body to get better hook clearance.

[@live2fishofficial]

So it doesn’t extend up past the dorsal fin enough?

[@tommyrq180]

Try bending the hook up a bit.

[@Midwesthookset]

I can't wait to get my hands on these!

[@live2fishofficial]

Let me know what you think!

[@CrankingYanking]

Great review Joe. Honestly I have not used any of these products, but that plastic whatever it is, looks pretty durable.

[@live2fishofficial]

Thanks! They really are unique and can catch a lot of fish on just one.

[@glenndaugherity6187]

I’ve already tried the Zman goby bait that you rig and it’s been lights out for smallies here on my river that I wade !! Already have a bunch of these coming in a day or two ! I just wish they’d make a 1/4 oz version for shallow rivers !!

[@live2fishofficial]

Let me know how you do with them. How were you rigging the Gobiez? I was fishing them on the ned heads.

[@glenndaugherity6187]

@live2fishofficial I was using the Ned Lokz bullet head in 1/10. But I got some nice small football heads I'm going to try too.

[@live2fishofficial]

@@glenndaugherity6187 nice!

[@tonyboone3799]

Does the elaztec affect the fall rate, weight otherwise equal? I like the 3/4 sleepers, even shallow. They like to swim up so heavier than a 1/2 keeps it down. I’ll definitely check out the Zman. Great review and thanks for sharing.

[@live2fishofficial]

Thanks for the support! All of the comparisons, as was the Gobius, were 3/8oz in keel weight and all felt equally distributed. They did NOT appear to have the same salt content as the TRDs, so I wouldn’t expect them to be as buoyant.

[@fishinwiththegriffins7304]

Good video. I'm definitely going to order a couple and give them a try.👍

[@live2fishofficial]

Thank you! Let me know what you think of them.👍🎣

[@fishinwiththegriffins7304]

@@live2fishofficial 👍

[@nextlevelangling]

I really like the Gobius as the front-runner to compete with the Sleeper, but without even using it, I know for sure I want to trim off the rear 2/3 of the back dorsal fin. That fin is going to act like a rudder, keeping the tail in line and minimizing the action. I'd be interested in seeing what difference there is in the tail actions between the 2 to see if I am right.

[@live2fishofficial]

That’s an interesting take and look forward to seeing your results with the modification. The keel weight and bottom definitely feel identical to the dark sleeper, so it should be interesting. Keep me posted!👍🎣

[@iamalemontree]

Can this goby used in heavy brush pile brother?

[@live2fishofficial]

I don’t see why not. I’ve used the dark sleeper in them. I usually prefer punching Texas rigged, skin hooked, to avoid snags in them. With Texas rigged I can move the bait over the knot/eyelet to avoid anything getting caught up in them. With these, the eyelet and knot are exposed since they are pre-rigged.

[@CWertz]

I fish in a reservoir with a load of rocks, get hung up even with weed less Texas rigs , is this a good spot to fish the Gobius? Will it get stuck under rocks often?

[@live2fishofficial]

@@CWertz it can as a weedless lure doesn’t mean snag proof. I’ve thrown it around rip rap and I tend to swim it in the water column versus dragging or popping it.

[@CWertz]

@@live2fishofficial Okay, that makes sense. I think I will try the Gobius and try to keep it as low as possible without banging on the rocks. There are certain areas of this reservoir where hang ups are a constant. I'm mostly fishing from a kayak and can usually get out of the snags. Normally, I wouldn't care as much about losing a rig that has a ned or a shaky head, but the Gobius is about $5 a pop, would hate to lose two or three of these in one fishing trip.

[@live2fishofficial]

@@CWertz no doubt - tight lines!

[@reelfeelfishing]

Great comparisons between all of those. I wasn't a huge fan of the BPS one and never tried the Savage Gear ones but I will say I'm a huge dark sleeper fan. And I think I never really switched over to anything else cause I never have hookup problems with the dark sleeper. The sleeper gill was trash though hahaha. But my hookup ratio with the dark sleeper is like 99%. I will say though zman plastics are the best like you said and i really cant wait to try these. The zman durability is for sure the best out there. Great video 👍

[@live2fishofficial]

Thanks Jared! There’s no doubt you’ve absolutely killed it on the dark sleeper whenever you’ve thrown it and you keep them on much better than I have. I think you’re really going to like this one and look forward to seeing how you do on it if you pick some up. ZMan products have never let me down yet!

[@michiganfishing8094]

Not gonna lie that bait looks pretty sweet! Almost more realistic that the dark sleeper as well.

[@live2fishofficial]

This one’s gonna be🔥!

[@HukNBux]

Zman is amazing except don’t leave any plastics in your car in the south unless you wanna come back to a melted pile of plastic!

[@live2fishofficial]

No doubt! Definitely don’t mix them with other plastics. I saw another content creator shoving TRDs into tubes to get them to mount on a chatterbait…🤦🏻

[@trowwzers5057]

This happens a lot with my ned rigs. That’s why I keep all the worms in the bags. I also put soft plastics in ziplock bags

[@crashdsnowman1]

Just in the top level of a tackle box will melt them into one big blob down here.

[@bogolyskeepingitreel]

Joey hot rod 🔥🔥 I’ll tell you what Joe….this Gobius looks awesome, love the body structure and color! Good stuff brother!!! Thanks for sharing 👍👊

[@bogolyskeepingitreel]

Just ordered 2 in the natural Goby 😉

[@live2fishofficial]

@@bogolyskeepingitreel thanks Chris! I ordered several colors and based on Omnia’s guide it tells you what depths they’re best suited for, so I intend on putting those specs to the test come spring. That natural goby color is absolute 🔥tho! Can’t wait to see how you do with them!👍🎣

[@OfftheHookOutdoors99]

Great stuff👍

[@live2fishofficial]

Thanks Ted! Should be good for your smallies there👍🎣

[@OfftheHookOutdoors99]

@@live2fishofficial I’m thinkin the same

[@DarrinBoggs-jh1vp]

My soft plastics are almost exclusively zman products. Being able to fish one plastic all day is amazing.

[@live2fishofficial]

No doubt. I haven’t had one bitten off (thankfully) and I’ve caught so many smallmouth on just the one bait. Well worth every penny!

[@comfortablynumb9342]

That bait should be good for the saltwater too. It looks close enough to a killifish/mud minnow that I bet flounder, redfish and trout would bite it. And the weedless hook should get through turtle grass or marsh grass, and it shouldn't snag rocks and oysters as much as an open jig hook. I like Z Man soft plastics, there are lots of tail biters that ruin normal soft plastics and Gulp quickly in the Chesapeake Bay. I'd like to try that lure.

[@live2fishofficial]

Definitely! The durability sure can’t be beat.

[@Nubenhoofer]

Already have a handful of the gobius as well as ned gobyz. Been killin the smallies in my local rivers. Nice comps. You should have included the powerbait Agent E in it as well. Same issues as the others, poor durability. Agent E comes in multiple sizes including 3", 3.75", and extra small 2.25" that I really love this time of year for super finess conditions. I hope zman makes the gobius in multiple sizes eventually. I dgaf if they are late to the game here. Their stuff is always worth whatever wait.

[@live2fishofficial]

Glad to hear you’ve been having success with them! I agree, I certainly hope they release different sizes. Thanks for the comment!

[@Maplecook]

As Spock would say, "Fascinating"!

[@live2fishofficial]

Quite logical

[@JoshuaJohnston-o9w]

Like the videos!!

[@live2fishofficial]

@@JoshuaJohnston-o9w thanks for supporting the channel - appreciate it!

[@bobbarnhill8557]

The Dark sleeper has a horrible hookup and land ratio. If I want to hook and loose a fish it’s the perfect bait. I’ve trimmed the top fin and bent the hook up and it’s still looses fish. I will give the Zman version a try.

[@live2fishofficial]

I agree that dorsal fin plastic gets in the way. Let me know what you think of these and I’ll be following up with another video after doing some field testing.

[@crashdsnowman1]

odd, I catch more smallmouth on the sleeper than any other bait. keep them sharp and set the hook hard.

[@crashdsnowman1]

zman lures melting together in the original package turned me away from them. Have since changed to DOA plastics, they are much tougher than most and they don't melt.

[@live2fishofficial]

@@crashdsnowman1 never had an issue when it didn’t come into contact with other soft plastics. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@co-polyLINE]

👍🏻👍🏻

[@live2fishofficial]

👍🎣

[@mixdata26]

Gooluck sir god bless

[@live2fishofficial]

Thanks and same to you!