He calls that “something” the “soft spybait.”
Simply put, it’s a 3- or 4-inch paddle tail swimbait on the back of a small jighead. The head, however, isn’t a simple ballhead or other traditional swimbait delivery vehicle. Instead, he employs the Megabass Okashira Screwhead, a lifelike baitfish profile with an asymmetrical propeller directly behind the head. That propeller operates much like the front propeller on a traditional hard spybait, with the added kick of the swimbait’s tail flapping rhythmically behind it.
“it’s deadly when it’s slick, sunny, calm and post-frontal,” he said. “The toughest conditions.”
He faced challenging conditions heading into the final regular season Elite Series event of 2019 on Lake Tenkiller in Oklahoma, a tournament that was suddenly moved from flooded Fort Gibson. With high water temperatures and stiff winds, he found big smallmouths ultra-shallow, relating to “ugly flat points.” While the spybait is traditionally thought of as being exclusively for deeper water, Zaldain believes it’s at its best in the middle of the water column. In 20 feet of water, that might be the 10 foot zone. In 16 inches of water, it’s less than a foot, and he adjusted accordingly. The result was a runner-up finish, his fourth straight top 10.