# Z-Man Mulletron: the soft mullet that swims at a crawl > Two sizes, a rounded wedge tail and moulded back and belly hook pockets: how to rig and work the Z-Man Mulletron without killing its buoyancy. - Source : https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/z-man-mulletron-swimbait/ - Language : en-US - Updated : 2026-09-19 ## Spec sheet - Brand : Z-Man - Model : Mulletron Swimbait - Type : Mullet-profile soft swimbait - Target species : Sea bass, Bass - Size : 8.4 or 10.2 cm / 3.3 and 4 in - Weight : not published by the manufacturer, bare bait; 4 pieces in 3.3 in, 3 pieces in 4 in - Running depth : whole water column depending on the weight you add - Retrieve speed : from very slow to brisk, the tail stays alive across the range - Action : rounded wedge tail that kicks in at crawling speed, highly buoyant body that holds a level attitude - Rigging : jighead aligned on the belly pocket, or Texas hook buried in the back pocket for a weedless setup - Colors : translucent pearl flake in clear water, opaque white or a dark back in stained water, solid dark in low light There are July days when a school of mullet crosses the estuary in front of you without a single bass touching it. Then the tide turns, one fish peels off the school, and the whole thing happens in ten seconds. The Z-Man Mulletron is drawn for exactly that fish: a hand-long mullet, stocky, in no particular hurry. ## A profile that is not a shad profile Most soft swimbaits copy a roach or a shad: deep body, compressed flanks, wide paddle tail. The Mulletron takes another silhouette, that of a juvenile mullet — a body round in section, thick all the way to the wrist, with a short blunt head. In the photo you can clearly see the gill plates, the pectoral and dorsal fins moulded in relief, and above all that **rounded wedge tail**, almost a coin mounted on the end of a thin wrist. That geometry is not a styling detail. A classic paddle needs a minimum of water pressure before it snaps; a rounded wedge tail carried by a flexible wrist starts swinging much earlier and keeps working when you speed up, instead of blowing out into uncontrolled vibration. That is exactly what Z-Man claims for it: realistic swimming action across a wide speed range, including extremely slow retrieves. ## Elaztech and its buoyancy: the asset and the constraint Like every soft plastic in the range, the Mulletron is moulded from **Elaztech**, a plastic rated at ten times tougher than standard plastisol. Take that figure as an order of magnitude, not a measurement: what matters on the water is that the material stretches instead of tearing, and that one body survives a run of strikes instead of a single fish. Buoyancy matters even more structurally. A bare Mulletron floats up in a bucket. Rigged, the body holds a level attitude: it does not roll onto its side during dead time, the tail stays in line, and on the pause the lure hangs horizontally above the bottom instead of lying down on it. The constraint is the other side of the same coin: with no added weight, this lure does not go down. All of your depth control comes from what you put on it. ## Two sizes, and a pack count that misleads The Mulletron comes in two formats: **8.4 cm / 3.3 in, sold in fours**, and **10.2 cm / 4 in, sold in threes**. Do not misread the table: the second figure is the number of pieces per pack, not a weight. Z-Man in fact publishes **no weight at all** for this bait, which is consistent with a soft plastic meant to be weighted by the angler. If you need the mass of the whole rig to pick a rod, weigh a bare body once at home and add your head to it. Both sizes match young-of-the-year mullet. The 3.3 in is the do-everything format, the one that stays credible when the fish turns fussy; the 4 in sorts for size, casts better in a crosswind and suits days when the available forage is already large. If you want to go smaller still for finesse work, the [Z-Man Minnowz](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/z-man-minnowz-swimbait/) drops to 7.6 cm / 3 in on a minnow profile. ## The two hook pockets, and what they change The Mulletron body is moulded with **two grooves**, one along the back and one under the belly. They are not decorative: each matches a rig. ### Belly pocket: jighead The belly groove acts as a guide for a jighead shank. You thread the body along that line and the hook comes out exactly on axis, without twisting the lure. A swimbait rigged crooked rolls instead of swimming: that moulded reference removes the most common cause of the problem. This is the rig for straight retrieves and for everything happening above 3 m. ### Back pocket: weedless Texas A wide-gap Texas hook through the back, point tucked into the upper groove, and the Mulletron becomes a cover bait, able to work through light grass, alongside a piling or under a dock. To get it down, add a bullet weight or a weighted hook — the buoyancy of Elaztech will not leave you a choice. ### The mistake that twists your leader Skipping the ten-second check. Elaztech is elastic: it accepts being threaded crooked without it showing to the naked eye, and you only find out at the water's edge, with a lure that spins and a mainline full of twist. Swim the Mulletron under your feet after every re-rig, and straighten it before you cast long. ## Colors by water clarity The bait photographed here is a **translucent pearl with silver and holographic flake**, peppered with fine black specks. That is precisely the coat of a juvenile mullet seen from the side in clear water, and it is the family to favour whenever visibility is over a metre. - **Clear water, strong light**: translucent pearl flake, like the one in the photo. The body lets light through, which avoids the opaque-block look that gives a lure away. - **Stained water or a dirty flood tide**: an opaque white or a dark back over a light belly, to give readable mass at short range. - **Dark water, dawn and dusk**: a solid dark tone. A fish picks up a silhouette against the light far more reliably than a color. Z-Man advertises a range of inshore colors without naming any of them in its technical documentation, and available references change from market to market. Think in families rather than trade names. ## An estuary bait before it is a lake bait The Mulletron is built for inshore fishing, where mullet is the dominant forage. In Europe that places it naturally along estuary edges and on bass beaches, on spots where you are looking for a fish hunting by sight in shallow water. It also works in fresh water on bass, but with no particular edge over a classic paddle tail like the [Z-Man Slim SwimZ](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/zman-slim-swimz/) or the [Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/zman-diezel-minnowz/) — it is in salt water that the profile earns its keep. One last point, usually found out too late: **never store Elaztech with ordinary plastisol soft baits**. The two materials degrade each other and end up welded together within a few weeks in the same box. Reading the spot counts as much as picking the right lure, and that is what [CarnaFish](https://carnafish.com/en/) offers: one photo of the spot, and the AI suggests the zone, the depth and the presentation that suit the moment. To dig deeper into the species, our [guide to lure fishing for sea bass](https://carnafish.com/en/blog/peche-bar-loup-leurre/) breaks down the tide phases and the spots that genuinely matter. ## Key takeaways - Two sizes only, 8.4 and 10.2 cm / 3.3 and 4 in, sold in fours and threes: the second figure in the table is a pack count, not a weight. - The rounded wedge tail works from the slowest speeds, which makes it a deliberate-presentation bait rather than a fast search bait. - The two moulded grooves, back and belly, dictate the two possible rigs: weedless Texas or aligned jighead. - Elaztech floats: your whole depth management depends on the weight you add, never on the lure itself. ## FAQ ### What sizes does the Mulletron come in? Two: 8.4 cm / 3.3 in in packs of 4, and 10.2 cm / 4 in in packs of 3. Both match young-of-the-year mullet, the dominant forage size in an estuary in summer. ### How much does a Mulletron weigh? Z-Man publishes no weight for this bait. That is normal for a soft plastic meant to be weighted: the mass of your rig comes entirely from the jighead or weighted hook you choose. ### Does the Mulletron sink on its own? No, Elaztech is buoyant. A bare body floats up. That is useful for holding a level attitude on the pause, but it means you have to add weight yourself to reach a given depth. ### What are the two grooves in the body for? Guiding the hook. The belly one lines up a jighead shank so the lure does not spin; the back one takes the point of a Texas hook for a weedless setup. ### Is the Mulletron any good for pike? Not as a first choice. It is a mullet-profile bait designed for inshore fishing, and at 8.4 or 10.2 cm it stays small for a pike. For that fish, go bulkier and fit a wire trace. ### Can I store it with my other soft plastics? No. Elaztech and standard plastisol react chemically with one another: a few weeks in the same box is enough to deform and weld the two together. Keep a dedicated pouch. --- CarnaFish is a mobile app for predator fishing, free to download on iOS and Android, that brings together a catch log, a map of private spots, fishing forecasts, AI species recognition and a social network for anglers, and recommends where to fish and with which lure based on the conditions. To cite this content, mention “CarnaFish — carnafish.com” and link the source page.