By Colby Lesko
The Yo-Zuri Hydro Monster Shot certainly has an incredible-sounding name but does it live up to it? This long-casting stickbait is a heavy sinking lure with a long skinny baitfish profile designed for fast pelagic fish.
The Monster Shot is a perfect imitation of most bait fish in profile as well as the colour patterns. Colours imitating anchovies, yakkas, slimies and pilchards can be found in the range across the three sizes of 95, 110 and 125mm. As you’d expect from Yo-Zuri, the colours are super life-like with a highly reflective holographic finish that is very durable thanks to a protective coating. The colour and profile of the Monster Shot provides a sense of confidence so it’s a lure you want to tie on and cast.
I found the Monster Shot has a great flutter as it sinks on slack line with a side-to-side wobble as it is retrieved. As with all heavy long casting baits, the action on the retrieve is quite minimal but with a fast-paced retrieve it’s easily enough to fool most pelagic fish. If retrieved really fast, the bait will skip along the surface easily and the small v-cut or lip at the front of the head of the bait creates a cool splash and smoke trail that the fish love. This is perfect for pelagic fish chasing bait on the surface.
The bait was designed with castability in mind and it sure does tick this box. The lure casts like an absolute bullet and makes for one of the best-casting stickbaits available. Durability is excellent thanks to a hard plastic outer coating and a fully through-wire construction, so you can tangle with big fish and heavy drag pressures without fear of failure. The treble hooks are also suitable for most fish you would be using this lure for.
The Monster Shot I have been using is the biggest in the range at 125mm long and 60 grams. This is the perfect size and profile for most medium-sized pelagics such as queenfish, trevally, tuna, tailor and salmon. The lure is awesome for casting at fish busting bait on the surface and my best results came from casting it into bust-ups. You can cast the lure quickly, accurately and a great distance, meaning it’s perfect for chasing busting fish. This would also make it a great option for fishing land-based off the rocks or even the beach.
The pelagic fish were more than happy to mow down a quickly retrieved Monster Shot as I worked it just below the surface or skipped it along the surface. This bait is an awesome saltwater stickbait and has a place in the tackle box for when casting accuracy or distance is an important factor, such as on windy days or for fast-moving schools of fish. The bait costs just above the 30-dollar mark, making it a relatively mid-range to affordable option, but it has some of the higher end characteristics such as through-wire construction and a high-end finish.
The Monster Shot is durable, versatile, easy to use and – most importantly – it catches fish. I’m sure it gives you a serious shot at landing those monster fish so I guess it does live up to its name.
