The Best Lure For Reef Fishing (1 Lure Caught TEN Species Of Fish!!)
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
On a fishing trip just last week, I discovered the best lure for reef fishing!
I was down in Marco Island with a few buddies and I only used ONE rig the entire time to catch TEN different species of fish.
We had a heck of a time fishing offshore reefs!
Check it all out right here!!
Best Lure For Reef Fishing [VIDEO]
Featured Equipment:
- Lure: Power Prawn U.S.A.
- Jighead: Hoss Football – 3/4 oz
- Reel: Daiwa BG MQ – 3000
- Rod: Custom Prototype (7’6″ MH Fast)
- Mainline: J-Braid 8 Grand – 20 lb
- Leader: Ande Mono – 30 lb
This trip was flat-out memorable.
I managed to catch the biggest red grouper I ever have in my life and I hooked into TEN different species on inshore gear!
The lure I used was the Power Prawn U.S.A. rigged on a Hoss Football Jighead.
Out of all of us fishing the reef, one of my buddies was throwing jigs, two of them were throwing vertical jigs, and then I was throwing the Power Prawn U.S.A.
I think I might have had a slight advantage because of the lighter tackle I was using.
The Action
We pulled up to the offshore reef and began fishing in about 40 feet of water.
One of our other friends told us to head out here for red grouper and to use jigging spoons.
We started catching fish immediately and marking spots so we could re-drift them later on.
After I reeled a bunch of fish in, I noticed the tail of my Power Prawn U.S.A. lure was missing but I still decided to fish it.
And the fish went crazy for the Power Prawn U.S.A. Nub Rig!
Later in the trip, as one of my buddies was reeling up a keeper mangrove snapper, a giant red grouper came up and took a swipe at it!
The ticket ended up being just jigging and bouncing the Power Prawn U.S.A. over underwater wrecks and nearshore reefs.
To my surprise, I even ended up hooking into a very decent snook!!!
Tackle & Gear
I believe the lighter setup I was using had the advantage on this trip because it all came down to feel.
It was all about feeling the strike zone and maximizing my time in the strike zone.
The Power Prawn U.S.A. worked great but it could not have performed well without a weight heavy enough to get it into the strike zone and keep it in the strike zone.
Our new Hoss Football Jigheads were the perfect pairing to the Power Prawn U.S.A. on this trip.
This has proven to be the deadliest rig for nearshore or offshore reefs and even fishing inshore docks and bridges.
The rod I was using on this trip is actually a Custom Prototype from Mudhole that is a 7’6 Fast-Action rated 10-20lb braid.
I had the Daiwa BG MQ 3000 reel I was using spooled up with 20lb Daiwa J-Braid 8 Grand.
Even though this setup is commonly used for light inshore fishing, this outfit packed a punch.
This lighter setup helped me catch more fish and it had the backbone to reel in TEN different species of fish ranging in all sizes and strengths.
Conclusion
The Power Prawn U.S.A. has easily become my #1 most trusted artificial lure of all for both inshore and offshore fishing.
If you haven’t gotten a pack of these in your hands yet, then you’ve got to head over to our shop today… just make sure to get some of the Hoss Football jigheads for whichever water depths you’ll be fishing.
Do you have any more questions about the best lure for reef fishing?
I would love to hear your own personal success stories with the Power Prawn U.S.A.!
Please share down below if you’ve fished with the Power Prawn U.S.A. before and let us know what you caught!!
If you know someone who wants to learn more about the best lure for reef fishing, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
Oh, and if you Join the Insider Club TODAY, Smart Fishing Spots is absolutely FREE! Click here to join us in the Insider Club!
Related Articles:
Related categories:
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
Good stuff.
Thanks Michael!
Great report Luke, thank you for sharing it with us. Seems like this setup could be good for red snapper as well. What is the deepest you would recommend trying this?
Thanks Tommy! I have used this setup up to 80 ft so far, but it can certainly be fished deeper as long as there isn’t a lot of current.
Hi Luke,
I love your haircut btw.
What beautiful day out on the water. How fun with non stop action fishing with your buddies. Appreciate all of you at Salt Strong. Every video is quality and has value. I am a visual learner so the endless variety of posts keep me very busy learning from everyone. Thank you everyone! Stay safe
Thanks so much for making time to post the nice comment AJ!
Don’t you have to use circle hooks on reefs?
Circle hooks are required for reef fishing in the Gulf of Mexico waters of Florida if using natural bait (live or dead). But they are not required when using lures because lures are much less likely to gut hook a fish since the angler is actively working them.
Wanted to echo the thanks for occasionally doing posts on near shore and offshore fishing using light tackle. Keep it up!! I’m thinking more and more that it’s great fun to catch some nice sized offshore species with light tackle– and hear and feel that drag go out–than it is to catch similar fish with the traditional heavy bottom fishing gear.
Also, you did mention you were on drifts but don’t recall how you selected the spots to drift over in the first place. ?
Thanks for posting the nice comment! The spot was one that my friend’s brother somehow found. He gave us a the numbers for one spot, and said that there is structure scattered around that area so we just drifted around it to mark more spots, and bouncing lures along the bottom was working surprisingly well.
Thanks for doing some near shore fishing. Very much enjoyed…. Would be interested in some more detail on how you managed the drift.
Thanks Greg! We didn’t do anything special in terms of managing the drift… we simply just let the current/wind take us along, and we kept an eye on the fish finder to be ready to mark good looking spots so we could have a log of which drifts had the most structure.
Great Video and a great testimonial as to just how capable todays light tackle is. You can thank that fish for making you a custom Ned Rig outta that power Prawn LoL
Thanks for making time to post the nice comment Brian! Yes, that fish seemed to have done me a favor by creating the nub setup.
Hey Luke! Wished I saw this just a few hrs earlier! I was going to buy a 4000 MQ, those are my favorites, even in the BG models! I don’t mind the small difference, but the casting distance for me is the key! The 4000 series for
Me anyway cast lights out further! Canceled the reel order because I was thinking I needed a 5000 , man I could have saved $9 in separate shipping! Lol! Anyway I have always caught up to 25 lb gags in the Indian river lagoon using Diawa 4000 reels with falcon 10-20 rods! I look forward to shallow reef fishing up here out of crystal river, doing the same thing! So guess I’ll be ordering another MQ! Need those 3/4 oz heads though! Out right now! Great video! Better catching, you tore them up! Congrats
Thanks so much for making time to post the nice comment Robert! So glad to see that you’re enjoying those reels. And great work catching gags that big in the IRL!
What size and type boat were you on?
We were fishing from a Hydra Sport bay boat… I believe it was 23 ft long.
Great video. Nice fishing.
Thanks for making time to post the nice comment Dwight!