Prawn XT: Is This The Most Durable Shrimp Lure Ever? [ Podcast ]
- By: Joseph Simonds
- on
How many fish do you expect to catch before a soft plastic gets absolutely DESTROYED?
Five? Ten?
How about 40+ fish on the SAME lure?!
Luke has been putting the new Prawn XT through the wringer with snapper, grouper, flounder, trout, and more…
And this thing just keeps catching fish!
But durability is only part of the story.
There are some BIG differences between the Prawn XT and original Prawn USA, plus a few rigging tricks you’ll want to know.
Check it all out below!
Featured Software:
Featured Gear
- Lure 1: Prawn XT OG
- Lure 2: Prawn XT JR
- Rigging 1 (OG Deep Water): 4/0 Hoss Weedless Football Jig 1/2 oz
- Rigging 2 (JR): 2/0 Hoss Roundeye Jighead 1/4 oz
- Rigging 3 (Shallow OG): 4/0 Hoss Weedless Football 3/16 oz
- Rigging 4 (Shallow JR): 3/0 Hoss Weedless Football 3/16 oz
What Makes The Prawn XT Different From The Original Prawn USA?
The biggest difference is durability.
The original Prawn USA is made from Plastisol and is easier to rig. The Prawn XT uses a much tougher material that can withstand significantly more abuse from fish.
And no, the original Prawn USA isn’t going away.
We’ll continue offering it as long as our members want it.
The tradeoff with the Prawn XT is that the tougher material can be more difficult to rig, especially on a Hoss Helix Hook.
But once you get it rigged correctly, it stays put incredibly well.
How Do You Rig The Prawn XT?
The Prawn XT can be rigged on traditional exposed jigheads, weedless jigheads, and Hoss Helix Hooks.
When fishing deeper rocks and structure, Luke has been using a weedless Hoss Football Jighead.
The key is choosing the lightest jighead that still gets your lure to the bottom.
For example, Luke used a 1/2-ounce jighead around a bridge in 15 to 30 feet of water with strong current.
When fishing roughly 35 feet of water around the Tampa Bay shipping channel, he went as heavy as 3/4 ounce.
In shallower water with less current, a 1/4-ounce jighead may be plenty.
How Do You Fish A Shrimp Lure Around Deep Structure?
Get the lure down to the bottom and start bouncing it through the structure.
Luke specifically targets rocks, ledges, bridges, and other hard structure where species such as mangrove snapper, grouper, and flounder commonly hold.
Pay close attention to what you feel through your rod.
When you start feeling rocks, make another cast to that area.
Those little pieces of structure can concentrate predators, especially during the summer when many fish move toward deeper water.
And this is where a weedless Prawn XT really shines.
You can work it through some nasty structure without constantly getting snagged or having fish destroy your lure.
What Leader And Line Should You Use For Deep-Water Fishing?
For the deep structure shown in this video, Luke used:
- 30 lb mono leader
- Approximately 4 feet of leader
- 20 lb braid
- Prawn XT OG
- 4/0 Hoss Weedless Football Jig 1/2 oz
The longer leader provided extra protection around tall rocks and ledges.
Luke still had to retie when the mono became chafed, so make sure you regularly check your leader when fishing around heavy structure.
Final Thoughts
The Prawn XT costs more per lure and takes a little more effort to rig than a traditional soft plastic.
But when one lure can survive dozens of fish, including lure-destroying species such as snapper and grouper, that tradeoff starts looking pretty darn good.
Luke has already caught more than 40 fish on a single Prawn XT, and we’re going to keep pushing these things to see just how much abuse they can handle.
Now we want to hear from you!
What’s the most fish you’ve ever caught on ONE soft plastic?
Let us know down in the comments!
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 ever 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).
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).
Tbh I haven’t caught anything on the shrimp been 2 years
Dang! That’s brutal. Sorry to hear that. Hope the fishing gets better where you are.
Will you be making the 2.0 and Mulligan in the same material?
We have some samples on the way for those lures made from this TPE material that’s slightly softer to allow the tails to still have great motion in the water.
What makes this TPE Prawn SiGNIFICANTLY different from the first one ever offered by SS, The Brazilian Prawn which was also made of TPE? I know legs were removed. It’s good that SS now offers a more durable option, and maybe with all the excitement about it lasting longer, you’ll get other TPE soft baits as the plastisol gets torn up to easily. Thank goodness Marcos came along to show you and Joe his Brazilian Prawn lure, and how to fish it. Sad to see him leave as he and his wife were outstanding anglers!
Just like the fact that there are differing variants of plastisol lures which provide different levels of material strength, the particular blend of TPE material used on these Prawn XT lures provide most strength than any other TPE lure I’ve tested so far.
For example, I just got back home from 3 full days of fishing in Louisiana in which we caught a lot of fish, and I used only 1 Prawn XT all 3 days for catching roughly 60 fish (with many more strikes) without it losing any of its form. It’s still rigged and ready for much more abuse… I have never had a single soft plastic lure catch that many fish in my life, and no telling how many more it’ll catch before it either gets lost to a breakoff or torn from abuse (given that it is still in perfect form with zero tears, my assumption is that its life is going to end from a breakoff).
Yes, we are in the process of getting our other molds in this same TPE material after seeing how well it performs with the Prawn molds.
Excellent Podcast ………Question : Did you use the “Battle Rattles” in the New Prawn XT’s AND, does the Junior have a slot for rattles as well. ?
I’m just tryna do what Luke does !!!! : )
I do use the rattles when the water is murky and/or churned. Otherwise, I just skip that step since the extra vibration isn’t needed and can potentially turn fish away.
Seriously doubt if the new prawn star is the most durable considering your one of the last to make pvc plastic for soft baits zman started it and besides them my favorite shrimp lure is from chasebaits the flick prawn from Australia not knocking the prawn just saying other companies perfected pvc plastic ling before saltstrong was even a club let alone when you guys first started making lures but like I said before its about advertising and money so obviously your going to say yours are the best but like I also said when you finally come out with your mini prawn like you were talking about earlier I’ll maybe buy some thanks for your opinion and all you do
My stupid phone is misspelling again i ment your new power prawn xt not the zman prawn star z I really hate this phone
I understand why you would think that since we haven’t had a TPE lure in quite some time. But, we have been working behind the scenes for multiple years looking for a manufacture who has many years perfecting this TPE material so that we could have one that is uniquely good.
And the more I am using these Prawn XT lures, the more I believe it truly is the best (especially when rigged on the Hoss Weedless Jigheads).
I highly recommend giving them a try so you can test it out for yourself. If you somehow don’t agree, you can get a refund.
Really so your saying that you have made a lure with pte plastic? Because I pretty much have ALL your lures with the exception of the fat lipper but I don’t remember EVER seeing a saltstrong pte lure i think I would remember that and like I said when you make a mini prawn in the xt I’ll buy some to test out but I already have all the other prawns including your first Brazilian prawns you first started with just let me know when your minis are avaliable I would surely like to see how it compares to my favorite the mini 2 inch chasebaits flick prawn because I have been slaying the big reds and flounder on them at night I found out when it comes to night fishing smaller is better not bigger thanks for the reply back😉👍
The Brazilian Prawn was a TPE plastic that was discontinued. I hope Luke encounters some puffer fish to see if they cut the tail off or bite a chunk out of it. If it stands up to that, then it’s more convincing proof that it’s the most durable soft bait out there.
Well you obviously haven’t tried the chasebaits flick prawn because even though it was only 1 I caught a bluefish one time on it and not even a bite mark could be seen let alone bit it to the point of breaking and ruining it and also like I said chasebaits and other companies like zman have perfected there pte plastic baits for years so saltstrong just has to fall in line but being the best is hard because there is alot of competition to deal with but like I also said I get it its about the money so of coarse Luke , Joe, and all the coaches will ALWAYS say that saltstrongs is the best but because I have fished inshore now for going on 24 years in the inshore saltwater scene I can honestly tell you that’s just not true because I have used quite a few brands of pte plastic lures and they ALL catch fish just as good and in one in my opinion better then the saltstrong power prawn and tgats the chasebaits flick prawn better but thats my opinion and I ONLY speak for myself and what I HAVE experienced what you have found and others is your findings because we all fish differently and what works for some not so much with others because we are all different thanks for the reply🤔
I have used the Flick Prawn lure from chasebaits, and I agree that it’s a very good shrimp lure. It’s unfortunate that they no longer export them to the USA anymore.
Although the Flick Prawn can certainly stand up to some bluefish abuse, it is more likely than the Prawn XT to get torn by more costly fish like puffers because they made the Flick Prawn with a segmented tail that has some thin sections in the tail… those segments in the tail create weak points given that they allow snapper and puffers to get a better grip on the tail while they only have to tear through the thin segment of material to ruin the lure.
That being said, both lures can certainly handle a ton of abuse and most likely will only be lost from a breakoff given how unlikely they are to get torn by fish (especially in zones without puffers).
As mentioned earlier, I hope you decide to try the Prawn XT so you can see for yourself how it performs compared to the Flick Prawn.
Also is there any sent infused into the plastics
Yes. But we recommend using additional scents on soft plastics so that it can cover the human scent we leave on the skin as we handle them.
Question:do the new XT materials melt if they come into contact with other plastics like the other plastisol plastics do?
They will melt if stored with plastisol. Definitely best to keep them in their own packages
It’s always best to store each material separately. I haven’t yet experienced a melting issue with this particular material, but there’s certainly a risk of issues when two different materials are stored together for long periods of time.
Amazing!
Pretty awesome durability! I was curious on how you are storing these lures between fishing trips? Sometimes I’ll throw a ZMan lure and return it to the package immediately after rinsing and drying it after my trip, however once I left it on my hook keeper and the lure got a little sticky same thing happened when I tried the Marker 54 shrimp which is TPE as well. I know that you can’t mix TPE lures with plastisol lures so are you putting them back in the package with jig head attached like I do or just leaving them attached to the hook keeper on your rod?
Another question I have is can different brands of TPE lures be stored together in a plastic lure box? The reason I ask is when I wade I fill my waterproof box with plastisol lures and when using TPE I’ve been taking the packages they came in on the side in a small wade pouch being sure not to mix them up. It sure would be nice to set up a wade box with only TPE lures, guess I could do my own test and risk them all melting but TPE lures are pricey and I don’t like wasting lures so I thought maybe you all could help me answer this question.
I keep all shrimp lures in the clamshells that they come with when purchased to make sure that they keep their form. Once I rig it, I keep it rigged on my rod in between trips since they won’t shrink like Gulps.
As for the sticky issue you’ve seen with other TPE materials, perhaps they reacted with whichever scent you were using? I haven’t had any instances of my Prawn XTs getting sticky or losing form in any way while storing them rigged up so far (even after while using Dr Juice and Pro-Cure).
I do not recommend storing different TPE materials together because there’s a risk of issues when storing different soft plastic materials together. The safest option is to store them in the clamshell packaging that they come in to make sure there is zero chance of them having any issues while being stored.
Thanks LUKE!
These look awesome. I should get mine today. Cant wait to use them.