Prawn Perfection – By Dan Kaggelis
There are very few fishermen who haven’t been caught out by the ‘lure of a lure’. It’s not difficult to understand why, as all it takes is a trip to the local tackle store where there are walls and walls of lure bling over stimulating our fishing brains, creating impulse buying. It’s almost like each and every one of the lures on the walls are whispering in your ear ‘buy me and I promise I will catch you your dream fish’. It’s a big promise, but if you do buy that special lure and match it to the right conditions for the right species than that promise of your dream fish hitting the deck can very much come true.
The UV models are simply amazing.
When it comes to these special lures, I, like many fishermen have a tackle tray full of them. I refer to them as ‘break glass for emergency’ lures as they have proven themselves time and time again to get the bite when the fishing is tough. One such lure which sits at the top of this category are soft plastic prawns. The reasoning here is quite simple – every fish, whether it’s in a freshwater stream, saltwater estuary, inshore or offshore reefs eats a prawn. On top of this, the prawn soft plastic offers an unmatched ability to be fished in every way possible, across every section of the water column. Some may argue that this ability can also be achieved with other styles of plastics, but what sets the prawn apart from all others is how well they do it. The soft plastic prawn, no matter how you fish, it opens every door to catching every type of fish and for a lure fishermen this versatility ticks every box.
So, when I caught a glimpse of the ‘yet to be released’ Zman PrawnZ Elite at the TT Lures stand at the AFTA Trade Show I was immediately drawn to it like David Boon to a VB stubbie on an international flight to play England for the Ashes. To start with, the imitation of the soft plastic prawn was exceptional with an array of natural and unnatural different colour configurations including glow in the dark options as well. There was also a built-in rattle option. Whilst they looked the piece it was the subtle differences in certain design features of the plastic which really sparked my interest.
Barramundi absolutely love this prawn, especially on the drop.
To start with, the front of the prawn sported extra-long and extra thick antennas compared to other prawn lures on the market. This is a crucial part of a soft plastic prawns’ action as these antennas are the centre piece of attraction at the front of the lure. Put simply, if they are too short then the lure will fall short.
Next were the eyes of the prawn which are as big and pronounced as they come. There are plenty of opinions out there on the effectiveness of eyes on a lure, but in my opinion the more they stand out the better. To say the Elite PrawnZ had the eyes on the prize is an understatement and really ticks this box.
Whilst the front end of the plastic sported awesome features it wasn’t going to be let down by the rest of the plastic. The most obvious design standout was its extremely segmented upward facing fan tail. The tail of a prawn plays the most important role in the level of action and attraction. Like every soft plastic lure, the best way to enhance the tail action of a lure lies in the degree of its segmentation. The less plastic between the top and bottom of the main body, influences how flexible the tail will be. Unfortunately, it can also influence the integrity and strength of the tail construction and too extreme segmentation can lead to tails being torn away. However, if there is one feature which places Zman lures in a category of their own, it’s their strength and flexibility and the Elite PrawnZ passed the Zman ‘try and pull me apart’ strength test with ease.
Whilst the extremely segmented tail looked unreal I’d be lying if I wasn’t completely sold on the upward facing fan tail which at first glance looked to me as an inhibitor of the tails action. But when I saw it in action in the swim tank, it was far from inhibiting the prawn’s tail and contribution to its swimming action more than justified its unorthodox design.
Now both the head and tail of the softy was impressive, but it was its swimming feet and walking leg design that took this plastic to a whole new prawn level. Unlike other prawn plastics, the walking legs spread out on each side from under the plastic when both swimming and sitting on the bottom. Many other prawns have simple vertical up and down leg patterns that don’t achieve the same results.
The snag in the background is perfect for fishing the Elite PrawnZ.
When resting on the bottom the swimming legs created a foundation for the prawn to sit on meaning it didn’t fall on its side and sat like a real prawn would. The swimming legs under the tail also supported its body contributing to its stability. It didn’t stop there and what comes next is the real kicker which makes this lure so special. Both the swimming legs and walking legs on both the drop and on the upward rise quivered and shivered like a I had never seen on a prawn soft plastic. I’m not sure how they achieved this feat, but it really got me excited when I watched this lure do its thing in the swim tank.
Now, AFTA is trade show, so you can’t buy any lures as they haven’t been released yet, but this was one lure I wasn’t going to go home without. To say I twisted some arms to get a packet or two was an understatement. On the plane home I spent most of my time thinking about which river and which snag I was going to fish these plastics and a couple of days later I was spot locked up with my Elite PrawnZ loaded rod ready for its maiden fish. Conditions weren’t ideal and with the Humminbird Helix reading 19.1 degrees the lure was going to have to live up to its expectations to get a bite out of the barra showing on the sounder. I was fishing some vertical trees which were leaning at a 60-degree angle. I love fishing these types of snags as the lean of the tree means the root structures at the base are also leaning, creating the perfect cave for fish to hide in. They can be a double-edged sword because if you hook a barra, 99 percent of the time they will swim out of the cave and out in the open. Hook a big jack and its grab the spool and high stick the rod as these red devils will bury you in a second. Queensland grouper also love these spots and hook one of these bad boys and it’s basically a fight between a man and a tractor and any success in this situation is like winning the lotto.
The UV models are simply amazing.
With this in mind I was a little apprehensive at throwing one of a very few Elite PrawnZ I had in my possession, but the anticipation of hooking up got the better of me and the bail arm went over as the 3.5 inch prawn sunk down into the icy cold water with its legs shivering all the way to the bottom. Halfway down the line went tight, which had me a little confused as the fish were sitting tight to the bottom but the sight of a rather large jumping tarpon with my lure in its mouth answered my questions. I wasn’t surprised as my dive spear fishing in creeks had taught me where you find schooling tarpon you will always find schooling barra. So, if the tarpon were feeding, maybe the barra would also come to the party. I released the fish and sent the prawn back into the snag where it was once again hammered by a tarpon again. Tarpon are great fun but I wasn’t here for them so I switched up to the 5 inch model hoping the bigger prawn would scare them off. The next cast saw it sink to the bottom where I gave it a couple of large rips which would have got those legs and antenna working overtime. On the third rip I felt the tell tale nib of a barra and I set the hooks hard. The Sunline Almight braid screamed of the spool and for a second I thought I had hooked a tractor but when the fish swam wide of the snag and eventually broke the surface it was clear I had hooked a solid barra. It was no surprise that when I landed the fish the Elite PrawnZ was hallway down its bucket mouth where the top pre-rigged hook was firmly embedded. I dispatched the fish into the esky as it’s flanks looked the perfect fit in some taco shells later that night.
My next three casts saw no action and I was beginning to rethink my heavy rip retrieve on the fourth when the lure was crunched hard. I set the hooks with three big rips which saw the fish stay down deep which is characteristic of a big barra. After a bit of give and take she finally hit the surface in true big barra fashion with a big head shake trying to dislodge the prawn which sat firmly in the corner of its jaw. This is the true test of a jig head and the Elite PrawnZ pre rigged J hook did the job without any compromise and I after a lengthy battle I had the fish boat side. Now, hooking and getting a barra boat-side is one thing but trying to net it solo is a whole different ball game but the long fight had played the fish out and it slid cooperatively into the landing net. One of the practices I always employ when netting a barra I intend to release is letting it sit in the net in the water, especially after an extended fight and the fish is spent. This allows the fish to get oxygen through its gill immediately and release the build up of lactic acid in its muscles. If you have ever seen a dog tooth tuna landed you will understand the impact of a build-up of lactic acid during a fight. Doggies fight with so much power they basically kill themselves due to lactic acid build up and whilst barra are nowhere near this bad it can still have a disastrous impact if they are ripped straight out of the water after capture. It also pays to invest in a high-quality rubber net which won’t harm the fish, especially if it thrashes around a bit. I have seen some anglers go as far as tying a set of Boga grips to the side of the boat and hook them through the jaw leaving them to swim boat side whilst preparing brag mats and camera gear before bringing the fish into the boat. In my opinion this is best practice, but you want to be careful of both sharks and crocs, especially in systems where both are prevalent.
The 5 inch model is perfect for chasing the better class of fish. The hooks are also solid so ripping into big barra is no problem at all.
After some quick pics the big girls was released and after a few more barra hit the deck the tide dropped out to dead low exposing some of my favourite bank structure which sometimes held good numbers of jacks. I snuck up to the bank using the Minn Kota, conscious of spooking the nervous looking mullet which were circling the nearest snag. I tend to detest seeing bait swimming around the surface of snags casually as it signals there is nothing in the vicinity which wants to eat them. The behaviour of these mullet were far from casual and the unmistakable sound of jacks smashing bait along the bank had me convinced they were not only there but hungry for a feed. The bank sat in a metre and a half of water and the structure went from the surface all the way to the bottom. I was conscious of the fact that the Elite PrawnZ is not a weedless plastic so fishing this timber was going to be tricky to avoid snagging up. This is where a lighter tipped rod can be invaluable as it allows a greater connection to the lure and a more finesse approach in getting the best action out of the lure. Shorter heavier rods can be too aggressive in this situation, making the lure less effective. The only downside to this approach is it gives jacks more of an advantage as the softer tip will give a lot more than a shorter heavier rod. In saying that it’s better to get the bite than no bite at all. With the shallow water and snaggy structure, I opted for a retrieve which consisted of shorter falls so as not to fall into the snags and combined with a smaller more subtle double rips which would get those legs dancing perfectly. I was fishing the top two thirds of the water column, so I was expecting the lure to be hit on the fall, not on the rise. On the fourth cast my theory came to fruition when a flash of red engulfed my PrawnZ and then proceeded to bury me in the snag and eventually busting me off. The fish would have been pushing 50cm and at this size you are more often a passenger not the driver and there is little you can do when the fish drives off with your gear in tow.
Not to be defeated I tied on another 5 inch Elite PrawnZ and sent it back into the front line. This time I upgraded the hardware to my 4000 size spin reel and heavier rod combo as I didn’t want to lose another lure and also regain a bit of my pride. I opted for the same retrieve and once again it didn’t take long for the big Prawn to get crunched by a mid-sized jack and after a bit of spool grabbing and side sticking I muscled it out of the structure and over the gunwales. He wasn’t the fish which had smoked me but still a respectable heavy shouldered jack I would be happy to catch every day of the week. The session continued pretty much the same way it started with a half a dozen red fish falling victim to the Elite PrawnZ before the tide rose high enough to cover the snags and the bite shut down.
Since this initial fish, the Elite PrawnZ has continued to not only meet my expectations when I first saw it in the swim tank but exceed them by a long way. In a very short time, in fact record time, it has well earned the reputation as a ‘break glass for emergency’ lure and now sits permanently rigged to my spin combos at all times. If you love your prawn plastics, the Elite PrawnZ can and will get you very excited and your braid singing.
