New Shadtron™ LT and PrawnstarZ™ superplastics earn Best Soft Lure Awards at ICAST 2024
Ladson, SC – You know it when you see it is one way to evaluate a fishing lure. But when its underwater rhythms and motions match and even exceed the bait’s authentic physique, the it factor skyrockets to the highest levels of fish-catching achievement.
For the third consecutive year, Z-Man® Fishing won two ICAST trophies, this time earning awards in the prestigious Best Freshwater Soft Lure and Best Saltwater Soft Lure categories.
Among an array of impressive saltwater softbaits, the jaw-droppingly lifelike PrawnstarZ™ shrimp lure earned winning votes at the annual fishing industry celebration in Orlando, Florida.
But just after accepting the award, dapping up and exiting stage-left, the Z-Man team heard its name announced once more. This time, the innovative lure company hoisted the prestigious Best Freshwater Soft Lure trophy, winning the ultra competitive category with its new Shadtron™ LTswimbait.
It was a powerful, one-two punch of a statement, delivering an irrefutable message that Z-Man and its original ElaZtech® superplastics had perhaps ascended to the top of the softbait mountain. Voted upon by the fishing industry’s professional media and fishing tackle buyers, the New Product Showcase reveals scores of new lures and other angling accoutrements.
For Z-Man, ICAST 2024 also heralded a threepeat win for Best Saltwater Soft Lure. (Z-Man’s Mulletron™ LT swimbait won the category in 2023; Kicker CrabZ™ won in 2022.)
“Winning with the PrawnstarZ is a super exciting achievement for Z-Man because it’s a testament to what’s become possible with ElaZtech superplastics, thanks to years of lab and on-water R&D,” suggests Z-Man Director of Product Development Jose Chavez.
“In terms of intricate anatomical details and lifelike, multidimensional color finishes, this is a pretty persuasive bait. But what sets the PrawnstarZ further apart from all other shrimp baits is its complex crustacean-like movements—from its free-flowing tail beats to the subtle quivering motions of its swimming legs as it parachutes toward bottom. Maybe for the first time ever, fish are seeing not only a convincing anatomical profile but multilayered body animations that exactly mimic a live shrimp. It’s perhaps the perfect bait for tricky sight-fishing scenarios or for just getting bit under a popping cork.”
Perfectly weighted and balanced to maintain an authentic horizontal posture as the bait freefalls and when it sits on bottom, the pre-rigged PrawnstarZ excels at an array of inshore applications.
The PrawnstarZ leans on an optimized blend of its durable, buoyant ElaZtech body and precision-balanced weight structure to retain a natural, horizontal, shrimp-like posture at all times. Driven by its active crustacean anatomy, the new PrawnstarZ isn’t just stylized with lively-looking appendages, it’s brought to life with these structures. Even on audible levels, the bait performs like a live shrimp, internal glass rattle clicking with each bottom contact or shake of the rodtip.
“To win both ICAST awards in two of the most competitive categories, and to receive this level of recognition for Z-Man baits three years in a row . . . it’s just a super cool, satisfying achievement for our whole team,” adds Chavez.
“Truthfully, we couldn’t be happier that anglers everywhere will now enjoy the same success and excitement as we’ve had testing these baits. To be recognized by our friends in the sportfishing community and to go home with two more ICAST trophies is an incredible honor. Gives us all kinds of motivation to take lure design even further in the future. Stay tuned!”
