Strike King 3X Soft Baits

The 3X line of lures from Strike King Lure Company is simply unbelievable! They are made with Cyber Flexxx™, a proprietary crystal gel compound that is covered by four United States patents and have been in development for over three years. Strike King is proud to introduce the new and revolutionary 3X product line.

Why do we call it revolutionary, and why are we so excited about it? First and foremost is its strength and durability. Traditional soft plastic baits are not very durable, and if they are made to be durable they are normally too hard. These new 3X lures are incredibly strong, durable, and soft. For instance, you can stretch one out many times the length of its body and it won't break (Fig. 1)! It immediately returns to its original shape. Such durability enables you to catch more fish on one lure before it needs to be replaced.

In one field test we preformed, a Strike King staff person used the same lizard for a day and a half and caught over forty bass between two and seven pounds on it (Figs. 2a and 2b). With a traditional soft plastic lure, a fisherman may only expect to catch two or three fish on it or get hung up a few times before the lure is too torn up to continue to use.

The durability of the 3X product causes there to be fewer broken tails and legs due to short-striking fish, small fish nibbling on the lure, getting hung up (Fig. 3), etc. An additional advantage is being able to spend more time fishing rather than digging around in your tackle box for a replacement and having to rig a new lure.

Secondly, the material is extremely soft. The durability previously mentioned would be useless if the bait did not feel real to the fish. 3X products are softer and more supple than soft plastic baits which give them the realistic feel and this creates additional action from the slightest twitch or motion of the rod tip. This is a tremendous advantage when Drop-Shotting because as you vibrate your rod tip the lure will really come alive (Fig. 4).

A third reason is that the material has floatation qualities that are greater than traditional soft plastics. This gives 3X an enhanced action that attracts more fish. This is especially true when Carolina rigging. The 3X lures will actually float up off of the bottom and look much more alive than plastic lures (Fig. 5). This floatation allows you to use a larger, heavier hook than normal and use a shorter leader to achieve the desired depth off of the bottom behind your Carolina Rig weight (like the EZ-RIG in Fig. 5). A stronger hook will be less likely to straighten out or break. A shorter leader and a larger hook will produce better hook-ups and therefore more fish caught. Hooking fish well when using a Carolina Rig has traditionally been a problem but 3X helps solve this problem. Another advantage when Carolina Rigging is the possibility of using an “open rigged hook” when fishing a lure over submerged vegetation that is growing on the bottom. The 3X buoyancy may allow you to do this which will result in more hook-ups.