Viewers' Choice Winning Swimbaits and Topwater Baits

Despite a focus on bait finesse and forward-facing sonar lures, this year’s ICAST debuted some incredibly innovative new swimbaits and topwater baits anglers can add to their arsenal for next season. Claiming the top spot in the Swimbait category, Z-man’s Shadtron LT Swimbait showcased a unique top-hook line through rigging system that capitalizes on powerful top-hook hooksets with the leverage reducing benefits of line through rigging. Voted the Viewer’s Choice Best Topwater lure and making headlines before hitting the market, the Rapala PXR Jowler 127 edged out the competition much like Patrick Walters did when he used it to claim a 2024 Bassmaster Elite victory at Lake Murray.

Viewers' Choice: Z-Man Shadtron LT Swimbait

Constructed using Z-Man’s 10X Tough and highly buoyant Elaztech super plastic, the Z-Man Shadtron LT Swimbait is perfectly balanced to maintain an upright posture at the slowest retrieves, on the fall, and even when resting on the bottom. Featuring an industry-first ‘Over/Under’ line through rigging system, anglers can rig the Shadtron top-hook style with the included straight shank hook or belly rigged with their favorite treble hook. An ultra-realistic universal shad profile to mimic a wide variety of freshwater forage, the Z-Man Shadtron LT Swimbait delivers realistic swimming action with a rounded wedge-shaped tail in both fast sink and slow sink model options.

Viewers' Choice: Rapala PXR Jowler 127

Designed to capture the attention of big fish from long distances on the water, the Rapala PXR Jowler 127 leverages Rapala’s legendary craftsmanship and innovative qualities to create maximum surface disturbance. Built for heavy wind and adverse weather conditions, the a durable plastic body and unique cupped mouth provide a hard-cutting splash-n'-walk action at any retrieve speed, allowing anglers to draw strikes out of technical shorelines. Armed with three premium VMC RedLine Series 1X bend treble hooks, the Rapala PXR Jowler 127 is finished ultra-realistic paint finishes and a dressed flash feather tail hook to make this the complete fish-catching surface bait.