Bass Pro Shops® XPS® Lazer Eye Nitro™ Extreme Shallow Crankbait

Target Species: Largemouth Bass
Also Good For: Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass

I literally stumbled upon this lure in the "Sale Bin" at the Bass Pro Shops. The XPS (Xtreme Performance Series) by Bass Pro Shops is a signature collection of a series of crankbaits designed by professionals, for varying types of fishing conditions. The Lazer Eye Nitro Extreme Shallow is designed to be a surface wake crankbait. For this product review we started with the "Firetiger" color scheme, approximately 2" in length and 3/8 oz. body.

First Impressions

The moment you pick up this lure, you'll notice two things: the detailed color schemes and nice body shape and proportions make this hard body crankbait look sharp even before you cast it. The light weight was also immediately apparent and initially troubling.

Fishing the Lure

Initially, the cheap price and light weight construction raised my suspicions. Being a light, short-body lure, a little practice is needed to place the lure properly on cast and bring the retrieve into optimal action.

Once you have that down, you'll enjoy taking bass on your first few casts in front of anglers who have fished for hours in the same spot with no luck.

This happened to us in the middle of a local fishing tourney that we were unaware of until we pulled up. Needless to say, out of the group of approximately 30 anglers, a few gave us dirty looks. The others asked us what the heck we were using!?!

For the surface crankbait we tested ("Firetiger"), the action is similar to a small mouse or rodent swimming on the surface. Almost a "wag-the-dog" type movement, but much slower and less jerky. We found the action to be most effective at very slow retrieve speeds, leaving a trailing wake off the sides of the bait. We landed largemouths from 6" to 6 lbs. and had taps on almost every cast.

Our shallow diver ("Green Shad") crankbait is provided with a larger lip causing it to dive up to 1' to 2' depending on retrieve speed. Since it is very buoyant, you can crank this lure down to about 2' during the retrieve and then slow-up or stop causing the lure to rise back to the surface. This technique takes a little practice, but can prove deadly in mixed-cover, sight-fishing locations.

Both lures are extremely light-weight, however they do cast well and can be easily managed in confined areas and over heavy weed beds. This makes these lures optimal for shallow water, low-to-medium wind conditions.

Review Summary

No one said our reviews aren't tough and we consider a 72 rating excellent. This lure will pull fish out of seemingly dead water. I continue to land fish on almost every visit and the lure has since become a permanent "go-to" fixture in the tackle box for shallow water or quiet times. The only knock we can find on this lure is that the paint can be chipped off and our testing model has been beaten up pretty good from numerous bites. But then again, can too many strikes be a bad thing?!