Every so often, a new bait comes along that promises to change fishing forever.

Most of the time, that kind of talk turns out to be more smoke than fire. But every now and then, a product shows up that makes even seasoned anglers stop, take a second look, and wonder if maybe this one really is different. That was my reaction when I got my hands on a new line of soft-plastic baits built from a space-age material called Cyber-Flexxx.

At first glance, the bait in my hand looked like an ordinary 6-inch plastic lizard. It felt soft enough. Nothing about it suggested that it might be one of the most unusual lure materials to hit the market in years. But according to Bliss-Murski tackle representative Will Murski, looks can be mighty deceiving.

“This is the most incredible product to hit the fishing lure market in the past 20 years,” Murski said. “The material is called Cyber-Flexxx, and it will literally stretch without breaking and float a worm hook better than any plastic on the market today.”

That is a bold statement, but after seeing the stuff firsthand, it is not hard to understand his enthusiasm.

According to Murski, only Strike King, Outdoor Innovations, and R.J. Tackle on the saltwater side will have access to this remarkable new material. Strike King will market its line under the name 3X Soft Baits, with the “3X” standing for Xtra Soft for Xtra Bites, Xtra Strong for Xtra Durability, and Xtra Buoyant for Xtra Action.

The material itself is manufactured exclusively by Z-Man Fishing Products of Charleston, South Carolina, which holds the rights to make and sell fishing lures using Cyber-Flexxx. The patent for the material is controlled by Applied Elastomerics in California. In the automotive world, Cyber-Flexxx is known as crystal gel polymer. It is softer than traditional plastics, contains no toxic substances, and may turn out to be a major answer for anglers tired of having short-striking fish nip the tails off expensive worms and lizards.

The new baits were first introduced to retailers at the ICAST show in Las Vegas and then unveiled to the public during the BASSMASTER Classic in Birmingham, Alabama. Needless to say, they made plenty of noise.

One angler already sold on the concept is Kevin VanDam, one of Strike King’s top pros and one of the finest bass fishermen on the planet. VanDam recently finished second at the CITGO BASSMASTER Tour event on Lake Guntersville, and one of the prototype baits he leaned on heavily was Strike King’s 3X Lizard.

VanDam said he caught more than 50 bass on just 12 of the durable 3X Lizards. He estimated that if he had been using conventional plastic, he likely would have gone through three times that many baits.

That is impressive. But the real eye-opener came when we tested the stuff ourselves.

Murski and I each grabbed an end of a 6-inch 3X Lizard and started pulling. The bait stretched to more than five feet without breaking. It finally gave way at nearly six feet, but only after we had stretched it repeatedly more than a dozen times. That is not durability in the usual soft-plastic sense. That is another animal entirely.

Murski told me that Strike King President John Barns likes to tell the story of a pair of Dallas anglers who tried to break one of the prototype worms. According to Barns, it took them three tries and a whole lot of tugging before they finally managed to tear it apart.

Durability alone would make the material noteworthy, but Cyber-Flexxx brings something else to the table that may matter even more: buoyancy.

“Since Cyber-Flexxx baits are 20 percent lighter than water, they float like a charm,” Murski explained. “Phil Marks, Strike King product manager and a good tournament angler, compared a standard Carolina-rigged plastic lizard against the 3X Lizard and found the buoyancy was incredible. The standard rig would sink to the bottom, but the 3X Lizard not only rose, it floated a 4/0 worm hook.”

That is no small matter. Any angler who fishes a Carolina rig knows the value of keeping a bait up off the bottom and right in a bass’s line of sight. If a lure will naturally rise and hover instead of lying there like a dead stick, it is bound to get more attention.

Enough theory. The real question is what happens when the rubber meets the road, or in this case, the water.

The first thing you notice is the softness. Strike King says the material is three times softer than traditional plastics, and based on what I saw, that claim may not be far off. The hook slid into the bait with ease and, more importantly, stayed in place much better than on the standard plastics I normally use.

In fact, we stretched a fully rigged bait to about four feet, and the hook still stayed put. That alone ought to eliminate a lot of the aggravating slide-downs and pop-outs anglers fight with when fishing ordinary soft plastics. The elasticity of the material is also self-healing to a degree. Hook holes seem to disappear almost as soon as they are made.

We next tested the bait on a Texas rig. Once the 3X Lizard hit bottom, it stood on its nose with the tail waving in a tantalizing way that ought to catch any nearby bass’s attention. I inserted a rattle into the plastic, and it popped in easily and stayed put. On the Carolina rig, the bait floated every worm hook I normally use. Watching that lure hover above the bottom was enough to make a believer out of most anyone.

But do they actually catch fish?

Yes. Absolutely yes.

I caught more than two dozen hard-fighting bass on a single lizard, and the only reason I changed baits was because I wanted to try a different color. According to Murski, one of these baits may last as long as 90 to 100 traditional soft plastics. If that estimate proves even close to true, it could change the math on soft-plastic fishing in a hurry.

Of course, no miracle material comes without a few quirks.

“You can’t mix Cyber-Flexxx baits with traditional soft-plastic lures,” Murski said. “If you do, the two materials can react chemically and deform both baits.”

That means you do not want to toss these new baits into an old plastic tray that has been holding standard worms. There are also a few current limitations with dipping dyes, although Strike King is reportedly working on a dye formula that will be compatible with the 3X products.

Another minor drawback is that salt cannot currently be impregnated into the bait, because of the reaction salt has on the specialized Cyber-Flexxx injection molding equipment. Fish-attracting scents, however, are being added to all 3X baits, and each package includes granular salt in the bag. Odds are good the industry will eventually solve that problem as well.

Strike King’s current 3X Soft Baits lineup includes a 7 1/2-inch ribbontail worm, 6-inch lizard, 6 3/4-inch trick worm, 5-inch finesse worm, 4 1/2-inch craw worm, 4-inch grub, French fry, and a 6-inch soft jerkbait. Initial color offerings include proven fish-catchers such as black, black-blue, smoke, hot chartreuse, watermelon, and black flake.

If you are like most anglers I know, you are always looking for that one edge, that one bait that might give you an advantage when the fishing gets tough and the money is on the line.

This may be one of them.

The new 3X Cyber-Flexxx baits are more than just another tackle-shop novelty. They are tougher, softer, and more buoyant than traditional plastics, and they may well represent one of the most significant leaps forward in soft-bait design in years.

And if they ever make a tackle box out of Cyber-Flexxx, I will be first in line. Lord knows mine could use a little extra stretch.

Give the 3X products a try. There is a good chance you will not be disappointed.