What Types of Soft Plastics Fishing Baits Should You Use?
By Bob Ives
An anxious angler can spend a whole lot of money in a hurry when it
comes to buy fishing gear, but it doesn’t have to be that way. One of
the most affordable fishing baits available is the soft plastic bait.
Whether you are on a budget or not, these are baits you’ll want to have
in your tackle and know how use. They can turn a bad fishing day into a
stringer filler. Here are just a few of the many soft plastics you’ll
want to add to your angling arsenal.
Plastic Worms, Lizards and Crawdads
This is the granddaddy. No other plastic bait is more popular and few
if any are more effective in the long run. Plastic worms come in sizes
ranging from just an inch or two all the way up to 8 inches or more. The
most commonly used is the 6 inch worm. Like all plastics, these come in
more colors than you can count, but there are a few standbys that always
seem to work when the others fail: black, blue, motor oil, pumpkin seed
and other natural colors. Plastic worms are usually fished slowly along
the bottom with a jig head or a bullet weight, and often rigged weedless.
Plastic Bugs and Creatures
There is a rising popularity in ‘creature’ baits; soft plastic baits
that look more like aliens than bait fish. They usually resemble
something between a centipede and a lizard with a case of Phyllis
Diller’s hair. They work well sometimes when other baits won’t because
they don’t look exactly like anything the fish has seen before, so you
may get a curiosity strike.
Swim Baits and Minnows
Swim baits and minnows are bait fish looking soft plastics that
usually have curly tails or something to give them action in the water.
These come in small sizes for fish like bream and very large sizes for
larger fish like bass. They are not fished the same as worms and
creature baits – they are usually reeled straight in or allowed to sink
a bit and then reeled in a bit. For more on these take a look at some
Storm Swim Baits, Squidgies, and Berkley soft plastic baits.
Senkos, Flukes, Minnows and Jerk Shads
Sounds like a law firm, doesn’t it. These are very good for lots of
action. A little twitch of these baits will send them wildly darting
around and they become irresistible for even the most stubborn fish.
Flukes and Jerk Shads resemble small bait fish and Senkos look closer to
a worm, but have a larger diameter and are heavier. Fish all these
weightless so they have more action.
Top Water/Surface Lures
There are some soft plastic surface fishing baits you might want to
look into. Plastic frogs are real good around weeds and fallen trees.
Strike King makes some good top water baits that resemble bait fish. If
you are fishing for bass, you might want to try a Horney Toad. All of
these have legs or paddles that hang down below the surface and turn a
fish on a diet into a glutton.
So, essentially, you have enough variety in soft plastics that you
can cover all 3 levels of the water column – surface, middle (swim
baits) and the bottom (worms, etc). It really pays to know how to use
these baits, so take your time and get familiar with them.
Maybe the best part about them is that if you get snagged and lose
one, there inexpensive to replace. Just pop open a bag and grab another
one and you’re ready to go. Just be careful – some of them look so good
you might mistake them for Gummy Bears and eat one. |
