Best Soft Baits to Use

There is No #1 Soft Plastic Lure

There is no single solution to landing fish all the time with a specific soft bait from a specific brand.

Do you think the top 100 pros are catching a lot of fish?

More than the average angler? YES. Are they sponsored by different brands, each recommending TONS of different soft baits? YES.

So, if they are all catching fish on different soft baits, how is it possible that each pro holds claim to the secret soft bait?

They Have a Selection of Soft Plastic Lures

There are so many pros that recommend so many different soft baits because A LOT of them work.

However, they work for different situations (species, tactics, and conditions). The key is to have a good combination of soft baits that work for different situations.

There is no one soft bait to rule them all, but maintaining a well-thought-out combination of styles, sizes, and colors will land fish.

So there is no secret ingredient, but there is a secret sauce.

4 Best Rules for a Soft Plastic Arsenal

1.) Maintain an abundance of different soft bait styles

Styles or profiles are dependent on tactics.

Without the ability to adjust tactics, you limit yourself not only to fewer fish but the potential of getting skunked for the day.

Have the basic styles of

Worms
Lizards
Creature Baits

Also include small profile soft baits like Curly Tail Grubs for Trout and Panfish.

2.) Hold sizes

The size of a soft bait is not only defined by the target species but also by the aggressiveness of the bite.

Larger bait = larger fish; however, this is not entirely true when factoring in the bite.

Larger profile baits should be used to target aggressive bites, while smaller profiles can be used to target the same-sized fish during dormant periods.

Staying nimble and changing size in relation to your results is critical. Oftentimes, the correct approach resonates on the water through trial and error.

A Curly Tail Grub on a jig head has the flexibility to weed out smaller Panfish just as successfully as it can convince finicky Largemouth Bass on slow days.

Generally, a good rule of thumb is 4-6 inches for gamefish and 2-3 inches for Panfish.

3.) Alternate 2 dimensions of color

Natural and Neon. While color can get broken down more thoroughly, natural and neon are the most basic approaches when defining your color strategy.

Natural color types work best in less than 10 ft. of water (Brown, Green, Gray).

Greater than 10 ft., you should place more emphasis on neon color types (Chartreuse, White, Red).

The deeper you fish, the darker the water. It is also more difficult to relate to structure as you are often mapping to your chart rather than a physically visible structure like docks and reeds.

Your colors need to be brighter, not only for immediate visibility but to call in fish from a greater distance, as targeting a specific spot is now more challenging.

A combination of the two can be a versatile solution.

4.) Hold 5-10 pieces of each profile in the correct size

When on a hot bite, you will likely lose a few with your bait. After 4-5 landed fish, you will likely need to replace your soft bait to maintain its original presentation.

To take advantage of the hot bite on a particular tactic, you need a decent amount of depth in your lineup to avoid missing out.

You should have 5-10 pieces of each common style.