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Softbaits can be fished inshore, offshore, from a pier, or in the surf, making them one of the most versatile lures available to anglers.
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Have you searched for any lures lately on the Bass Pro Shops website? I did that recently, looking for soft-plastic lures for saltwater fishing. I fish almost exclusively with soft-plastic baits; I find that I catch as many fish with them as I do using live bait on most occasions. Soft plastics are certainly more cost effective in my part of the world.
Back to the plastics search. Believe it or not, there are twenty-nine pages of plastic lures on the website, and most of them can be used in both fresh and saltwater. They range from the old standard plastic worms, to grubs, to the newer variety of high action, realistic, baitfish swimbaits, and small sea creatures like crabs, sand fleas, and shrimp. They range from one-inch long to as big as ten-inches, and the color selection is frankly mind boggling.
So, what's a fisherman to do with such a wide variety of baits? Maybe you can follow my lead and find a few baits that will work for you in your own particular area. In my case, I have found several baits that work well, that I have built confidence in for catching fish.
Having confidence in a bait -- any bait -- is half the battle when choosing the right lure. When I work a bait for a long while and get no hits, I have to have the confidence that the reason for no bites is not the lure. Otherwise I will be changing lures all day long and wondering why they did not catch fish.
Softbaits have my confidence, and while I prefer some colors over others, I know that almost any of the color choices will catch fish on any given day. It depends on where you fish, what the forage fish look like and how you work the lure.
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Matching your baitfish imitating plastics to the size and color of local forage is often suggested, but peculiar colors like Electric Chicken probably dupe just as many fish.
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Softbaits can be fished inshore, offshore, from a pier or in the surf. They are maybe the most versatile lures an angler can buy. Lures like the Offshore Angler XPS Shiner Shad Paddle Tail come in a variety of colors and in three different sizes. The three-inch size is perfect for redfish and spotted seatrout inshore. The five-inch size can and will catch stripers in the surf. The paddle tail design gives the lure a powerful swimming action that predator fish can't seem to resist.
Some softbaits are designed to be worked with only a hook. Others are designed to be used on a jighead. While my personal preference is a jighead, I have fished with plain plastics such as the Offshore Angler XPS Saltwater Series Boss Baitfish. This one is designed to be used either with a jighead or without. I prefer to use it without a jighead and work it similar to a Zoom fluke. As with the paddle tail, this one comes in three sizes from four- to six-inches in length.
I fish softbaits in a variety of ways. I will cast to deep holes in a creek or river and work a jighead back to the boat. I work the edges of oyster bars or sawgrass lines. On a mud or sand bank where flounder may be lying, I slow the retrieve and let it get close to the bottom. I usually make an erratic retrieve, but I don't rule out a straight, steady retrieve, particularly if the plastic has a swim-tail action.
I may vary the color of the plastic I am using if the bite slows. Many times when the fish tire of one color they have seen for an hour or so, another color scheme will cause them to begin striking again.
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Crabs need to be moved s-l-o-w-l-y along the bottom. Mimicking this lifelike movement will draw a strike from a hungry fish.
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The jigheads I use will be from 1/4-ounce up to 1/2-ounce, depending on the water depth. It's hard to get a 1/4-ounce jighead down 18 or 20 feet in any kind of current. By the same token, it's hard to fish a 1/2-ounce jig slow in shallow water. The heavier weight just does not permit a good action in shallow water.
I can catch several fish on one plastic bait. On several occasions I have caught over twelve spotted seatrout on the same piece before needing the put on a new one. Compare that with any kind of live bait, which disappears after one bite, and you can see the cost efficiency.
Today, plastics are being made stronger, yet even more flexible and supple to the feel. New color schemes are being produced that the fish have not seen. These improvements will make softbaits even better than they already are.
Softbaits are made in a variety of shapes and bait imitations. Grubs and swim tails, while they are my personal preference, only make up a part of the available baits.
Small crabs, shrimp, sand fleas, and squid imitations are used by many anglers with great success. The size and shapes of these baits are amazingly lifelike, and they do fool a number of fish.
Many fly anglers will use the small shrimp and crabs when casting to tailing redfish. The shrimp imitations work well while pursuing speckled seatrout, snook, redfish and other inshore predator fish.
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Shrimp need to be fished down in the water column using a jerking retrieve.
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There are sizes of the crab and shrimp baits made for spinning tackle as well, and they can prove to be deadly when they are fished right.
To fish one of these plastics, some type of action is required. These are not baits that just sit on the bottom waiting to be eaten. The excellent craftsmanship and detail must be accompanied with lifelike movement to draw a strike from a hungry fish. Crabs and sand fleas need to be slowly moved along the bottom. Shrimp need a jerking movement down in the water column.
Dead baits on the bottom work well because of the scent or smell they offer. Lifelike plastics work well because they look real and they have a lifelike action. Remember that when you fish these baits.
Soft squid baits come in many sizes, from spinning-tackle size to big-game trolling size. They are used mainly as a trolled bait in an offshore arena. An array of squid will be pulled as trolled bait in search of mahi mahi, tuna and billfish. Usually the last trailing bait in an array will be the only one with a hook in it.
There is an old saying that lures are made in a variety of colors and styles more to catch the fisherman than the fish. While there may be a degree of truth there, it does not apply to softbaits. The color combinations I see and that I have used are all proven colors that actually catch fish. One would think that a lure that closely mimics the true natural baitfish colors would be preferred by the fish. However, some of the strangest colors catch more fish. If I knew the answer to why, I would be in great demand!
Before I finish, I'll answer the question on your minds right now -- just what colors do I fish with? I prefer electric chicken (chartreuse and pink), white or pearl with a pink tail, and rootbeer with gold sparkle. And, yes, I do catch fish on all of them -- flounder, seatrout and redfish.
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