Success with a Simple Soft Plastic

Everybody probably has at least of couple of them in their tackle box. The lures that catch the eye of the fisherman, but not necessarily the fish. I'm talking about all these new shiny lures with little rattles, crazy names, and all the gizmos and gadgets that go along with them. While all these incredible details and bright packages might seem to make such an amazing lure, we have found in the marsh for various reasons, it's hard to beat a simple soft plastic on a jig head.

A lower slot red with the trusty old Gulp shrimp under it.

First of all, almost any fish will bite a soft plastic lure (or "tout", for all you Cajuns) if they're hungry. Anything from crappie to tarpon will hit a soft plastic, and they work great for the fish we target, such as redfish, speckled trout, flounder, and largemouth bass. We've had several days where we have tried topwaters, suspending twitchbaits, or even a good old gold spoon, with no takers. Then we throw on one of our favorite plastics and next thing you know there's a fish on!

H&H 3" Cocahoe Minnow in Morning Glory and a slot redfish.

Simple soft plastic lures can be worked in practically any way, and will always have a lot of life-like action. You can let them sink to the bottom and drag them along searching for a flounder, or just hold the rod tip high and bring it in with a steady retrieve through  the middle of the water column targeting specks. Many anglers retrieve them super fast through grass or around structure looking for a reaction strike, or let them sink and slowly raise the rod, bouncing the lure up and down slowly for those deeper, less active fish. They're a great lure to blindcast through the middle of a channel, but they're extremely useful on a light or weightless hook for sightcasting in skinny water.

A sampling of some of our favorite soft plastics.

Although these lures are very simple; just a soft plastic baitfish imitation on a hook or jighead, there's

a huge variety of styles and colors for nearly any circumstance. For freshwater, a couple of the most popular styles are senkos (or stickbaits), crawfish imitations, and minnows. The most popular colors are variants of watermelon, chartruese, black, and green pumpkin. For saltwater fishing, some popular styles in our region are shad, shrimp, mullet, and even crab imitations. While colors, lengths and tail shapes may vary and fish may prefer one color or style over another on any given day, we've found with a little experimentation and effort, they just plain work.

Leave the minnows or shrimp at the bait shop one day and try some simple soft plastic lures.  You just might find they work and add an extra bit of excitement to your next trip.