Small Soft Plastics
Soft plastics generally fall into the finesse fishing lure category. The preferred soft plastics are tubes, kietech paddle tails, and ned rigs.
The Bass Pro Shops Tender Tube is a favorite. Its wiggling tentacles will entice even the pickiest of smallmouth bass into biting, and the tube’s soft body makes them hold on even longer.
The Storm Wildeye Live Goby is another excellent option. The non-native goby is an invasive fish found in the Great Lakes region, which the smallmouths love. However, even in the areas devoid of this bottom-hugging forage species, the Storm’s head-weighted Goby imitator will often entice a bite still.
The YUM Craw Papi is undoubtedly a lure worth mentioning since smallmouths will hardly ever turn down a crayfish meal. The limber, flapping motion of the large, thin claws on this bait creates a convincing display.
Technique
Typically anglers can fish all soft plastic finesse lures the same way by dragging and hopping the bait along the bottom. They are ideal for rock piles and sandy bottoms to find smallmouth bass cruising for gobies.
When fishing tube baits, anglers can use a 60-degree tube jig head to drag and drift it, so the tube kicks up the bottom while plowing forward. Another option is to rig with a 90 degree head for exaggerated cracking presentations when verticle jigging.
These soft plastics are usually best when fished from a boat, so anglers can easily retrieve them without getting caught between rocks. All soft plastics should be rigged with a jig head to keep them on the bottom. This setup also keeps the head down and tail end facing up, mimicking a Goby or crayfish. They can all be rigged weedless when situations call for it.
Water Temperature
These lures are an excellent cold-water technique as well as in warmer water when dealing with lethargic fish. These baits are very hard to resist that even the most lethargic fish takes them in most cases. So any time you’re having a hard time getting a bite with other lures, whether it be in extremely cold water temps or warmer ones, the baits that sink to the level of the bass and hop off the bottom will often work.
