Its streamlined design allows the Palmetto BugZ to slide through cover easily, while its ringed 4â body results in added vibration and a softer feel.
Luck âEâ Strike Lil Thumper
This soft swimbait is the answer for your umbrella rigs. Itâs also great fished alone on a swimbait hook or a jighead. These affordable swimmers are available in a variety of colors.
Mad Scientist is an new soft bait brand that combines the engineering and design prowess of Optimum Bait Co. and the soft bait pouring ability of some of the best-known West Coast swimbait makers. The Optishad is a soft jerkbait thatâs as realistic as it is soft.
Gene Larew Sweet Swimmer
The Sweet Swimmer is Gene Larewâs umbrella rig bait. The natural colors lend themselves well to the schooling rig application. Six colors are available.
As the name implies, this soft swimbait is designed to slide through the thickest slop without getting snagged. When rigged with a weedless swimbait hook, this should be right at home in and around grass. The Slop Hopper would also be a good fit for umbrella rigs.
As Berkley expands the Havoc line, the pro designers are stepping it up. This one is the brain child of Scott Suggs, who wanted a craw that makes a commotion around shallow cover. The Rocket Craw is also ideal as a jig trailer or a heavy cover flipping bait.
This creature bait is made with a supple body that is soft enough to undulate and swim but durable enough to catch several fish without tearing. The Yumphibian comes in three sizes (4 1/2, 5 1/4 and 6 inches) and 10 color patterns.
Take one of the most popular Havoc baits and lop off the front, and youâve got whatâs destined to be one of the most popular Havoc trailers, the Pit Chunk. Itâs the same Skeet Reese design, just shortened a bit.
Evolveâs Nervous Walker brings super life-like looks to a topwater package that casts well, is soft and is said to have a high hookup ratio.
Berkleyâs PowerBait Twitch Minnow brings that famous PowerBait scent to a soft plastic drop shot shape.
Designed by 2009 Bassmaster Classic champ Skeet Reese, the Sick Fish is tailor-made for drop shotting, shaky heading or for a castable umbrella rig. The super-realistic profile comes in a 4-inch size, with more options on the way.
Versatility is the watchword for this plastic worm created by French design genius, Patrick Sebile. These baits are hollow and have pre-cut openings that lend themselves to virtually any sort of rigging you can imagine. They come in 12 colors and are very durable.
It’s a great trailer for any jig — from a football head style to a swim jig. The claws strike a defensive post at rest and have a moderate kick on the retrieve. Comes in 13 colors.
Here’s the Best Soft Lure category winner at ICAST 2012. It’s the Bento Baits minnow and it’s super realistic. After tearing one apart, it appears the secret to the flash of this bait is a piece of Mylar tubing inserted in the body of the bait.
This “snack-size” frog is just 2.4 inches long and weighs in at 3/8-ounce. The sharp nose aids in walking the dog in open water.
The name may say saltwater, but this little shrimp/craw is going to be a hit in the bass market, too. It’s small (3 inches) and slim, so it’s an ideal finesse bait. You could drop shot it, put it on the back of a finesse jig or split shot. It should be a great numbers bait.
It’s a trailer, it’s a punch bait, it’s the Psycho Dad! This one’s different because the head of the bait is hollow, allowing for easier rigging and a more sure hook-set. The tiny phalanges on the craw arms will probably add a new dimension to the way it sounds or moves through the water, too.
Ugly is in, especially if you’re talking about the Buster K from Deps. In the world of hollow plastic frogs, it’s a look only a bass could love, with a popper face, ultra-sharp double hooks and legs made of hair.
The newer, fatter verison of Rein’s Fat Rockvibe Shad has a thicker body and a ringed tail section with a paddle at the end.
Reins Wake Frog is a Japanese-designed soft plastic topwater toad thatâs buoyant and churns and gurgles as it is retrieved across the top. Pockets in the body will aide in the hook set.
This new swimbait from Northland Fishing Tackle 3 1/2-inch minnow shape with a wiggling paddle tail designed to mimic a baitfish in distress. This minnow bait is coated with Impulse Instinctual attractant.
Stinky Fingers Bait Co. has introduced a new line of baits with specifically designed chambers that dispense a potent attractant. The Sinko comes eight baits to a bag.
The classic Curltail by Stinky Fingers Bait Co. has sponge bait technology that will maximize strikes. This bait is great for a weightless swimming action.
The Lizard sponge bait innovated by Stinky Fingers Bait Co. produces great action with its thin legs and wavy curtail. It is perfect for a swimming action or Texas and Carolina rigging.
Stinky Fingers Bait Co.’s new Craw has a natural look with great action. This sponge bait can be recharged when it’s not in use by putting the bait back in the bag and giving it a squeeze.
Best rigged weightless for serious action, the new Fluke by Stinky Fingers Bait Co. has a patent pending internal sponge that soaks up a signature scent that will have bass drooling.
This new Incredi-Craw from has swimming antennae, realistic legs and claws that grab the attention of approaching bass by imitating a live crawfish in defense mode.
Culprit’s all new Minnow features a detailed soft plastic body complete with lifelike scales and fins. This bait is perfect for use on umbrella rigs.
The Fat Max, introduced by Culprit, is great for shallow water flipping because it is bulkier than the standard worm and features a tail design that slips through cover easily.
Like all Tight Lines UV Tackle, this Bill Lowen-designed tube âglowsâ underwater, which is said to make it more visible in dingy or deep water.
OK, the T-Mac isn’t exactly new, but it’s got some new colors that deserve mention here because the process is so new. It’s a triple laminate that in the past has only been accomplished through hand pours. The one in the photo here is called Flippin’ Brown Hi Lite.
It’s called “Air Bait” because it’s made of super-buoyant plastic which features pockets that also add to the buoyancy of the bait. Air gets trapped in the pockets to slow the fall and give bass more time to strike. Perfect for jig trailers or as a Texas rig.
