My Five Go-To Soft Plastic Creature Baits
As a dedicated river rat, I like to pitch and flip and there’s no category of lures that consistently applies to those techniques more than creature baits. Define them however you want – usually short, stubby, with various appendages, resembling little found in nature – but they’re great for punching mats, probing laydowns, on the back of a wobble head, or as a trailer. I even like them when forced to Carolina Rig. There are now dozens of good ones on the market, but here are the five that I’ve used the most:
I’m not sure if it was the first creature bait, but it was the first one I used, and 25 years later it just about never leaves my boat, from Maine to Mexico.
When I don’t know which creature to grab, but I want something compact that glides, this is the default choice – it gave birth to a whole genre of lures.
My friend Duncan Maccubbin used this lure to catch some megas at El Salto, flipping deep trees. It’s my favorite when I need a bigger profile.
When I can hear the bluegills popping on the underside of Potomac River mats, this gets the call – watermelon or green pumpkin with tails dyed chartreuse. It does need a fairly small hook, and they’re soft, so prepare to go through a bunch of them.
Especially good in the hottest weather on tidal rivers or in tannic water, particularly in junebug.
Five Creature Baits I Use Slightly Less Often
Five Creature Baits I Want to Try
Which ones am I missing?
