What are the best soft plastics for walleye? What is the difference between them and live bait? What are the techniques for using these artificial baits? And so.
These questions are mostly in the mind of any angler who wants to experience these artificial baits. However, he is still confused about their wide types and multiple uses.
In this article, we will help you in choosing the right soft plastic for walleye. There is also a clarification of the best technique for using these artificial baits. At the end of the article, You will find some benefits of using soft plastics for walleye, keep reading.
5 Best soft plastics for walleye
Are you in a hurry? Here is our list:
- QualyQualy Soft Swimbait Fishing Lures
- Dr.Fish Soft Plastic Fishing Lures
- TRUSCEND Pre-Rigged Jig Head Soft Fishing Lures
- PLUSINNO Fishing Lures Baits Tackle
- THKFISH Soft Swimbait Soft Plastic Fishing Lures
QualyQualy Soft Swimbait Fishing Lures
The very first thing I noticed about Qualyqualiy soft swimbaits lures is that it’s available in a wide variety of colors. They are available in 16 colors at the time of writing the review. You can also choose between 3 sizes and a different number of pieces to get. It’s also very versatile and works not only for walleye fishing but also for Bass, crappie, Pike, and Trout. Now let’s talk a little bit about the features:
These lures can mimic the swimming action of real bait fish. The reason behind this is the split design of its tail. It can create a swimming action that can attract walleyes. The design also looks pretty realistic with a details scale pattern that is similar to real bait fish.
Another feature that might make difference while fishing is the flash foil in the belly of the lure. It creates a reflection of light in the water and makes the bait very flashy which can get the attention of your catches and attract more bites. But, you’ve to keep in mind that this foil gets ripped away after a number of bites.
Regarding setup, Qualyquality soft swimbaits are relatively easy to set up. You can use them with small weight or weightless hooks. You can also rig them up with texas, drop shot, and wacky. If you prefer to use jighead, you can do so. However, you will an issue which is that the foil inserts get pushed out when you penetrate the body with the jig head. Overall, they are impressive and were reported by many anglers to work well.
Dr.Fish Soft Plastic Fishing Lures
Dr.Fish soft plastic lures are pretty similar to QualyQualy ones. They are characterized by the details that make them look quite similar to real bait fish. The details include 3D eyes, gill plates, and highly detailed scale patterns.
Considering the swimming action. The lures include a hard-pounding paddle. It works by kicking and wiggling once it touches the water. These work on imitating the swimming action of real fish by creating enticing movements that attract fish to bite them.
Just like QualyQualy, it has a flash foil inserted in its belly to create a reflection in the water and attract more bites. These soft plastic lures work well for weightless, weedless rigs and drop shots. Something that you should be aware of, the tails are soft that they can’t stand the toothy critters. As a result, you will reel up many tailless lures.
TRUSCEND Pre-Rigged Jig Head Soft Fishing Lures
TRUSCEND is durable, soft, and offers high value for the price. There are 2 things that I like about these TRUSCEND fishing lures:
- I like that these jig heads were pre-rigged to support long casts and steady retrievals.
- They have an ultrasharp hook that maximizes the success rate as possible. However, the position of these hooks causes them to penetrate the tongue and cause the fish to bleed out.
The appearance looks realistic thanks to the 3D eyes and the high-resolution body details. Also, the color tones and the fading from dark to light colors make them look more realistic.
Regarding materials, they are made from carbon steel which is susceptible to rust. (a down point). However, the hooks are made from corrosion-resistant materials to keep them sharp for long durations.
There is a spinning blade that comes with Truscend lures that work on reflecting light and attracting fish. Its job is similar to the flash foil in the above-mentioned soft plastics. Just like, Dr.Fish, these lures have a paddle tail that kicks in the water creating movements that attract walleye.
PLUSINNO Fishing Lures Baits Tackle
If you need a tackle box that has everything you need, then most probably Plussino Baits Tackle is the right one for you. It includes lures, hooks, weights sinkers, and many more,
This tackle box contains everything that you may need to outfit your tackle box in the summer. It contains around 102 different pieces. The pieces include crankbaits, spinnerbaits, metal spinning lures, and plastic worms. Like our chosen lure, they have a 3D eye. They also have realistic paint to make them look almost like real fish baits. The pieces included come in different sizes and styles, so they can suit you in various fishing situations.
Something that might concern you is the quality. Though you get a large number of lures and accessories for a low price, the quality is great and the hooks are quite strong and resist bending.
My overall opinion is that this kit comes at a great price and good quality. It’s highly recommended for beginners. It may also be a good choice for those on a tight budget.
THKFISH Soft Swimbait Soft Plastic Fishing Lures
These THKFISH lures are of the swimbaits type (just like Qualyqualy). If you’re old enough you will describe swimbaits as boot tails. What I like about swimbaits is that they can produce great action. Also, the vibrations produced by the tail attract fish closer and help them find your bait.
These THKFISH swimbaits look like real worms thanks to their soft body shape. It wriggles ups and down in that water resembling the movement of worms. The tail produces a good twitching swimming action. It also has a realistic texture.
What characterizes this lure from the rest of the lures on our list is its scent. It’s made from materials with the addition of salt and flavors. It creates a scent that attracts the fish and makes them hold longer to your bait.
What you won’t like about swimbaits is their durability. This is probably expected thanks to its soft body. This results in them being a little because of how many you will have to buy because of the durability issue.
How To Fish With Soft Plastic baits For Walleye
We prepared a small guide for you on the techniques of fishing with soft plastic baits. However, here is a video to watch first if you’re someone who gets bored of reading a lot. Here is a video that demonstrates using soft plastic with walleye fishing:
Now, let’s head to our guides:
The technique of Fishing with Soft Plastic baits in Deep Water
Soft Plastic baits achieved impressive results in fishing in deep water, as they successfully can reach depths of up to 150 feet in saltwater. Getting more down to where the fishes are, is mainly a matter of the weight and overall shape. Particularly when you need to reach a deep wreck or reef. In case of currents or if the boat is drifting with the winds, it requires more weight for getting down quickly.
Read also: Best 5 Rod And Reel Combos For Walleye Fishing.
There are many effective designs for deep water, but the best choice for working deeply is the head of an arrow-shaped jig, which has a slender cylindrical body that reaches 14 inches long. Some baits have been formulated with twisted tails to provide swimming action, which can get more strikes, particularly in cold water.
There are several techniques of fishing with soft plastic baits, but we will clarify the simple basic technique:
1. Dropping the lure
Drop your lure over the side, or cast it on a short distance. Let the lure sink in free-spool or with the bail open.
2. Start retrieving
As soon as the lure reaches the desired depth, you should immediately start retrieving your lure with many rod-tip actions. Continue shifting from short, quicker upward sweeps to longer ones, and somewhere slower lifts. Keep Varying the retrieve rate, until finding the right combination.
3. Increase the weight of the head
In case you are not getting the needed depth, try increasing the head weight. A 2-ounce lead head can go over 100 feet on calm days without currents. 3 ounces or more head weight is needed for other conditions.
If you need to maximize head weight, add some egg sinkers to your leader above the head of the jig. If you are targeting cruising or feeding at mid-depth level fish, Especially when you’re chunking or chumming.
The most important mission for you is just slowly jigging a soft plastic and drifting with slight or no weight behind your boat.
Point to be considered
You should Keep in mind that most offshore fishes range from large to extremely large and are also strong, so you should use heavy-wire hooks.
You might also like to read about walleye: The Best Ice Fishing Line For Walleye.
The technique of Fishing Soft Plastic baits in Inshore Waters
Fishing Soft Plastic baits in Inshore Waters doesn’t have a big difference from using live baits. It nearly has the same logic followed when fishing with live baits. You should go with a lesser weight for lure if you are going for depths from 5 to 25 feet to reach the bottom. These depths are an environment where swimming baitfish and shrimp and imitations are especially effective. Using a jig head that has a soft body is always effective.
There are nice rigs that use a hook with a shank-weighted large gap to make the plastic baits sink and swim naturally in the horizontal position. These designs work best in calm current for 20 or more feet in depth. The lure can also be designed for swimming right at the surface. And In many situations, the baits that sink slowly are fished with the slow retrieve that can get more strikes.
You can also read more about Soft plastic fishing from here.
Benefits Of Using Soft Plastic Baits For Walleye Fishing
Some go faking is better than real options, this is what many anglers said about using soft plastic baits for walleye fishing. Artificial baits can be more beneficial and productive in many cases, We will discuss the benefits of using soft plastic baits as follows:
Time-saving
Plastic lures make catching fish easier especially when time is limited. It saves time taken in netting baits that can be used instead in fishing.
Read also: 5 Best Ice Fishing Rods For Walleye.
Catching Big Fish
Bigger baits can help bigger fish to attack, therefore could be easily caught. But, purchasing bigger live baits can’t be available easily and it costs too much. Here comes the role of artificial plastic baits that can be effectively used many times next.
More control
Soft Plastic baits give much more control than live baits. You can completely control artificial lures whether it’s popping, jigging, sinking, or diving on slow or fast retrieves. You get:
- The better setting of the hook
- The efficient setting of the hook
- You can drive the hook better with artificial plastic lures than getting with live baits.
Fishing on light tackle
If you are one of those who love catching fish on light tackle, you can do this with plastic artificial lures, which will give you a nice opportunity to do it. Light tackle can provide a better feel and also more excitement when Chasing a fish.
Read also: 5 Best Walleye Trolling Rods.
Casting at Rough Surf
As known, it is hard and also ineffective to work by live baits in rough surf. Often the live baits just get tossed and washed around, then quickly end up back on the shore.
Offshore Success
It is not easy to get live baits when going offshore for bluefin and yellowfin. So, soft plastic baits have been the best choice for boats that head out. Soft plastic lures helped to the success of offshore fishing probably more so than other types of inshore species.
You can choose from a multitude of soft plastic lures that are suitable for your fishing style. Whether you are trolling, jigging, or casting you Will find artificial lures to be used successfully.
Not needed at all times
While live baits are usually effective and effective at times, they will not be necessary at all times. As with the variety of soft plastic baits that are widely available on the market today, anglers can match the hatch with the live-like baits currently available.
Manufacturers pick the right artificial bait that has the same flash, color, profile of the baitfish, and vibration that target species are feeding on, then retrieve it correctly.
Conclusion
In this article, we have known more about the types of soft plastic baits and made an extensive review about the top 5 of them, their detailed features, and their own pros, and cons.
We also added some techniques for fishing with artificial soft plastic baits. The Techniques include deep water and inshore with a simple and clear explanation. We also have included the benefits of soft plastics for walleye fishing. These benefits can be gained by using these artificial baits instead of our traditional live baits.
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