Soft Plastics have come a long way since the 1970s.
What’s a Salty Dog? Well, it isn’t a wet canine stumbling out of the ocean. No, it was one of the first soft plastic lures to become widely used in saltwater in the Northeast. Those of you who weren’t fishing in the briny back in the 1970s probably could use a little explanation. The lure was a stubby shrimp-shaped soft plastic, rigged on a bullet lead-head. It became popular when the weakfish cycle hit a peak in that decade. It was “the” lure to use for the yellowfins (weakfish) and most anglers stocked up on them.
Although I did use them, I wasn’t the lure’s biggest fan, because the plastic wasn’t really soft and didn’t wiggle a lot when retrieved, and the colors were dark, too. They did catch weakfish, but I preferred the Tri-Fin Whiptail and Eelworm, as well as bucktails.
Soft-Soft Plastics
Although other soft plastics were developed and introduced in the 1980s, they mostly found fans in freshwater and among those who fished southern saltwater for speckled trout and redfish. Perhaps soft plastics weren’t popular up north because fishing for weakfish and striped bass dropped off substantially during that decade along the east coast, from the mid-Atlantic to Maine. We did enjoy great bluefishing, but most anglers weren’t willing to sacrifice soft plastic to bluefish. Today, soft plastics are widely popular among boat and surf anglers and catch a variety of gamefish, including striped bass, bluefish, and weakfish.
Following a four-year moratorium on striped bass, stripers began a comeback around 1990. For me, the 1990s provided the best striped bass fishing of my lifetime. Suddenly, there was a plethora of soft plastics flooding the Northeast markets. Among the first versions to reach the Northeast were several types of paddletail lures, including the Queen Cocahoe Minnow; long a staple of southern inshore fishermen. The Queen Cocahoe was still a bit hard and didn’t produce the greatest wiggle, although they caught lots of fish. Then Pradco introduced the YUM Samurai Shad that quickly became one of my favorites because the plastic was ultra-soft and allowed for a great tail wiggle, even at the slowest speeds.
For a while there seemed to be an endless parade of very soft plastic and semi-soft plastic lures hitting the shelves. In those days, the Sports Authority stores were big, and I remember going in the store one day to pick up some line and was stunned by the array of soft plastics. Today, we can see an even greater variety on the shelves at Dick’s, local bait and tackle dealers, and large outlet stores along the east coast. Recent decades also feature on-line shopping, and at these sites you can window shop for hours and still not see all of them. Many, of course, are still aimed at the freshwater market such as long worms, salt-weighted stubby worms, a vast variety of creature types, fluke styles, and curly tails produced by almost every bait company.
Narrowing the Game
Of course, it’s impossible to use all the soft plastic lures that have come along, but I have used many, including curly tails, paddletails, flukes, and worm shaped lures. They have all had their productive moments, but I do seem to gravitate towards paddle tail styles. Some are slender and some deep bodied, but all have a tail wiggle that’s more like a live fish. Although I won’t take up a lot of space listing every soft plastic lure I’ve used, I’ll mention a few that I’ve shared with you in my articles. These include Tsunami Holographic Swim Bait, YUM Samurai Shad, Storm Wild Eye Swim Bait, Queen Cocahoe Minnow, Reaction Innovation Shiner, Mister Twister Sassy Shad, Z-Man DieZel Minnow (AKA MinnowZ), Zoom Bait Swimmin’ Super Fluke, and a variety of fluke style baits including those sold by Zoom and Bass Assassin.
Some of the above are deep-bodied lures such as the Storm Wild Eye, Tsunami, and Sassy Shad Swim Baits, while others are cigar shaped and have a narrower profile. As I recall, the deep-bodied styles became popular as a good imitation of peanut bunker, while the more-slender plastics, such as Cocahoe and Samurai Shads seemed to be a better match for sand eels, spearing, and anchovies.
Drawbacks
None of what I’m about to say is criticism. All lures have advantages and drawbacks. For example, I love Cocahoe Minnows and use them in an active surf with waves when a faster retrieve is needed to maintain stability in the water. In calm water, however, I sometimes use the softer Samurai Shads because, as pointed out above, they continue wiggling during the slowest retrieves. However, fish readily bite off the tails, tear them, and pull the plastic off the leadhead. So, be sure to bring along a bag of replacements. In addition, time is consumed while replacing damaged plastic and, as you may know, I consider that to be wasted time when I could be catching more fish.
Threading Plastic
Some anglers have a very tough time with this process. However, let me offer three tips that might make the process easier and more reliable. First, I prefer to rig the paddletails with the tail pointed down. That is, opposite to the tie-on eye on top of the leadhead. Second, and this is important, take a Sharpie marker and put a dot directly in the middle of the front blunt end of the plastic. Now take the plastic in one hand and the lead-head in the other, push against the leadhead, and match them by placing the hook against the top of the plastic. Put another dot on the plastic straight down from the bottom of the bend in the hook.
The two dots are your guide points. Insert the hook in the front dot and push the hook into the plastic. Do this slowly in order to keep the hook point going straight down the middle of the plastic. When the hook point reaches the second dot, push the point up and through the dot on the back. Now, push the plastic over the hook shaft until it rests against the back of the leadhead. When finished, the plastic should be straight, un-crumpled, the hook point well exposed, and the bottom of the bend of the hook should go through the dot on the back.
Matching
The third suggestion involves matching the size of the plastic to the size of the leadhead. This is important in order to achieve proper balance and create maximum action. Try this as a guide. A 4-inch plastic is matched to a one or 3/4-ounce head. A 5-inch plastic combines well with an 1-1/4 quarter or 1-1/2-ounce leadhead, and 6-inch plastics with a 2-ounce head. Many anglers overlook the importance of size and weight balance when matching lead heads to plastics.
The Gulp Factor
I have not mentioned Gulp plastics because, for me, they are in a different category. I rely heavily on them when fishing for fluke and other bottom dwellers that feed by scent as well as sight. Fluke, for example, use their eyes to locate movement and then swim to it, and make their final attack based on smell. Stripers, however, sense smell and vibration at a distance, but the final attack is by eye when it comes to plastic lures.
One Of The Go To Options
That brings me to Z-Man soft plastic lures. Although all Z-Man plastics are made of ElaZtech and have the same characteristics and advantages, I’ll continue to focus on paddletail styles, Therefore, I’ll discuss the Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ in 4 and 5-inch sizes.
The two best traits of this plastic are its vigorous wiggle and its durability. As mentioned above, the harder the plastic the more durable it is, but with less wiggle. Somehow, Z-Man has found a way to get both at the same time. Although Z-Man isn’t the first to produce stretchier and durable soft plastics, they have found the right chemistry to produce a great lure. It can be a chore to thread some stretchy plastics onto a hook, however, it only takes a moment to thread on a Z-Man, and that’s a big plus.
Other qualities I like include, the availability of lighter colors: I’ve used pearl, opening night, and pearl/blue glimmer with great success, and recently tried a few darker colors, too. Of course, I admire the ability of the plastic to stand up to bluefish teeth. I’ve often caught many school bass on a tide along with a few blues, and at the end of the day the plastic was still fit for the next day’s fishing. Yes, eventually the plastic wears out and sometimes a fish rips or bites off the tail, but this is rare, and most of the time I use the same plastic for several days.
Other Tips
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I must offer the angler who intends to try Z-Man products a few tips. First, never mix Z-Man with other soft plastics or carry the product in a plastic bag other than the bag they come in. There is an interaction between Z-Man and other plastics that causes them to melt together.
Next, never leave the Z-Man products in your vehicle when the weather is very hot. The heat may cause the plastic to lose its shape and permanently take on a bend or curve. I always bring my lures into the house, so I have not had a problem. Taking a lure bag or tackle box inside is automatic for me because I sharpen hooks and check the condition of the lures after every trip, and perhaps replace one style of lure with another.
Finally, I offer this tip that will result in many more casts and fish per trip. After I’ve pushed the Z-Man onto the hook to within a few millimeters of the back of the leadhead, I secure the Z-Man minnow to the back of the lead head by placing a drop of Loctite on the upper shaft of the hook. Then I push the plastic up the shaft and against the lead head and hold the two in place for a minute or so. You may have to repeat this every few days, but while the glue holds the plastic will remain securely in place, eliminating pull-downs.
