Rubber Bait Rundown

An understanding of each bait’s qualities will help you choose the  right one for the situation.

- Spencer Berman

 

In the last 10 years, we have seen the rubber bait market explode. Where it used to be just Bulldawgs and Big Joes for your options, there are now almost too many companies to count. On top of that, each of these companies offers several different options of rubber baits to choose from, including single-tails, double-tails, triple-tails, paddle-tailed baits, shallow harness baits, deep-harness baits, flexible-harnesses, tails stacked vertically, tails stacked horizontally, and the list goes on.

Call ’em rubber or soft plastic, the large number of bait options adds versatility to our rubber arsenal. But it also makes it extremely complicated to determine the best time to use each bait. However, by taking an in-depth look at the baits’ unique qualities, including running depth, water displacement, profile and retrieve type, you will be able to choose the best bait for any fishing application.

For the sake of simplicity i will only discuss the products of the two largest and most popular rubber lure manufacturers — musky innovations and chaos tackle. But you can use the same principles to categorize any rubber lures, whether they are made by Suick, Savage, musky mania tackle, Water Wolf tackle, etc.

Running Depth

One of the best ways to categorize the long list of rubber baits is by running depth. This will not only help to set these lures apart from one another but will allow you to make an educated decision on which lure to choose based on the depth of water you are looking to cover.