Soft plastics revolutionised lure fishing in Australia. The flexible, lifelike plastic baits on a jig head can be twitched, hopped, swum and dropped to mimic almost any prey species. Bream, flathead, trout, bass, redfin, yellowbelly, jewfish — they all fall for the right soft plastic on the right retrieve.

Here's the practical guide to choosing soft plastics, jig heads and retrieves for Australian fresh and saltwater species.

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• Paddle tail (shad-style) — broad tail that thumps with each retrieve. Looks like a baitfish. Works for flathead, bream, bass, redfin. The all-rounder
• Curl tail / grub tail — long curling tail that wiggles with movement. Classic bream and flathead lure. Berkley Powerbait Power Grub is the standard
• Stick / fluke (Senko-style) — long pencil shape. Falls erratically when twitched. Killer on bass + bream when worked slowly
• Crayfish / yabby imitation — claws + body. Worked along the bottom. Murray cod, bass, big bream love them
• Worm / wacky-rig style — long thin body. Hooked through the middle for natural fall. Great finesse option
• Frog / topwater plastic — surface lure. Bass, snakeheads, even big trout in still water
• Jerk shad — slim baitfish profile. Twitched for darting action. Tailor, Aussie salmon, trevally

The jig head is a weighted hook. The weight controls sink rate; the hook size matches the plastic size.

• Weight selection — match to depth + current. Lightest possible to hit the bottom in 5 sec. Common: 1/24oz (light estuary), 1/12oz (general), 1/4oz (deeper boat work), 1/2oz+ (heavy sink)
• Hook size — match to plastic length. 3" plastic = 1/0 hook; 4" = 2/0; 5" = 3/0
• Round head — most versatile, balanced fall
• Football head — sits upright on the bottom; great for crayfish/bottom-bouncing
• Darter / bullet head — slim profile, good for casting distance
• Weedless designs — for fishing through weed beds, snags, rock cover

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• Lift + drop (vertical jig) — cast, let sink to bottom, lift rod tip 30cm, let it fall on slack line, repeat. The fall triggers the bite. Works on flathead, bream, jewfish, bass
• Twitch + pause — short sharp twitches with rod tip, pause 2-3 seconds. The pause is when fish hit. Works on lures with lots of natural movement
• Steady retrieve — straight, slow, constant wind. Good for searching unknown water with paddle-tails
• Slow roll — extra slow steady retrieve, almost dragging the bottom. Murray cod, bass
• Burn + pause — fast retrieve then dead stop. Triggers reaction strikes
• Hop + walk — small hops with the rod tip while reeling in slack. For trout, bream, finesse work

• Flathead — 4" paddle tail or 3" curl tail in white, gold, pink. Lift + drop along sandy/weedy bottoms
• Bream — 2-3" finesse plastics in natural colours (clear, motor oil, pumpkin). Slow twitching around pylons + structure
• Trout — 2-3" minnows / curl tails in browns + olives. Slow steady retrieve in streams; vary speed in lakes
• Yellowbelly (golden perch) — paddle tails or grubs in chartreuse, gold, red. Lift + drop around timber structure
• Bass — 3" stick baits or paddle tails. Twitch + pause near surface lily pads at dawn/dusk
• Redfin — 2-3" paddle tail in red, orange, white. Lift + drop near weedbeds + drop-offs
• Tailor — 4-5" jerk shad in white, silver. Fast retrieve with sharp twitches
• Murray cod — large 5-7" plastics, big jig heads, slow rolls along snags + timber

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• Berkley Powerbait / Gulp! — scent-impregnated, fish hold longer. Powerbait Minnow + Gulp Crabby are classics
• Z-Man ElaZtech — super-tough, last 10x longer than standard plastics. Doesn't sink (use heavier jigs). Great for prawn imitations
• Squidgies (Aussie brand) — wriggler, fish, bug — designed for Aussie species, scent-coated
• Strike Pro — value end, perfectly serviceable
• Keitech Easy Shiner — Japanese precision, premium price

• Match the hatch — use plastics that look like local prey. Where prawns dominate, use prawn imitations. Where baitfish are everywhere, use minnow shapes
• Water clarity drives colour: clear water = natural muted colours; dirty water = bright fluoro colours
• Use a fluorocarbon leader — invisible underwater, more abrasion-resistant. Tied via Albright knot to braid main line
• Re-rig promptly when the plastic gets torn — soft plastics with bite damage swim wrong
• Store plastics in their original bag — they melt other plastics on contact (real chemistry; very real damage)
• Practise the lift + drop until it's automatic. Most beginners reel too fast and miss the bite-on-fall

Soft plastics are the most versatile lure category in modern fishing. A small selection (5 different shapes, 3 colours each, a packet of jig heads) covers freshwater + saltwater + virtually every Aussie species. Once you've mastered the lift + drop you're a serious lure angler.

The other huge advantage: no smelly bait, no bait shop trip, no thawing prawns. Just a tackle box with $50 of plastics and you're set for years.