What are your top 3 most productive soft plastics in the Boundary Waters or Quetico?

Everyone knows my top one.....

1) ZMAN Shadz - 5 inch jerk shad ( AKA StreakZ, Zulu, and Z-Too )
2) Strike King Green Pumpkin Tubes ( 3.5" and 4.5" )
3) ZMAN RaZor

1) 4” senko or generic stick worm equivalent wacky rigged weightless on a wide gap hook

2) Berkley ripple shad 3” or 3.5” either vertically jigged or used as a swimbait

3) soft plastic jerkbait (fluke, Zulu, etc)

YUM Crawbug

Anybody have much luck with those creature baits up there?

5" senco
4" twister tail
creature: someone i was with a couple years ago caught a nice walleye on a creature. He wasn't even trying. the lure was hanging in the water off the edge of the canoe and wham.

3" curly tail is all I take.

quote AmarilloJim: "3" curly tail is all I take."

What brands do you use? Any colors more productive than others this year?

Smallies: 5” white senko whacky style

Walleyes: 3-4 inch Northland Impulse twister tail or B-fishin tackle 4” AuthentX Moxi. I like white and chartreuse the most

I want to start doing more swimbaits and zulus.

T

quote tarnkt: "1) 4” senko or generic stick worm equivalent wacky rigged weightless on a wide gap hook


2) Berkley ripple shad 3” or 3.5” either vertically jigged or used as a swimbait


3) soft plastic jerkbait (fluke, Zulu, etc)"

Never had any luck with a 4" last time I was up there. Nothing. But had a lot of with the 5". Same down here in Indiana, 4" just didn't seem to entice them like a 5"

Kaelen's line of tails.

Good topic, I am interested in what folks are using. No secret I have been using oversized swimbaits for pike but I haven't been using plastics much lately for bass or walleye.

The Big Bite Baits Warmouth is an impressive little package but I have mostly been using it as a Chatterbait trailer rigged sideways. The pros like this bait quite a bit.

I have had excellent success however with a Charlie Brewer 4" motor oil worm colored worm (the one with the orange tip on the tail) coupled with a 1/16 oz slider head. This combo on light line has accounted for the majority of my larger bass and is particularly effective in tough situations like clear water and sunny days. Pretty much can't miss, they will eat it if your line is light enough.

I would have figured there would be more than 9 people on this forum who use soft plastics up north. Maybe it is just a lack of people reading threads about fishing during this time of the year? Hopefully some others will join in, would really like to know what has been productive this past season, always looking for something new.

I don't have much experience with soft plastics, but I have made an effort recently to add them to the arsenal. I bought some Z-Man ned rig jigs and white split tail worm-type items, and have actually had a bit of luck with them. I'm anxious to get out some more next year and really give these a try...as well as a fancy new sonar!

I feel like some familiarity with plastics will be critical to future Q trips, and a whole lot easier to haul into bwca than live bait.

I use them now and then when fishing is slow but mostly stick to live/frozen bait and don't really mess around with anything else.

1. 5" senkos around any weeds
2. Flukes/zulus as a topwater alternative
3. 4" Dead Ringers for neutral/negative fish. Similar to Mastertangler's 4" worm setup.

No color preference on the senkos. Watermelon and shad colors on the flukes, and watermelon the clear top choice for Dead Ringers.

quote QueticoMike: "

quote AmarilloJim: "3" curly tail is all I take."

What brands do you use? Any colors more productive than others this year?"

Kalin's, white or bluegill.

I’m boring. 4 inch BP triple ripple in white or black....pumpkin 2.75 inch salt Craw. Although, in October we were in the White Otter area and killed them with amber pepper 4 inch grubs....3 or 4 to 1 over black or white. Cloudy, rainy, cold, 30-35 ft deep.

Has anybody tried the dual tailed twister jigs? I never have, but I am intrigued by them and might have to give them a go. I would think a green or brown one would really resemble a craw.

White 3" Mister Twister. 4" Milky Salt and Pepper Power Bait. 4" Kalin's, Blue Pearl.
Dark colors work too at times....I bring too much stuff.

The Only One I take. Bass and walleye eat 'em.

Be a tad careful....double tails are A LOT of movement. Jigs generally ar a neutral-ish lure. Probably going to take a bit of research to find the right times. I have used them successfully...and single tails were just as productive. Just thought about this: when fishing in current, the double tail will probably make a jig a bit mor buoyant, slowing the fall.....might be advantageous when letting it “sweep” downstream.

I like the double tails but as bassnetalsike has pointed out it's a lot of movement. I like them in darker colors which seems to tone them down a bit. I usually use them as a trailer on a skirted jig.

quote AndySG: "The Only One I take. Bass and walleye eat 'em.




"

a couple years ago i found a gulp alive minnow in the stomach of an LT that we had for dinner... :-)

green pumpkin tubes
6" Z-Man lizards in green pumpkin
silver flukes
grubs
worms
(Get the idea? I have great luck with pretty much any soft plastic I use up there. Just depends on the time of year, water temp and where I am.)

Terry

Ring worms, flukes, and white twisters

Berkley Swim shad

4 inch Berkley black power worm with a Charlie brewer slider head

3 inch Berkley power twister tails

Last year we did well with split shot rigged tubes (Gitzits) and with the new Storm 360 search baits.

i have only one, it has been used exclusively for 25+ years, a 4 inch black, berkley power worm on a charlie brewer weedless hook, also black.

In my early years, used 3" twister tails almost exclusively. White and chartreuse for walleyes, smoke and pumpkinseed for smallies. Then transitioned to jig worms for smallies, 4" green pumpkin or similar.

Swimbaits would be in my top three, YUM Money Minnows mostly.

Have only recently tossed Zulus. Have yet to pitch a senko. Want to try Ned rigs too.

I am really sold on the Z-man plastics. But I have literally boxes of the other stuff I feel I need to use up...

quote QueticoMike: "

quote AmarilloJim: "3" curly tail is all I take."

What brands do you use? Any colors more productive than others this year?"

Mister twister or Cabela's brand.
White, milktreuse, chartreuse, black, orange.
They all seem to work well.
I mainly pitch currents for walleye.

quote Bdubguy: "In my early years, used 3" twister tails almost exclusively. White and chartreuse for walleyes, smoke and pumpkinseed for smallies. Then transitioned to jig worms for smallies, 4" green pumpkin or similar.


Swimbaits would be in my top three, YUM Money Minnows mostly.


Have only recently tossed Zulus. Have yet to pitch a senko. Want to try Ned rigs too.


I am really sold on the Z-man plastics. But I have literally boxes of the other stuff I feel I need to use up..."

Yes, the Z-man plastics are so much better than Zoom flukes, I am surprised to see that people still use them. If they saw how much stronger and durable those lures made from ElaZtech are maybe they would switch. They last 10 times longer than flukes, just seem like a "no- brainer" to me. I have yet to have anyone tell me they have caught 75 to 100 fish on one fluke. I don't think I have heard anyone say they have caught more than 10 on one. Save some money, buy ZMAN.

quote AmarilloJim: "3" curly tail is all I take."

+1 on a jig or a jig spinner is always my go to especially if fishing is slow , my #1 color would be yellow , Mr.twister brand

Kalins,Slimers,Elaztech

Gulp 5" leeches
Berkeley 3" power bait grubs- chartreuse or black
Toss up between Senkos (297) and tubes ( currently I like Mizmo).
I had some fun experimenting with Jackall clone fry on a drop shot rig for walleye.

Senkos. Its all about a Senko.

For smallmouth 4 inch is the key. They have much smaller mouths and I find we get better hooksets with a 4 inch model. Watermelon

-FT

quote FishermanTed: "Senkos. Its all about a Senko.


For smallmouth 4 inch is the key. They have much smaller mouths and I find we get better hooksets with a 4 inch model. Watermelon


-FT"

How are you rigging your Senko?

Senko's -wacky in watermelon
Gulp Minnows
Zulu's

quote QueticoMike: "

quote FishermanTed: "Senkos. Its all about a Senko.



For smallmouth 4 inch is the key. They have much smaller mouths and I find we get better hooksets with a 4 inch model. Watermelon



-FT"

How are you rigging your Senko?"

That was my first thought. I had good luck at Presque Isle using Senkos and mushroom jig heads (Ned rig).

quote mastertangler: "

quote QueticoMike: "

quote FishermanTed: "Senkos. Its all about a Senko.


For smallmouth 4 inch is the key. They have much smaller mouths and I find we get better hooksets with a 4 inch model. Watermelon



-FT"

How are you rigging your Senko?"

That was my first thought. I had good luck at Presque Isle using Senkos and mushroom jig heads (Ned rig). "

I don't know how often FT frequents this site, but I know there are some monster smallies in his lakes up there. Just curious about his rigging. Maybe it is a simple wacky rig?

Lots of interesting comments. I have to admit I have not tried a lot of what others have used with great success. My three favorite soft plastics are:

#1 : Three inch curly tail in smoke/flake color scheme fished on an unpainted 1/8 ounce ball jig head.

#2 : Three inch curly tail in motor oil color scheme fished on an unpainted 1/8 ounce ball jig head.

#3: 4 inch worm with curly tail (black, brown, watermelon) on a 1/16 ounce Charlie Brewer slider head.

I usually do not fish deep water. My largest Pike and Walleye have been caught on one of these soft plastics. I have never gone to the BWCA without a good supply of plastics and jig heads.

Thanks for all the other ideas. I do have some zman baits but have not had a chance to fish them yet.

quote lundojam: " "

I usually wacky rig like this; often with an o-ring and often with a nail weight or screw in flat end. you can also do a drop shot rig. I like the nail weight better in river or narrows/current.
Also; on a curly tail grub....I have taped down the grub tail flat , masked off the grub body and spray-painted ONE flat side of the tail for extra attraction. There are times when this turns the bite ON. Usually siver to a white grub or gold on a black. This tip has pleasantly surprised me more than once when the bite was slow for whatever reason. My favorite "factory" color list on grubs includes a salt/pepper smoke clear or pearl and on senkos I prefer a green cast.

Not much for me to add that hasn't already been said.

Soft plastic jerkbaits
Curly tails
Tubes
Senkos
Gulp minnows

If they won't bite on one of those, I'm changing lakes. :)

As a big fan of the Senko/ Sluggo style, i use a Pachinko, Made by MG Lures in Minnesota.. Tthey can be ordered with heavy salt(tad faster drop) and choice of scent. It is a custom pour place, so if you have a favorite, they can do it.... although they offer a rainbow of colors.

quote bassnet: "As a big fan of the Senko/ Sluggo style, i use a Pachinko, Made by MG Lures in Minnesota.. Tthey can be ordered with heavy salt(tad faster drop) and choice of scent. It is a custom pour place, so if you have a favorite, they can do it.... although they offer a rainbow of colors."

What size do you prefer?

4 and 5 inch Senko-type on a 4 or 5/0 EWG up in BW...and move up to a 6 or 7 inch on a 5/0 EWG here at home. Of note, water clarity at home is 6 inches to 2-3 ft!! Larger helps. I will be just north of the White Otter area the last of May, and plan to do a close examination of the Ned Rig. I think SMB, just pulling into pre-spawn positions, could be very vulnerable to a neutral, slow , compact jig in a wide variety of weather/ temp conditions. Anyway, sounds good on paper!

Just a tip on fishing senkos wacky style. Run a small piece of heat/shrink tube over the worm to the center, heat it to tighten it up on the worm, run the hook through the heat/shrink and worm. This rig last a loooonnggggg time. Better than o ring type rigs.

We use all the same soft plastics already mentioned strike king tubes (thicker/tougher), berkley powerbait 3” tails (Walleye white and chart.), Zman zenkers (a little slow and fussy but effective), Zman shad. We use a lot of soft plastic and our biggest concern with soft plastics is the weight really adds up so we use as much Zman products and super glue as we can to reduce weight.

Good stuff BnD

What do you use to heat the tubing? I typically use a propane torch when working electrical connections but something tells me that might not work so well on a worm.

Do you rig your wacky worms before you go? Have any problems melting the worms?

Zman TRDs

Zman swimbaits

YUM senkos

Just use a bic lighter. It won’t melt the worm unless you put excessive amount of heat on it. Hs tubing required very little heat to shrink. The only trick is getting the right size shrink tubing for the worms your using. I.e. 4” worms req a smaller tubing than 5” worms. It should be just big enough to easily slide on the worm but, not too big so it shrinks with minimal heat and tight. It only takes a small piece of hs tubing. You will lose waaayyy less worms using this rigging technique and it maintains the hook position very well i.e. 90 to worm. Hook through the hs tubing and worm. It will not tear worms or wear them out for a long time. No Orings or tools required. Try it you’ll see. This is the best and most durable rig I’ve found for fishing wacky style. No we don’t rig before we go we just pre cut pieces of hs tubing and use/shrink as needed.

Thanks, I like it.

BnD,

I like your heat shrink trick instead of using O rings for wacky rigging Senko's.

A couple of questions:

You mentioned positioning hook through the heat shrink tubing and the Senko worm. How deep do you run your hook through the worm at a 90 degree angle? Right through the middle ?

Also, what "hook model and size hook" do you use for thicker 5 inch worms and thinner 4 inch worms. Do you feel you have to increase hook size when you use tubing because you are threading the hook through the worm and tube? When I use O rings I am sliding the hook right under the O ring and most of the hook is exposed.

Also, since I fish Quetico and I have to crimp down the barb ... should I go to a larger size hook?

When using O Rings the hook is positioned "parallel" to the worm ... do you feel a 90 degree perpendicular angle with your heat shrink setup gives you better hook sets when smallmouth fishing?

Guido Hibdon Shrink Tube

Any helpful wacky rigging input from fellow bwca fishermen would be appreciated.

Her is another tip I found online while searching Wacky Riggin':

Another Senko worm tip

Mine are simple and boring:

1. 3" Mister Twister curly tail grub: white, char, and black over a green tail if I can find it.

I bring a handful of jigs and some spinner harnesses, (think a beetle spin), and I can fish any depth of water with that simple set up. It's always been good to me.

Nomad

I'll have to try the heat shrink method. Sounds interesting. Always used the o ring method and have had fish pull them off or drive em up past the weed guard on a weedless hook. Never had any luck on a 4" worm but kill em on a 5". Usually use a wire guard weedless hook any style seems to work. Have even caught trout on them when stream fishing smallies.

I do it exactly like Guido Hibdon shows in your video except I just use a bic lighter I keep in my tackle box. The hook at 90* will absolutely catch more fish since the hook is more exposed for hook ups rather than blocked by the worm. That is the premise of the saddle rigs sold by Tackle Warehouse. I use size 1 or 1/0 finesse hooks. (4" and 5" worms). Hook'em through as deep as you want you just need to adjust your hook size accordingly since the deeper you hook'em the more hook gap your taking up. If you use Zman Zinkers combined to HS tubing you'll catch a lot more than 5-6 per worm. Throw in some plastic weld to repair at the end of the day and really stretch your worm use.

BnD,

Thanks for your setup recommendations. Looking forward to giving it a try.

I did some internet searching last night and looks like Gopher Tackle Mushroom Jigs may get the nod vs. ZMan Shroom Z. I like the idea of the keeper on the ZMan Shroom Z. Your thoughts?

Also looked like 1/16 oz was best all round size among most fisherman posters but many pros go with the 1/32 size for a slower drop rate. Again your thoughts ?

Thanks

Well, QM, i have purchased a jig mold and Some Zman products.... time to start pouring, doing some reading(while bow hunting!), and get ready for a Ned Rig spring!........might extend it into the summer.........

quote bassnet: "Well, QM, i have purchased a jig mold and Some Zman products.... time to start pouring, doing some reading(while bow hunting!), and get ready for a Ned Rig spring!........might extend it into the summer........."

Let me know how it goes, Good Luck!

QM
Why do the elaztech baits have a different name every year.......
Our we in jeopardy of them going away.....
My favorite plastics in the BWCA are the Moxi in orange red core and the ZTOO in ice both on 1/4 to 3/8 oz BFishn precision jigs sometimes with a small spin in front.