By far my most productive lures are soft plastics most likely because that's what I cast 90% of the time. I'm too lazy to cast many other lures that have caught fish in the past for bass such a spinnerbaits, surface lures, crankbaits, weedless bass jigs, etc. (Though maybe this year I'll carry a baitcast reel and some of those.)
Some anglers prefer heavy jigs with painted heads and barbs to hold lures on. I don't. The jigs I prefer are unpainted, 1/16 oz or lighter and barbless. Every year I catch small and large fish on them from 4 lb sucker to 6lb catfish to 4" yellow perch. Small hooks never open or break no matter the size fish.

How do the lures stay up on the jighead?: wire Grub-Grip
It's not hard to add to any jig and the lure will never slide down. Here's how to add the wire grip to a jig:

1. Cut a small length of 24g floral arrangement wire as shown and line it up it with the line tie post
2. Wrap one side around tight
3. Cut one side close to the post
4. bend the remaining side into a L
5. swing the point into the plastic as shown

(BTW, IMO jig head color adds to a fish's visual of the lure as greater in length and not much else. Bare lead for me. Even my bass spinnerbaits are unpainted.)

When it comes to what soft plastic shapes to use, the sky's the limit. Match lure size to size fish you want to catch and those you don't. For example, I'll cast a 1/16 oz jig + 2" or shorter soft plastic lure to catch most sized fish; heavier jigs and longer lures for larger fish but excluding small fish.

senkosam: "By far my most productive lures are soft plastics most likely because that's what I cast 90% of the time...."

That's the "Theory of the Black Jig Head." I catch most of my fish on black jigs, so I always tie on a black jig.

Soft plastic guy here too. I will always go to them first. We each have a confidence shape/style/brand…I’m a fan of the “Ned style” heads with the keeper but I still use a dab of super glue to keep them up. My experience echos that head color makes very little difference. Maybe in clear, clear water where you want to stay natural but lead gray is about as natural as you can get.

Nice wire hack! You can also use a little snip of paper clip. Orthodontist rubber band to hold in place. Attach with JB weld.

I'd never seen this lure shape which I discovered last summer.
I was fishing a curl tail grub and the tail was bit off by a pickerel at the boat. So I figured: why not fish the body with no tail? Sure enough the modified grub caught everything and on the days that followed.I continued making similar shapes that did just as well. The last photo shows two grub bodies attached by using a candle to melt the ends. The action is similar to a Zara Spook: a darting back-and-forth action when twitched with the rod tip. Braid allows the best action for any small subsurface lure and it's the only line I use.

Good stuff. Mend-It lure weld works well for creating custom plastics.

I use a candle flame to join the pieces and a soldering iron to smooth the seam.