If you’ve been keeping up with my series on swimbaits, then you’ve learned a lot about a few different hard-bodied models available on the market. I’ve decided to continue the coverage of swimbaits and highlight a few soft plastic models that have grown in popularity over the years. Several companies offer their own spin on the soft plastic swimbait, but I’ve decided to highlight Yum’s Money Minnow, Strike King’s Shadalicious, the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad, and Rago’s BV 3D Swimbait, and Mattlure’s soft bluegill baits. These lures possess their own characteristics and have proven themselves to be very effective, both casually and in tournaments.
A great swimbait to start with if you’ve never fished one before is Strike King’s Shadalicious, a simple, yet effective, lure that is designed to mimic baitfish to the tee. Realistic 3D eyes, an oversized paddle tail that gives the bait a great action, and lifelike patterns have allowed this bait to swiftly rise in status among anglers. The bait can be rigged with a jighead or with a weighted hook and retrieved slowly or even in quick jerks to mimic panicked baitfish. The Shadalicious is available in 3.5, 4.5, 5.5, and 6.5-inch models and costs $9.99 per package.
The Yum Money Minnow has long been a favorite by anglers. With a great finish, durable plastic body, and amazing swimming action on the retrieve, the Money Minnow is usually the swimbait that curious shoppers pick up after they’ve tested the waters of swimbait territory and are looking to get a little more serious about using the lure on a permanent basis. Along with a plastic body made to withstand tons of wear and tear, the Money Minnow also boasts a belly slot that allows a weighted, or weight-free, swimbait hook to fit snugly within the body of the bait, which makes rigging the bait even easier. Furthermore, the belly slot also means that the hook has less material to contend with on a good hook set, which you’ll be thankful for when you use a slow retrieve pull in a “money” fish. (That’s where they got the name from, by the way.) The baits are available in five packs of the three and a half models and four packs of the five-inch models, and each costs only $8.99. All these features make Yum’s Money Minnow a great addition to any fishermen’s tackle box and have helped popularize swimbaits in so many ways in just the last few years alone.
The swimbaits listed above are only the first two out of an elite handful that I’ll be covering in this portion of my series on the lure itself. Be sure to check back for the final installment, where I’ll highlight three more amazing soft plastic swimbaits and wrap up my swimbait coverage. I’ve saved the best for last with the final three baits and I hope that, by the end of the series, your knowledge of the different swimbaits out there will have grown and if you’ve never tried them before, you’ll lean more towards this amazing lure in the future.
