3 Best Soft Plastic Jerkbaits

Soft plastic jerkbaits, or fluke style baits are one of the most realistic and versatile lures you can fish.

They have amazing baitfish profiles, a naturally soft body, and near limitless rigging options. But since just about every lure company makes their own soft plastic jerkbait, it can be hard to decide which one to buy.

And although they all work, we have found the 3 best soft plastic jerkbaits that outproduce all others.

Best Soft Plastic Jerkbait:

1. 6th Sense Flush

The 6th Sense Flush 5.2″ swimbait is packed with features, including realistic pectoral, dorsal, anal, and forked tail fins, plus a keel-shaped belly.

This 5.2-inch lure boasts exceptional stability thanks to a small ball at the base of its tail, which also creates its incredible action and flutter.

Pectoral fins further enhance stability, even during pauses in your retrieve, for a perfect presentation.

Its namesake “flush” comes from the dorsal fin, which doubles as a weed guard, deflecting vegetation from the exposed hook.

While commonly rigged weightless on an EWG hook, the Flush offers versatility. It excels as a chatterbait trailer, running true with a slight hunting action, and its forked tail provides a more aggressive, erratic movement compared to paddle tails when jerked.

It also pairs effectively with a scrounger head. While it’s great fished in its most common configuration, exploring the Flush’s various rigging options is highly recommended.

• Matching pectoral fins
• Horizontal forked tail fins
• Keel-style belly
• Built-in weed guard
• Quantity per pack: 8

2. Strike King Caffeine Shad

Get ready for explosive strikes with the Strike King Caffeine Shad! These soft plastic jerkbaits are made with Strike King’s special formula, packed with salt and a super-soft texture that attracts fish and makes them hold on tight.

The unique coffee scent masks your human scent and oils, triggering aggressive strikes.

The Caffeine Shad’s bulbus, bubble tail creates an irresistible shimmy and wiggle as it falls and whips around as you retrieve the bait.

This bait has more of an erratic and fluent action than any other soft jerkbait on the market.

• Unique air-filled bubble tail
• Laced with real coffee scent
• Loaded with heavy salt
• Soft and pliable plastic
• Versatile fishing styles
• Quantity per pack: 8

3. Zoom Super Fluke

This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the original soft jerkbait. Zoom’s Salty Super Fluke is still a top-tier soft jerkbait, renowned for its fish-catching prowess. Its realistic fish profile entices a variety of species in both fresh and saltwater, but it’s especially effective on largemouth bass.

The streamlined design allows for effortless gliding and darting motions with minimal rod movement.

The Zoom Super Fluke is a sinks much slower than the other jerkbaits on this list. So when fished weightless, it is really a topwater presentation because the bait sinks too slowly to keep it down in the water.

For deeper presentations around structure or heavy cover, simply add insert weights. With a wide range of colors available, you’re sure to find the perfect match for your local waters.

• Fluke lure in a 5.25 in. universal baitfish size
• Soft, durable jerkbait with split tail
• Deep belly and forked tail help it swoop and glide
• Innumerable other ways to fish the bait fish profile
• Salt-impregnated
• Quantity per pack: 10

Best Colors for Soft Jerkbaits:

Colors are a bit different in that they are fairly dependent on the body of water you are fishing.

Depending on water clarity or forage in your lake, the colors you choose will vary. But for the most part, I keep it super simple and only use a couple of colors.

Of course, feel free to experiment as much as you want, or simply choose the colors that look the coolest to you.

But these are the top two colors I recommend:

• Grey or Silver: All three of the baits listed above come in a few different shades or styles of grey. Some look more silver, some look more charcoal grey, and others are very translucent. But for the most part, as long as it is a grey/silver type of color, it will work great. I use these colored soft jerkbaits as my shad imitation. They perfectly mimic shad, especially in clear water and have always been my number one choice.
• Green Pumpkin or Watermelon: Green Pumpkin and Watermelon are both greenish colors. They have very natural hues and imitate bluegill and baby bass extremely well. When I am pond fishing, I usually use these colored soft jerkbaits because the main forage in most ponds is bluegill and baby bass. But because the green colors look very natural in the water, they will also work in large lakes and rivers very well.

Reeling this In

Soft Jerkbaits are one of my absolute favorite bass lures. They can be fished on spinning gear or casting gear and are always a super realistic baitfish imitation that always seems to get bit.

If you are just getting started with fishing them or are trying to take your game to the next level, give these three baits a try.

They have produced the best results for us and we highly recommend fishing them!