Goby bait

A fat-headed, flat-bellied bottom minnow that sits on rock like the real thing — the Great Lakes smallmouth bait.

Soft plastics are the biggest family in bass fishing: 36 shapes, each designed for a rig, a depth and a mood.

• Shape = design purpose: fish, worm, craw, creature, tube, frog
• Finesse tier vs power tier: the same shape at 3.5 in and 7 in is two different techniques
• Tail type decides the action; body decides the fall
• Rig it the way it was designed to be rigged

1. What it is — A 3-4 in realistic goby: wide head, tapered flat body, small tail, made to sit belly-down on a jighead or Ned head.
2. Designed for — Smallmouth on rock and sand where gobies are the main forage — Great Lakes, Ontario shield lakes, rivers. Dragged and deadsticked, not swum.
3. Trade-offs — A one-forage bait: where there are no gobies, a craw or a tube does the same job.