Leech

A flat, tapered ribbon that undulates at the slowest speed — northern smallmouth forage, and the finesse bait for shield lakes.

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 flat, soft ribbon body, sometimes with a suction-cup head, that undulates on the lightest jighead.
2. Designed for — Smallmouth and walleye on northern rock and sand: jighead crawled along bottom, drop-shotted, or on a Ned head. Where live leeches are the bait, this is the plastic.
3. Trade-offs — Finesse only; largemouth mostly ignore it.