For those who fish light tackle, what other floating, minnow style baits are out there?

 

I'm specifically looking for something that can replace my F-03 Original Floaters, these are 1.5" long and weigh in at 1/16oz. I pair this with my hiking rod, a 5'6" ultralight, spooled with 10lb PP and a thin mono leader. Although this setup has been very productive for me, I'd like to throw something a little heavier with a similar action and profile.

 

My ideal bait would be under 2", weigh in over 1/16oz. with a minnow profile, floating for topwater twitching, and swims with a good wobble.

 

For what it's worth, I have a number of squarebill cranks around 2" that the bass here seem to avoid, whereas a floating Rapala in the same size (F-05) slays them ?‍♂️ They really like that thinner profile in the small, pressured waters up here.

Yo-Zuri Pin’s Minnow is a fantastic floating bait. It’s 2” and weighs 1/16 oz. I not only catch a ton of nice rainbow trout on it, but high-pressured pond bass like it too. 

4 minutes ago, Dorado said:

Yo-Zuri Pin’s Minnow is a fantastic floating bait. It’s 2” and weighs 1/16 oz. I not only catch a ton of nice rainbow trout on it, but high-pressured pond bass like it too. 

Thanks for the recommendation, high-pressured pond bass are exactly what I deal with LOL.

 

I've had good luck with my Yo-Zuri 3DS minnow, I'll give the Pinner a try.

47 minutes ago, Dorado said:

Yo-Zuri Pin’s Minnow is a fantastic floating bait. It’s 2” and weighs 1/16 oz. I not only catch a ton of nice rainbow trout on it, but high-pressured pond bass like it too. 

The sinking Pins minnow has been great on trout the few times ive fished it.

Another similar lure is the rebel minnow. I believe its the F-49 size , which is 1 and a half inches long. Although not any heavier than the rapala minnow, it has a wider wiggle than the rapala. There is also a sinking version too. It's called the trac down minnow.

I like the rebels better than the rapalas in these diminutive sizes. I feel like the wider wiggle gets more strikes. Trout, panfish and small bass love them. I usually throw the silver blue back or silver black back. 

The hooks are pretty small on these things, so I sometimes up size by one hook size. It still allows the minnow to float and gets better hookups.

38 minutes ago, mrpao said:

Another similar lure is the rebel minnow. I believe its the F-49 size , which is 1 and a half inches long. Although not any heavier than the rapala minnow, it has a wider wiggle than the rapala. There is also a sinking version too. It's called the trac down minnow.

I like the rebels better than the rapalas in these diminutive sizes. I feel like the wider wiggle gets more strikes. Trout, panfish and small bass love them. I usually throw the silver blue back or silver black back. 

The hooks are pretty small on these things, so I sometimes up size by one hook size. It still allows the minnow to float and gets better hookups.

Great suggestion! While not exactly a minnow style bait, I was planning on picking up some crickhoppers/bighoppers for this scenario. I'll look into their minnow baits as well, thank you.

I've done well in creeks with Matzuo Nano Minnow.  They have a really subtle action and they are supposed to suspend, but that depends on water temp & line type/size.

Update: Purchased Rebel Crickhoppers in yellow and brown, and Yo-Zuri Pin’s Minnows in 1/16oz, in gold flame and silver/chartreuse. 

 

The crickhoppers cast really well on my UL rod, they float nicely and the fish in this pressured pond seem interested. The wobble is super wide, way wider than the Rapala, but not necessarily a bad thing. Keels out to one side, I’ll have to spend some time tuning them next time I’m out. Doesn’t seem to gather as much pond scum as the Rapala, probably due to the relatively big lip. Overall, pretty neat bait, I wish I had smaller hooks laying around to upgrade the stock ones. 

 

Onto the Pin’s Minnow...I had ordered two “floating” in 1/16oz. The finishes are great and the hardware is decent. I only had time to test one of them, the silver/chartreuse. Tied up, tossed it in...and much to my dismay, it suspends! Maybe it’s the water temperature, I reckon it’s at least mid-upper 80’s, and air temp was in the 90’s. I found the wiggle on a fast retrieve to be very tight, almost too tight out of the box, but there’s still much to experiment with. I was disappointed that it wouldn’t float/twitch on the surface. However, if it still suspends when the water is colder, it’ll make a great little jerkbait. Next time I’m out on the water, I’ll remove the stock split ring and tie off with a loop knot in an effort to get these to float and wiggle a little better. 

 

The search for the ultimate tiny floating jerkbait is still on. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.