Here it almost boils down to the water conditions for the year.

 

Some years, dirtier and more wind and rain and more cold fronts - I'll go through more hard baits.

 

Some years, much cleaner water, more calm days on the water, more stable conditions - I'll use a boat load more soft baits.

 

Which is more "expensive"?

 

Soft baits without a doubt.

 

I have frogs and jerkbaits that have caught 100+ fish.

 

I can't count the number of worms that came apart before they caught a fish.

80 percent of my fishing is with plastics. Plastics ...

Good Fishing

17 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I have frogs and jerkbaits that have caught 100+ fish.

 

My pink Shimano Flashboost popper has also caught hundreds of bass and I expect it'll catch hundreds more later this summer. 

Fishing soft plastics, there is a steady cost through the day as you fish them.  Between fish eating, popping through weeds, swing and miss hooksets, etc you are constantly wearing them down and replacing them.  The individual cost might not be high, but as soon as you rig one up you've incurred cost.

 

Hardbaits (and wire baits) cost you once when you lose one but it hurts a lot more.  That said, I couldn't tell you the last time I lost a hardbait/wirebait to a snag or tree.  In the boat/kayak it's just too easy to ease over and pop it free.  I had a buzzbait break on me last year.  I lost an OG6 to a pike 4 years ago where I pulled the snap open.  And I lost a red eye shad that I had been digging in rocks when the braid got cut on a mussel.  That pretty much covers the past 5 years, and I've found 3x more hard baits than I've lost.

 

Meanwhile, last trip out I went through the equivalent of a bag of soft plastics between fish and lost fish.  Some will get repurposed as trailers or neds, but I have a fistful of plastic sitting in the boat right now.  The trip before it was jighead minnows in a brushpile.  I lost two yum jigheads before I remembered I had plain lead ballheads in the boat and swapped to those and a 3" twister tail.

It's about even for me.  Last weekend I went through 3 packs of soft plastics, while I lost two spinnerbaits and one crankbait.  If I am fishing soft plastics it is expensive, and if I'm fishing hard baits it's expensive.  Bait Monkey wins either way.

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

My pink Shimano Flashboost popper has also caught hundreds of bass and I expect it'll catch hundreds more later this summer.

 

The lake level is currently as high as I have ever seen it and there is one flooded grass flat (that's actually flat, which is rare here) and the bass were absolutely mobbing the shad against the bank in the devil grass at the water's edge. I threw a flash boost popper right into the ruckus, grass and all and was rewarded with a fat three pounder. My son remarked that he'd never seen bass go nuts like that. They were just thrashing with their fat white bellies rolling in the grass. TBH, they probably would have eaten anything you threw in there, which is why I chose something with some sticky sharp trebles.

 

Tom, keep your eyes to the sky. The bat-signal should be appearing soon. . .

15 minutes ago...

Definitely soft plastics.

 

I haven’t replaced or bought a hard bait with any regular frequency in years. But I go through bags of soft plastics every season. Other than fishing line, it’s the only thing I buy with any regularity these days.

 

Edit: initially, the hard bait cost may be more. But once you accumulate some, they don’t need replacing like plastics do.

 

Thats is, unless you’re constantly getting bit off by snot rockets.

Probably plastics for most people but if you have a penchant for JDM / rare hard baits coupled with bad luck I could easily see this going the other way...

23 hours ago, softwateronly said:

@A-Jay you sure about the gar?  Long nose and spotted are native to MI and widespread.  I see them all the time and have been bit, but never hooked up with one down in SW MI.

 

scott

 

I see them from time to time also but never hooked up with one.  

 

Pike and bowfins are another story, though, and they easily tip the scales to hardbaits being more expensive as far as I'm concerned. 

On 6/10/2025 at 9:42 PM, LrgmouthShad said:

Soft plastics are more expensive. If I have one good day with a particular soft plastic, I will buy 4 packs in the color(s) that worked and the bass will never bite it again.

This. 

On 6/11/2025 at 8:30 AM, Swamp Girl said:

 

My pink Shimano Flashboost popper has also caught hundreds of bass and I expect it'll catch hundreds more later this summer. 

 

Bought 2 of those to try this year as they look like they really work. 

 

And my answer is soft plastics as I only lose one hardbait every two years. Actually I break more hardbaits than I lose.

 

Allen 

 

Plastics - but I lose my fair share of hard-baits as well, either to pike or snags I can't get to.

Soft plastics for sure. But mend it had helped a lot. I’m that guy lol. I’ll glue em back up for sure lol. Honestly though I don’t really fish hard baits much lol

Lost one of my JDM Chatterbaits tonight...ouch! 

Soft plastics.  When I snag I often lose the hook and weight along with the bait.