# Soft plastic formats: worm, creature, Ned, paddle

> Finesse worm, creature bait, Ned, stick bait. Four formats, four moulds, four different specifications - and Rapala shipped three of them at one show.

Source: https://luressource.com/opportunities/soft-plastic-bait-formats/

Direct answer. Finesse worm, creature bait, Ned, stick bait. Four formats, four moulds, four different specifications - and Rapala shipped three of them at one show. Rapala expanded CrushCity at ICAST 2026 with the Inspector, a finesse worm built with Jacob Wheeler for pressured fish and clear water. The Inspector is a thin-profile finesse worm in 5-inch and 6.5-inch sizes, rigged Neko, drop shot, shaky head, Texas or wacky. Key facts. 1) Rapala expanded CrushCity at ICAST 2026 with the Inspector, a finesse worm built with Jacob Wheeler for pressured fish and clear water. 2) The Inspector is a thin-profile finesse worm in 5-inch and 6.5-inch sizes, rigged Neko, drop shot, shaky head, Texas or wacky. 3) The Knuckle Bug is a streamlined creature bait for flipping, pitching, Texas rigging, free rigging and as a jig trailer. 4) Rapala also added the Salted NedRoll to the same family, and new sizes and colours for The Mayor. 5) CrushCity took both soft-lure awards at ICAST 2026, so the brand that shipped the widest format range also took the most votes. Sources (6). 1) Rapala Expands Crush City line of Soft Plastics at ICAST 2026, On The Water, 2026-07-21 — https://onthewater.com/rapala-expands-crush-city-line-of-soft-plastics-at-icast-2026 2) Rapala's CrushCity leads ICAST award winners, Angling International, 2026-07-16 — https://angling-international.com/2026/07/16/rapalas-crushcity-leads-icast-award-winners/ 3) The Best Soft Plastic Baits for Bass Fishing, Field & Stream — https://fieldandstream.com/outdoor-gear/fishing-gear/baits-lures-and-flies/best-soft-plastic-baits-for-bass 4) Keep on Crushin' with The New Size 3-1/2 and New Colors for 'The Mayor', Rapala — https://www.rapala.com/us_en/blog/new-size-colors-the-mayor-crushcity 5) UN Comtrade — China export statistics under HS 9507, 2023-2024 (retrieved from the official API) — https://comtradeplus.un.org/ 6) Harmonized System heading 9507 (rods, hooks, reels, lures) — US HTS lookup — https://hts.usitc.gov/ Soft plastic formats: what the 2026 launches actually are Direct answer Finesse worm, creature bait, Ned, stick bait. Four formats, four moulds, four different specifications - and Rapala shipped three of them at one show. Rapala expanded CrushCity at ICAST 2026 with the Inspector, a finesse worm built with Jacob Wheeler for pressured fish and clear water. The Inspector is a thin-profile finesse worm in 5-inch and 6.5-inch sizes, rigged Neko, drop shot, shaky head, Texas or wacky. Key facts Rapala expanded CrushCity at ICAST 2026 with the Inspector, a finesse worm built with Jacob Wheeler for pressured fish and clear water. The Inspector is a thin-profile finesse worm in 5-inch and 6.5-inch sizes, rigged Neko, drop shot, shaky head, Texas or wacky. The Knuckle Bug is a streamlined creature bait for flipping, pitching, Texas rigging, free rigging and as a jig trailer. Rapala also added the Salted NedRoll to the same family, and new sizes and colours for The Mayor. CrushCity took both soft-lure awards at ICAST 2026, so the brand that shipped the widest format range also took the most votes. Soft plastic is a category name, not a product. Under it sit a finesse worm that has to be thin and soft, a creature bait that has to carry a big hook through cover, a Ned bait where the salt is the design, and a paddle tail where the tail has to run true at speed. Four moulds, four material packages, four sets of tolerances. That is why a launch like Rapala's is worth reading closely. The same brand shipped three different formats at one show and took both soft-lure awards. The lesson for a buyer is not to copy the shapes. It is that a range is built from formats, and a quotation should follow the format rather than the colour. Rapala expanded CrushCity at ICAST 2026 with the Inspector, a finesse worm built with Jacob Wheeler for pressured fish and clear water. The Inspector is a thin-profile finesse worm in 5-inch and 6.5-inch sizes, rigged Neko, drop shot, shaky head, Texas or wacky. The Knuckle Bug is a streamlined creature bait for flipping, pitching, Texas rigging, free rigging and as a jig trailer. Rapala also added the Salted NedRoll to the same family, and new sizes and colours for The Mayor. CrushCity took both soft-lure awards at ICAST 2026, so the brand that shipped the widest format range also took the most votes. Four formats, four moulds Finesse worm thin section, soft compound, drop shot Creature bait appendages, big hook, heavy cover Ned and stick short, dense, salt is the design Paddle tail tail geometry that has to run true The word 'soft plastic' covers moulds with almost nothing in common. What moves the unit price Soft plastics look alike in a quotation and do not look alike in a mould. Cost driver Why it moves the price How to control it in the order Mould complexity Appendages, ribs and thin sections slow the cycle and raise the scrap rate. Fix the appendage count and the rib pattern before tooling, not after. Material hardness and additive package Soft compounds fish better and tear sooner; salt and scent add both weight and cost. Decide the additive package against the rigging intent, because salt that suits a Ned bait ruins a drop-shot worm. Colour changes Each colourway is a changeover, and flake is a second step. Price a defined launch range, and treat additions as new orders. Pack count and format Small retail counts cost more per piece to pack. Quote the pack separately from the bait. Tooling ownership A stock mould is faster and cheaper; a new mould is an asset the buyer may or may not own. State ownership and what happens to the mould at the end of the relationship. Four formats, four specifications The word 'soft plastic' covers moulds with almost nothing in common. This is what changes between them. Format What it is for What decides the price Finesse worm Pressured fish, clear water, drop shot, Neko, shaky head Thin-section mould precision and material softness Creature bait Flipping and pitching heavy cover; also a jig trailer Appendage count and mould complexity, plus the ability to carry a large hook Ned and stick baits A short, dense, slow presentation on a light head Material density and salt loading, because weight is the design Paddle tail Swimming presentations, inshore and freshwater Tail geometry and the material's ability to keep the tail running true Rapala's ICAST 2026 soft-plastic releases Reproduced from the trade coverage of the launch. Names and dimensions are the maker's. Product Format Stated positioning Inspector Finesse worm, 5-inch and 6.5-inch Developed with Jacob Wheeler; pressured bass, clear water; Neko, drop shot, shaky head, Texas, wacky Knuckle Bug Creature bait Flipping, pitching, Texas rig, free rig, jig trailer; raised rib body for hook penetration Salted NedRoll Ned-format bait Positioned as a Ned presentation within the CrushCity range The Mayor Stick bait New 3.5-inch size and new colours added to an existing bait Questions buyers ask about soft plastic formats: what the 2026 launches actually are Each question has its own page, so it can be found and cited on its own. How many soft plastic formats are there? More than the shelf suggests. What did Rapala release at ICAST 2026? Three additions to CrushCity - the Inspector finesse worm, the Knuckle Bug creature bait and the Salted NedRoll - plus new sizes and colours for The Mayor. Why does format matter to a buyer more than colour? Because format decides the mould, the material and the rigging, and colour decides a changeover. Can one factory make all four formats? Often yes, since they are all injection moulding. Does salt really change the product? Yes. What is the most common specification mistake? Stating length in inches only. What to send for a comparable quote Fields a factory needs before the answer is a quotation rather than a guess. Field Why it changes the price Length in inches and mm Both, because US retail sells in inches and the factory moulds in millimetres Body thickness at the widest point Decides hook size and how the bait collapses on the strike Appendage count and length Creature baits only; the main cost variable in that mould Material hardness in shore Decides action and durability, and it is separate from buoyancy Salt or scent loading Adds weight, which is the design in a Ned bait and a problem in a finesse worm Rib or texture pattern Stated as part of the mould; affects hook penetration claims Colourways and flake Flake count and size are separate process steps from colour Rigging intent Neko, drop shot, Texas, wacky or trailer; it decides hook recommendation and pack count Pack count and format Retail counts differ from the bulk counts a factory quotes by default Private label or stock Cost and lead time What to agree in writing, and the tolerance to name Soft plastics fail by drifting, not by breaking. These are the fields to hold. Field What the order has to state Tolerance or standard to name Length Overall length and the points it is measured between Name the band in mm Body thickness The widest point, in mm Name the band; it decides whether the hook still fits Hardness Hardness in shore Name the band; drift changes action before anything visible does Salt content The loading, stated as a percentage or a weight Name the band, because salt is weight and weight is behaviour Colour and flake against the approved sample The sample, and the light it is checked under State the light source, or two acceptable deliveries get rejected against each other What we have not verified Price band: our sample holds no listing for these specific formats, so no band is published here. Sales volumes by format: we publish no figure. Product descriptions are reproduced from the maker's launch material and trade coverage; we have not tested these baits. Where this record leads Sampled soft plastic formats listings - reference prices and MOQ per listing. Specification builder - turn these fields into a spec sheet you can send. Reference price bands - the band this record sits in, with its unit stated. The sourcing playbook - the process these questions sit inside. US and EU compliance - what has to be true before the shipment clears. Send a specification All briefs Sources 6 cited Rapala Expands Crush City line of Soft Plastics at ICAST 2026, On The Water, 2026-07-21 Rapala's CrushCity leads ICAST award winners, Angling International, 2026-07-16 The Best Soft Plastic Baits for Bass Fishing, Field & Stream Keep on Crushin' with The New Size 3-1/2 and New Colors for 'The Mayor', Rapala UN Comtrade — China export statistics under HS 9507, 2023-2024 (retrieved from the official API) Harmonized System heading 9507 (rods, hooks, reels, lures) — US HTS lookup Every figure on this page traces to one of these. The same list is declared in the page structured data (schema.org citation) and in the Markdown twin. Updated 2026-09-21 Scope Fishing tackle sourcing Sources 6 cited Was this page useful? Yes, useful Not really Opportunities · Soft plastic formats All briefs (31) →