How many soft plastic formats are there?

More than the shelf suggests. The four that matter commercially are finesse worms, creature baits, Ned and stick baits, and paddle tails. Each is a separate mould with a separate specification, even though all four are sold as soft plastics.

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. The same family took both soft-lure awards at the show.

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. A buyer who specifies a colourway and leaves the format to the factory has given away the part of the decision that costs money.

Can one factory make all four formats?

Often yes, since they are all injection moulding. But the tooling, the material package and the tolerances differ, so the honest question is not whether they can mould it but whether they can hold the hardness and the salt band on that specific shape.

Does salt really change the product?

Yes. In a Ned bait the salt is part of the design - it makes a short, dense bait that behaves a particular way. In a drop-shot worm the same loading adds weight the design did not ask for. One additive, two opposite effects.

What is the most common specification mistake?

Stating length in inches only. US retail sells in inches; the mould is cut in millimetres. A buyer who sends inches and no millimetre target leaves the factory to round, and rounding is where a 5-inch bait becomes 4.9.

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.

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

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.