20 Best Live Bait For Snook (2023 Updated)

I have used Berkley Gulp Swimming Mullet baits for a long time, but they have lost something over the years. They are just too soft and easily torn. Even small fish with easily rip them apart, requiring a new bait.

While this may increase the volume of the baits used, it is not encouraging me to buy more; it is encouraging me to look for alternatives! When I first started using them about ten years ago, the same bait could be used for multiple fish.

Not so much today.

With adult bunker as thick as a carpet this season, it’s been hard to get surf stripers to take anything but cut-bait. That is unless you’re throwing this twitch! With bone spooks not drawing strikes like they used to, switched over to the twitch and threw into pods of busting bunker.

3 short twitches and a pause. 2 more and a pause. and WHAM! 33 incher running about 12lbs is zigzagging all over and bending the rod down to the test curve. Not sure what’s better. The fight or the look on your buddies’ faces when you’re catching and they’re wondering why they aren’t.

There are a few things wrong with this pistol. The magazine release button is too far forward, it was hard to reach with my thumb, not a good design. The Slide Top was very difficult to pull back because the serrations are sharp and small.

Another thing with this is that the slide stop release is EXTREMELY hard to push down, which forces you to rack the weapon through the aforementioned serrations, again one problem leading me to another one.

I actually broke my thumb’s nail trying to close the slide. Aside from that, the ammo is near non-existent, though this is mainly a problem with the times and not the manufacturer this is something to consider before purchasing.

Which leads me to the last point, I haven’t been able to fire it. at all. Its a dust collector for the time being and Im already considering trading it for a more capable pistol. On the plus side, the weapon seems to be well made and I trust that it will not explode while firing it, craftsmanship is good for what it was intended.

What we should be talking about is the 2nd amendment…. the right to bear arms. You have a right to own and use a weapon like this to defend yourself. Whether that weapon is a sharp stick, a canon, a gun, a F-22 or a M1 Abrams tank… you have that right.

It is not a privilege or a license, but a right. That right was not given to you by a government, a court, a magistrate, or the world. It was given to you by your creator, the sovereign King of the universe and cannot be taken from you by any man or institution.

Cherish it, use it, defend it…. because the day is coming when the ruler of this world will seek to remove it.

Bought this after seeing people using it online with good luck. I dont know if I was given a bottle that has been in the warehouse for a long time or what, but no matter how I work it, it will not stay on the hook after going into the water.

I have not caught a thing on this. I’m contemplating buying a bottle from Walmart and seeing if I have the same issues or not.

I’ve used this for so long I can’t remember when I started. I’ve caught trout up to 8 or so pounds. I always use Rainbow at the beginning and it always produces fish. Over the years I’ve caught more than 1000 trout on this bait.

Most recently a 2 pound and a 3 pound 10 ounce Rainbow on Rainbow Power Bait.

Didn’t work, doesn’t have live action in the water. Didn’t get a single bite. Used a different lure

I have used these lures, especially the ones that look like pike, and perch, and I have caught a lot of fish. Summer and winter.

Have bought over 100 bags in assorted colors over time. Quality durable product however, over last 2-4 years the plastic quality has gone down & quantity of smaller senkos has gone down while price stayed same or higher.

Actually now, the Yum dinger falls & shimmeys better than Yamamoto senko w/better action in head to head comparison with same rod reel line & hook on weightless wacky rig. Done comparison on 2 Abu Garcia Med act spin.

rod, revo reel 10lb smack down hi vis braid & 8 lb gold label leader vmc finesse wacky hook 2nd Abu med act spin rod revo reel 8lb invisX same VMC finesse hook. Other was 6’10” Med light bait casting rod, Abu revo SX reel 10lb sunline sniper(diff line manuf to test line differences) VMC finesse wacky hook.

Then decided to use all set ups the same as were except changed hook to 1/16th and 1/8 oz weighted Berkeley wacky worm hooks. In each trial spinning & bait casting weighted & weightless the Yum dinger came out on top.

The closest one was the weighted hook & possibly the senko was tops or the same. Not a Yum fan, consist buyer or part of usual plastics arsenal. Typically use SK ocho for Tex rig & X-Zone true center sticks.

But the Yamato beat the xzone & ocho in all trials. I don’t think the difference in the two on Tex rig is enough to make a big difference to change companies. The colors of senko imo are better than dinger and below or equivalent of strike king.

Wish Yamamoto would go back to old or original plastics recipe, manuf process, salt content, plastics supplier, or curing process. For the price it’s hard to stick with senko when continue to be more expensive & growing than SK and esp yum while the quality goes down & quantity stays same or less the dinger comes in 30 pack for $9.

99 @ local shop while small ind pack of senko is $7. 99 for now will stick with ocho for overall salt content, action/shimmy on fall, colors, durability, cost efficiency, and quality.

This is actually my first rifle since the 80’s so I wanted to start with a. 22 before I move on to larger calibres. Obviously, this gun has a faux-tactical cool factor but aside from that, it seems well made and it shoots consistently.

The red dot site is quite nice although I had to look up a tutorial on youtube to understand how to use it. I had no idea a red-dot isn’t a regular scope – that you keep both eyes open as you look through it and focus downrange.

Super cool! My only complaint is that the (exterior) metal plates on the bolt and the BL# were both a bit rusty when I got the gun and I think they should have been protected with oil or something. The bolt was a bit sticky and I think that it was probably from friction between the bolt and the chassis.

I was able to clean and lightly oil both parts. I also love that there’s apparently no limit on. 22 magazine capacity. Less reloading.

I love this lure and cannot say enough good things about it. Got it first in a mystery tackle, and have bought many a packs sense. My first back out of mystery tackle I caught over 25 fish off of. Super durable plastic that can be rigged and re used multiple ways ( until the “tickle tail” gets chewed by a gil, loses too much action when the tail gets bit) Can be used very similar to a Fluke and same style of slow fall.

I am not sure what took me so long to use this bait, I have had it for months. I recently tried the black and blue on the Strike King Moon Talker spinnerbait as a trailer. I worked great. I caught a 3 lber and a 2.

5 pounder back to back. The action was perfect for the spinner. This morning I fished the green pumpkin/pearl yoto worm weightless, and caught 5 bass in about 10 minutes on the same bait. I had caught only 2 fish in the previous 1.

5 hours using other baits. I am on board with it now.

After finding it almost impossible to find 2 1/2″ Emerald Shiner (started my search last fall and then again this spring) at our local sporting goods store, I settled for buying the 2 1/2″ smelt. I have been a HUGE proponent of Gulp Alive for catching crappie on our lake.

That stuff is killer. The smelt however is so bad, I am on a search for a Gulp substitute. The problem is not that the crappie won;t bite, rather it is that once the jig head is threaded through the head and used for two or three fish, it no longer stays in place.

It appears so soft that I would say it lasts about 1/10th of time any of the previous containers of the Shiner did. I have written to Berkley and they said that it is hard to keep stock now with the Covid however what was the problem last fall? They said that they change things at times and they reported no problem with the smelt.

My suggestion. DON”T BUY IT!! Something changed!!!!.

I don’t like to mess with live minnows and tried these. They have been working. I trail them on a small jig and spinner and have been catching more fish than with other artificials, especially walleyes and crappies.

I have tried the 2. 5, the 3, and the 4 inch ones in more or less natural colors. The 2. 5 seem to be most effective all around size. I tried the 4″ and caught a nice eating walleye, then went to the 2.

5 and caught at 23″ one. Getting where I think I could get by with a selection of these minnows and a small plastic organizer to hold my jigs and spinners. They are softer than other plastics and less durable but hole up better than live minnows on small nuisance fish.

I also believe that they are made that way to offer a more realistic bite as the instructions say fish them like live bait.

A good friend of mine gave me one of these baits while out fishing one morning. He had a new one (Tennessee Shad) and was catching bass like crazy. I didn’t have one so he gave me his old one that was the same color.

Unfortunately I lost my good friend to a heart attack last year and because his friendship means so much to me I ordered the same color lure and have put the one he gave me in my tackle box where it will remain.

I don’t want to take the chance of losing it. But this product is the best you can buy for those explosive, blood pressure increasing strikes from these fat mamas we love to catch. If you want to have fun on the water you need to buy some of these lures you won’t be disappointed.

By far the best price out there for these plugs. I regularly pay $11-13 a piece. No more with these guys. Great selection too!!

Whether you like to walk the dog, retrieve with steady non-stop little tugs, or jerk and pause, the chug bug will catch bass. Before hearing about this bait from a pro, I used to toss hula poppers, or other similar top waters.

No more. I don’t know if it’s the action, the rattle, the profile, the colors, or all of the above, but smallmouth love this bait. Change the hooks out for something sharper as soon as you open the package though.

The ones that it comes with are garbage.

The Crosseye has become my go to Chatterbait here in Florida’s weedy lakes. Since January 7th 2022 it’s helped me catch an 8-10, 7-6, 6-9, 6-7 and numerous 4’s & 5’s…bottomline is it has the instant start up of a Jack Hammer, vibrates at the slowest speeds, is shockingly weedless, comes through brush, wood and rip rap very well and flat out catches fish.

The only negative is the line tie snap can and will bend out and eventually fail which will require replacing the snap. Otherwise it’s a great addition to the Chatterbait family.

Excellent lure! Moves with a tight wiggle action and holds a trailer very well through several casts. Have been attaching Strike King Rage Swimmers and Sweet Beaver Creature Baits. Weedguard works well and have not gotten snagged.

Fished in lots of grass so far.

Great weedless feature. Would get hung up on lay downs on old chatterbaits and this seems to solve that issue of being “weedless”. So far have not had any issues with hook up but will sure test it next year some more.

The Sammy is not an easy lure to find up here in New England. In fact, eBay is the only place I have found a selection of sizes and colors. The dynamic weighting (balls that move freely inside) make these cast like a bullet and walk-the-dog better than any other topwater bait.

The weight force the tail down into the water and improve hook-ups too. So these are terrific lures and we pay what we must to get them wherever we can find them. But let’s get real – this lure in this size ought to cost around $7 – $8, not $12.

I was thrilled to find some remaining stock of Sammy 65’s. Now out of production, they are becomming scarce. This size of top water, in an easy to use “walk-the-dog” design is a must when early season baitfish are just this size.

It is an absolute producer.

Cast it, then twitch it a couple times, pause and hold on tight. I fish a very clear water lake. This color seams to work well in slightly overcast

this bait has help ring the water out of my braid with the amount of schoolie bass ive caught on it, its a very tight action this lure has to cull stripers hiding in the shadow line of my local pier.

love it its almost effortless to use on a light action rod.

these little lures yo-zuri are great for casting in the mangroves and shallow waters with talhassa, of course you will not grab monsters and you will have to release many small fish but also attracts barracudas, snappers and groupers of more than 2 pounds, this yellow color is the second option to use if they do not grab the bright silver or white color, earrings of puffer fish that with their teeth shatter them.

I’ve been using this lure here in Brazil for many years and I can tell us that’s very effective for trolling spanish mackarel and king fish.

I bought 2 of these in the bunker color. Tied one on jumped in the kayak and headed out into the inlet and the bluefish would not leave it alone. After catching over 20 blues the finish on the lure took some abuse from their teeth, but the lure was still running true and all hooks were intact.

I tried this same lure a few days later at a different spot and the speckled trout clobbered it. Since then I have been using the same lure and as rough as it is from all the teeth it still produces.

Nice to know I have a spare still in the package to replace it when this one finally breaks.

This lure is built tough. Hook sizes need to be upped though. The color is surely a killer. Would not loose its shine even if used in rocky areas. Other lures loose the color if they rub against rocks,but this one has the lure color within the acrylic body, and would not loose it.

Excellent choice for shore /inshore casting. Not sure about trolling or deep sea fishing.

CAL helped me place in the First Annual Treasure Coast Snook Challenge. Used “First Light Jig” , “sorry DOA they sponsored the tournament” Chartreuse in color with CAL Chartreuse tail. Very effective in the stained water.

Have 7 different colors and all work, must chose for what you target and where. Tight lines and fill your tackle bag with the CAL!! Ps won’t tear first fish.

I’ve used the full size and Jr while wading and drifting from a boat. One day had 11 speckled trout to 24” and 7 redfish on the Jr version, and have had back-to-back mid-twenty inch redfish on the full-sized.

Needs to be worked properly with short or slower (less vigorous) twitches than Super Spook or One Knocker.

I’m very familiar with this plug. I had a couple that I gave away to fish catching friends. While I was quick to receive 2 units from SWE (thanks for the customer support & follow through) I was quite disappointed with the lure’s coloration.

The factory Bone colored lures were really a taupe or beige color. Had I been in the store I would not have picked these units and gone with a different coloration like Bunker or baitfishy.

I bought this bait about a week ago in the 1/2oz speckled trout color. As the title says, this bait is really easy to walk. I fished my chugn spook on a 7ft fast action rod with 30lb braid and a 12ft mono leader.

After fishing it for an hour I actually found it harder to NOT walk the bait. You can hit it pretty much as hard as you want and it will still walk. You can make the bait do a larger aggressive walk or little wobble like a frog.

The only way to not walk this bait is to tap it too softly. Excellent product, can’t wait to take it somewhere else where there are fish.

Product was on back order for a couple months. Finally got 2 packs in the mail and was stoked. LIVETARGET with another home run!! These baits are impressive to say the least. The action, the quality, the packaging, and the detail is nothing short of amazing.

First cast to open water to check the action it got smashed!! Don’t think twice just order, your welcome.

Great life like replica that really works well in clear water. Good lifelike action matches the life like appearance and weight. A great goto for searching patterns that work.

An excellent looking, feeling and swimming reproduction of a shad. Very real looking, I can not wait to try to fool a fish with these. As usual price , selection, customer service and shipping times were excellent from Tackle Direct.

Most of Googans soft plastics are pretty standard as far as the actual design goes in comparison to the market norm. however the mondo worm is a trail-blazer if you will. With one small yet defining adjustment, Googan has the most unique curly tail worm out there! They added the same flange ad the craw and bugs have but scaled it down and put it on the tip of the tail.

the action this worm makes coming through the water is unmatched and spectacular! A must have and my go to for sure!! Redbud+summertime= success.

When Googan first came out I was kind of sceptical of wether it was name brand or not. Ever since I used there bait for the first time I was convinced that is was a great line of baits. On to the mondo either size is great I like the smaller one for flipping trees in the spring, and the 10 inch for Carolina rig in the summer.

Every time I use this bait with the hammer hooks it always lands right in the top of the mouth, and the tail action is awesome.

This worm has really good action and produced quality bass during my last outing in July, in East Texas. The worm averaged 2-3 bass before having to be replaced, which I would say is pretty good for Texas rigged soft plastics, but not the best.

I love to support TX based companies, but mostly love to support quality products. Great job GS on continuing to produce quality products!!!.

If you’re sight casting and the fish are hungry, these will work just fine. These are great lures for sight fishing. Just cast the lure behind or to the opposite direction of the fish. Reel in very very slow, give your rod a few twitches to let it bounce a bit.

When the lure falls to the bottom, that is when they will strike it. Glow is my favorite pattern to use. However, I wouldn’t use these lures if you plan on fishing off of a pier. Also, the hooks tend to rust a lot once the lure is used heavily.

Other than that, this is a great lure to use if you cannot use live bait.

I fish mostly for saltwater trout in Florida. When we get into them it’s a feeding frenzy. Instead of feeding them Gulps or real shrimp I will throw everything in my box at them to see what they WON’T hit.

Guess what, this is what they don’t like. I catch hundreds a year, never yet have I got anything on DOA lures. No more DOA lures on my box’s. They look nice.

DOA shrimp are easily my favorite lure out there. They catch everything from snook to trout to tripletail. Work ’em fast and with a slow reel and a twitch. My favorite color was glow/gold rush but BPS apparently doesnt have those.

Either way these last long and I would definitely recommend purchasing them to anyone who is interested. Sometimes you have to be patient with them but other times its the only thing that fish (especially snook) want.

Overall a great product, the only downsides are they’re a little expensive and don’t cast very far unless you but the 1/2 oz ones.