Soft bait fishing in NZ: setup, technique and what to buy

Start with a 4–5 inch paddle tail or jerk shad on a 1/4–1/2 oz jig head, matched to the depth and drift. Fish it on a light spinning rod of about 7 ft with braid and a fluorocarbon leader. Cast ahead of the drift, let it sink to the bottom, then lift and let it fall again. Most bites come on the drop.

Start with

1/2–5/8 oz

About 14 g to 18 g

Use the lighter end for smaller baits (3 in) and the heavier end for bigger ones (7 in). If you can't feel the head touch the bottom, go one size heavier. If it's snagging every cast, or the bait drops like a stone, go lighter.

See the whole chart

Depth	Slow or none drift	Moderate drift	Fast drift
Up to 8 m	1/8–3/8 oz	3/16–1/2 oz	1/4–5/8 oz
8–20 m	3/8–1/2 oz	1/2–5/8 oz	5/8–3/4 oz
20–30 m*	1/2–3/4 oz	5/8–1 oz	3/4–1.5 oz
Over 30 m	3/4–1 oz	1–1.5 oz	1.5–2 oz

* Between the sourced bands, not from a published guide.

A starting point, not a rule. Depth ranges and weights for slow drifts come from NZ snapper guidance in Boating NZ (2025). Stepping up one size for a moderate drift and two for a fast one is common practice, not a maker's rule. Fish the lightest head that still gets to the bottom.

What gear do you need for soft baiting?

You can start with a rod and reel you already own, but soft baits work best on light, sensitive gear, because most bites come as the bait sinks and you need to feel them.

Rod. A light spinning rod of about 7 ft. The soft bait combos on sale in NZ that we looked at are mostly 7 to 7 ft 3 in long and rated somewhere between 3–6 kg and 6–10 kg. Lighter is more fun and casts small baits further; heavier gives you a better chance with a big snapper in weed. A fast tip lets you feel the head touch bottom and see bites on the line. For long casts ahead of the drift in deeper water, Boating NZ’s snapper guide suggests a longer 8 to 8 ft 6 in spinning rod.

Reel. A spinning reel in the 2500 to 4000 size range, which is what those combos come with, with a smooth drag.

Braid. Use braid rather than nylon for the main line. It doesn’t stretch, so you feel the bait land and the fish bite, and thin braid sinks faster and is pushed around less by current. The NZ guidance we found says to fish the lightest braid you can.

Leader. Tie 1 to 2 m of fluorocarbon leader to the braid. Boating NZ suggests 12–15 lb with 3 inch baits, 15–20 lb with 5 inch baits, and 20–30 lb with 7 inch baits around weed and reef where bigger snapper live. Join braid to leader with a uni-to-uni knot or an FG knot.

Jig heads. A jig head is a hook with a lead head moulded on. Heads come in fractions of an ounce: 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 and so on. Weight matters more than anything else. Too light and the bait never gets down to the fish; too heavy and it snags, sinks unnaturally and kills the bait’s action. Carry a few weights so you can change as the depth and drift change. Hook size should match the bait: about #1–2/0 for 3 inch baits, 2/0–3/0 for 5 inch and 3/0–5/0 for 7 inch, as a starting point.

How to rig a soft bait

Most soft baits go straight onto a jig head. The aim is a bait that sits dead straight, with the hook point coming out of its back.

The bait sits snug against the jig head with the hook coming out of its back. Tie the leader straight to the jig head’s eye, with no swivel or snap.

Measure. Hold the bait alongside the jig head with its nose against the head. Note where the hook bend sits; that’s where the point should come out.
Start in the centre of the nose. Push the hook point into the middle of the bait’s nose.
Thread it up the shank. Feed the bait along the hook, keeping it straight, until the nose sits tight against the head and over the bait keeper (the barb or wire on the shank).
Bring the point out. Push the point out through the back of the bait at the spot you noted. Many baits have a slot moulded into the back for this.
Check it’s straight. Pull the bait through the water beside the boat. If it spins or lies to one side, re-rig it. A crooked bait swims badly and twists your line.
Tie straight to the head. Tie the leader to the jig head’s eye with a uni knot or a loop knot, which lets the bait move more freely. A swivel or snap here spoils the action.

Some soft baits are sold pre-rigged, and some anglers rig them weedless on a weighted worm hook to fish over weed. Our rigs guide covers other rigs and knots.

Keep different plastics apart. Retailers selling Z-Man’s ElaZtech baits warn not to store them with ordinary soft plastics, because the two react and can melt together. Keep them in their own bags.

How to fish soft baits for snapper

Soft baits catch snapper best when they look like a small injured fish sinking to the bottom. Most bites come on the drop, so the whole technique is about getting the bait to fall naturally, and staying in touch with it while it does.

The drift and the cast

Soft baiting for snapper is usually done from a drifting boat. Work out which way you’re drifting, then cast ahead of the drift, in the direction the boat is moving. As the boat drifts towards the bait, it sinks nearly straight down, so it reaches the bottom quickly and you stay in touch. Casting behind the drift drags the bait along the bottom on a long line, where you feel less and snag more.

If the drift is too fast to get down, use a heavier head (see the picker above), slow the boat with a sea anchor (drogue), or use an electric motor. In a slow drift, a lighter head fishes longer and more naturally.

The lift and fall

Let it sink. After the cast, leave the bail arm open or feed line until the bait reaches the bottom. Watch the line where it enters the water: when it goes slack, the head has landed.
Watch the line on the drop. If the line stops, jumps or moves sideways before it should have reached the bottom, a fish has taken it. Close the bail and wind until you feel weight, then lift.
Lift and let it fall. Once on the bottom, lift the rod tip smoothly, about a metre, then lower it so the bait sinks again on a near-tight line. Wind in the slack as you go.
Strike on weight. Bites often feel like a tap, a sudden weight or nothing at all as the bait stops sinking. Wind down and lift firmly rather than jerking.
Wind in and recast once the bait is well behind the boat or a long way up off the bottom.

Where to try

Foul ground and reef edges, where reef meets sand or weed. Snapper move along these edges to feed.
Workups, where birds and dolphins are feeding on baitfish. Snapper often feed underneath; cast to the edge and let the bait sink through.
Shallow reef and weed beds, especially early in the morning and in warmer months, when bigger snapper move in to feed.

Soft baits catch plenty of other fish too, including kahawai, red gurnard and small kingfish. Check the size and bag limits for your area on our rules page before you keep anything.

Releasing fish

How a fish is hooked decides whether it survives release: our snapper page has NIWA’s figures for lip-hooked and gut-hooked fish. In a 2022 study of Australian reef fish, bait on J hooks was swallowed deepest, so soft plastics did better than that. But scented soft plastics were taken deeper than hard lures by one species, and as deep as bait on circle hooks by another. So strike promptly, don’t let a fish run with a bait, and handle fish you’re putting back gently and quickly. Our bleed and ice guide covers the fish you keep.

Shape and colour

Shapes

Paddle tails (boot tails) have a flat tail that kicks as the bait moves, even on a slow fall. They’re the easiest shape to start with.
Jerk shads have a split or forked tail and a slim body. They dart and glide when twitched and flutter on the drop.
Grubs (curl tails) have a curly tail that swims on the slowest drop. Good for slow drifts and fish that won’t chase.
Prawns and crabs imitate crustaceans, which snapper and gurnard eat on the bottom. Fish them with small hops along the seabed.

Size matters more than shape for what you catch. Boating NZ’s guide goes up to 7 inch baits where bigger snapper feed in shallow weed and reef, and down to 4–5 inch baits where fish are shy or heavily fished.

Colour: what the evidence says

There’s very little research on whether lure colour matters to snapper, and none we could find for NZ conditions. What is well established is that water filters out red light first, then orange and yellow, with blue reaching deepest. So a red or orange bait looks darker the deeper it goes, while blues and greens hold their colour further down, and glow baits give off their own light. That’s an argument for trying a different colour in deep or dirty water, not proof that fish prefer one.

Scent may matter more than colour. Gulp!, Z-Man’s scented range and Daiwa’s BaitJunkie all carry scent or attractant. The 2022 Australian study found scented soft plastics were taken differently from unscented ones, so scent does change how fish bite, even if it’s hard to say by how much.

Popular colours have their own following. “Nuclear Chicken” is a Berkley Gulp! colour; Z-Man’s version is called Nuked Chicken Glow. “Bruised Banana” is a Z-Man colour. Both are in the comparison below.

From the boat ramp

We gathered tips and advice from real Kiwi boaties on soft bait colours, jig heads and the drift.

Carry a natural colour and a bright one, and swap after a quiet spell with fish on the sounder. On a good day, most colours catch.
New Penny and the “chicken” colours, Nuclear Chicken above all, are the names that come up most. Lime Tiger and Pink Shine have a big following too.
Glow and UV baits are worth a try deep down, early and late in the day.
Unscented baits need more action from you. Scented baits catch with less work, which helps on slow, cold days.
A slow drift of about half a knot to a knot is the easiest to fish. A drogue, or two, slows a boat down.
If you can’t feel the bottom, go heavier. A 1/2 oz head is a good everyday choice for 10–30 m on a gentle drift.
Cast ahead of the drift for the bigger bites on the drop. Dragging a bait behind the boat still catches fish over sand in the channels.

Don’t get hung up on colour. A natural one and a bright one will cover most days. Getting your jig head weight and your drift right matters far more.

Sean Lewis, fishspecies.nz

Soft baits from the shore

Soft baits work well from rocks, wharves and beaches with weed or reef close in. Fish the same lift and fall, but with a lighter head: about 1/8–1/4 oz in a few metres of water. Cast across or into the current and let the bait swing and sink back towards you. Expect to lose some jig heads to snags; a weedless rig on a weighted worm hook helps over thick weed.

Many shore anglers rate dawn and dusk most highly. Our best time to fish guide has more. Be careful on rocks: wear grippy footwear, and fish with someone else.

Soft baits for trout

Small soft baits catch trout in rivers, lakes and hydro canals. Use baits of 2 to 3 inches, such as small paddle tails and minnows, on light heads:

Still or slow water: 1/32–1/16 oz. In a hydro canal, NZFFA’s Allan Burgess suggests about 1/32 oz in still water, 1/16 oz once there’s some flow and about 1/12 oz as it picks up.
Rivers: 1/16–1/8 oz covers most Southland rivers, according to Fish & Game. In fast water at river mouths, 1/6–1/4 oz.

Cast across or slightly upstream and let the bait sink and swing with the current, keeping in touch with the line. Too much weight snags weed; too little and the bait never reaches the fish. Rig the bait flush on the shank and tie straight to the head without a swivel.

You need a Fish & Game licence to fish for trout, and some waters are fly fishing only or have lure rules. Check the regulations for the region before you go; our guide to fishing licences explains who needs one.

What to buy first

If you’re starting out, a simple kit covers most snapper fishing from a boat:

A soft bait rod and reel, or a combo, as above.
One pack each of a 5 inch jerk shad and a 4–5 inch paddle tail, in one natural and one bright colour.
Jig heads in 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 oz, with 2/0 to 4/0 hooks.
Fluorocarbon leader of about 15–20 lb.

The comparison below lists soft baits and jig heads on sale in NZ, with prices. It isn’t ranked.

How we chose the soft baits

We listed soft baits and jig heads on sale from a New Zealand retailer on 24 October 2026, covering the main shapes and the brands New Zealanders search for most: Z-Man, Berkley Gulp!, Daiwa BaitJunkie, Savage Gear, Catch and Black Magic. We only included products in stock that day, and we list colours the retailer showed in stock. Specs, materials and prices come from each product page; where a page didn’t publish a figure, we’ve left it out rather than guess. The comparison isn’t ranked, and we haven’t tested the baits ourselves. We don’t earn anything from the links. Read how we make money.

The jig head weights in the picker come from Boating NZ’s 2025 snapper guide, with the drift adjustment based on common practice. Treat them as a place to start.

Questions

What is the best soft bait for snapper?

There's no single best bait. A 4–5 inch paddle tail or jerk shad is the usual place to start, because it suits most depths and fish sizes. In shallow, weedy water where bigger snapper feed, a 7 inch bait on a 1/4–3/8 oz head is a common choice. Where fish are shy or heavily fished, go smaller. Z-Man, Berkley Gulp!, Daiwa BaitJunkie and Catch Livies all make baits in these shapes.

What jig head weight should I use for soft baits?

As light as you can while still reaching the bottom. As a starting point, NZ snapper guidance suggests 1/8–3/8 oz in water up to 8 m, 3/8–1/2 oz in 8–20 m and 3/4–1 oz past 30 m. Go heavier in a fast drift or wind against tide, and lighter if the head snags every cast.

How do you rig a soft bait on a jig head?

Hold the bait beside the hook to see where the point should come out. Push the point into the centre of the bait's nose, thread the bait up the shank until it sits snug against the head, and bring the point out through the back. The bait should hang dead straight; a bent bait spins and twists your line.

What rod do you need for soft baits?

A light spinning rod of about 7 ft with a 2500 to 4000 size spinning reel. Most soft bait combos on sale in NZ are 7 to 7 ft 3 in and rated between 3–6 kg and 6–10 kg. For casting a long way ahead of the drift in deeper water, a longer 8 to 8 ft 6 in rod helps.

What colour soft bait is best?

There's little good evidence that colour matters as much as size, depth and how you work the bait. Water filters out red light first, so reds and oranges look dark at depth, while blues and greens hold their colour further down. Most anglers carry a natural colour and a bright one and swap if the bites stop.

Do soft baits work from the shore?

Yes. Rocks, wharves and beaches with weed or reef close in suit soft baits, especially at dawn and dusk. Use a lighter head than from a boat, about 1/8–1/4 oz in a few metres of water, and expect to lose a few to snags.

Can you catch trout on soft baits in NZ?

Yes, where Fish & Game regulations allow spinning or lures. Use small baits of 2 to 3 inches on 1/16–1/8 oz heads, cast across the current and let the bait swing and sink. You need a Fish & Game licence, and some waters are fly fishing only, so check the regulations for the region first.

Sources (7)

What jig head weight should I use?

What gear do you need for soft baiting?

How to rig a soft bait

How to fish soft baits for snapper

The drift and the cast

The lift and fall

Where to try

Releasing fish

Shape and colour

Shapes

Colour: what the evidence says

Soft baits from the shore

Soft baits for trout

What to buy first

Soft baits compared

Berkley Gulp! Alive! Turbo Shrimp 4 in tub (Nuclear Chicken)

Berkley Gulp! Grub 6 in

Berkley Gulp! Jerk Shad 5 in

Berkley Gulp! Nemesis Prawn 4 in

Berkley Gulp! Peeler Crab 2 in (New Penny)

Berkley Gulp! Swimming Mullet 4 in

Berkley PowerBait Hollow Belly Paddle Tail 4 in

Black Magic Dartspin Pro 5.5 in

Catch Black Label Livies Jerkshad 5 in

Daiwa BaitJunkie Grub 4 in

Daiwa BaitJunkie Jerkshad 7 in

Daiwa BaitJunkie Minnow 2.5 in

Daiwa BaitJunkie Minnow 4 in

Daiwa BaitJunkie Prawn 5 in

Savage Gear Craft Cannibal Paddletail 8.5 cm

Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ 4 in

Z-Man Jerk ShadZ Scented 5 in

Z-Man Jerk ShadZ Scented 7 in

Z-Man Kicker CrabZ

Z-Man PaddlerZ Scented 4 in

Z-Man PaddlerZ Scented 5 in

Z-Man Scented ShrimpZ 4 in

Z-Man Slim SwimZ 3 in

Z-Man StreakZ Curly TailZ 4 in

Berkley Nitro Saltwater Pro Inshore jig heads

Berkley Nitro Saltwater Pro Offshore jig heads

Daiwa BaitJunkie 2X Heavy Duty jig heads

TT Lures HeadlockZ HD jig heads, 1/0 and 3/0

TT Lures HeadlockZ HD jig heads, 5/0

Z-Man Finesse EyeZ jig heads, 1/8 oz