The first plastic baits are just glorified worms from the bass fishing industry. These lures had long, tubular shapes with a fish shaped tail.

New materials allowed for softer plastic and a rapid expansion in lure types in the saltwater fishing market. Injection molding became a construction technique that any promising lure inventor could master with a handful of soft plastic, a beaker and a microwave. All it required was a mold to pour it in.

Besides being easy to work with, the soft plastic gave lures more swimming action. Anglers quickly learned, that because it was soft, fish held onto it longer.

Soft bodied jigs are available today in huge numbers. Compared to natural hair type jigs, the soft plastics have more flex while retaining their natural size. This gives the lure more action while still looking natural.

These lures can be rigged weedless by adding a small piece of wire, and they can also be rigged on a leadhead to make the lure swim deep.

There are also some other soft palstic lures for inshore fishing, such as tube lures, eels and plastic crabs. Small tube lures look like anything from squid to crab, while larger tube lures are made to resemble needlefish/ballyhoo darting through the water, something that drives fish, like barracuda, crazy. Plastic eels are made to resemble sand eels, some are weighted to get them deep off the beach where larger striped bass and bluefish roam. Baitfish and shrimp jigs are colorful, numerous and each has its own degree of wiggle and flash.