Some interesting chat about soft plastics and their usage; particularly wrt the best type/style of hook:
The choice of soft plastics available is enormous, & ever expanding. In my mind, one of the key advantages they offer versus a hard plastic, is the way in which they can be presented. They can offer a very natural presentation, & be thrown into places from which hard plastics would never return.
I do however believe that overall, some s/p’s are better than others (same with HP’s), albeit everyone will have their personal favourites.
I certainly don’t think that there is a ‘need’ to spend a fortune on soft plastic, but again there are some top-end soft plastics (relatively speaking) that I wouldnt be without, simply because they have caught me plenty of fish. By ‘top end’, i refer to the sorts of s/p’s that may cost £12 – £14 for a pack of perhaps 5 or 6. Still cheap versus some of the hard plastics that are available.
I tend to agree with you Julian, in that weight & action are pretty much ‘the’ key ingredients. Some types of soft plastic offer advantages over others in their specific weights & actions though, in my experience so far.