The baits that decided the 2026 MLF Bass Pro Tour finale on Lake Erie were finesse soft plastics: Justin Lucas won on a flat worm fished on a drop-shot, and shad-shape drop-shot baits filled out the top 10. Both of those style baits are baits that you can pour at home. Our 3.6" and 4.1" Action Worm covers the flat-worm bite, and the 4" Drop Shot Minna covers the shad-shape drop-shot bite.
Justin Lucas closed out the Suzuki Marine Stage 7 finale in Sandusky, Ohio, on August 9, 2026, weighing 98 pounds, 11 ounces on 25 scorable bass to claim his second Bass Pro Tour title. Zack Birge locked up the 2026 Angler of the Year award the same week. If you watched any of it, one thing stood out: the winning fish came on small, natural, finesse-style soft plastics, the same shapes anglers pour at their own benches every day.
Here is what the top boats threw, why those baits worked, and how to make and rig your own versions at a fraction of the cost.
What just happened on Lake Erie
Lake Erie is one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the country, and its water is clear, deep, and full of forage like emerald shiners, smelt, and round gobies. That combination rewards finesse. Lucas stayed locked on deep smallmouth for most of the event, grinding a shipping-channel area with a flat worm on a drop-shot and mixing in a tube when he needed a bigger bite.
Behind him, the leaderboard split between two games. Some anglers chased offshore smallmouth with drop-shot worms and shad-shape plastics. Others ran shallow and picked apart grass for largemouth with bladed jigs, craws, and worms. Michael Neal drop-shotted a 3-inch shad-shape worm near the mouth of the Detroit River. Jacob Wheeler finished second by doing a little of everything, including a green pumpkin worm on a drop-shot. Cole Floyd stayed shallow with a green pumpkin bladed jig and a creature-style trailer.
Different waters, different depths, one common thread: small soft plastics in natural baitfish and green pumpkin colors won the day.
The two bait families you can pour yourself
Strip away the brand names and the winning baits fall into a few buckets. Two of them line up perfectly with molds you can run at home:
- Flat and finesse worms. Straight, flat-sided worms fished on a drop-shot, a Texas rig, a shaky head, or a Neko rig. This is the Action Worm's wheelhouse, and it is a similar profile to the bait that won the event.
- Shad-shape drop-shot minnows. Compact, single-tail minnow baits fished on a drop-shot, a Ned rig, or as a bladed-jig trailer. This is what the Drop Shot Minna was built for.
The profiles, colors, and rigs that win events like this are simple soft plastics, and those are exactly the kind of baits you can make yourself and tune to your own water. Here is how.
Match the winning flat-worm bite with the 3.6" or 4.1" Action Worm
The Action Worm is a flat-sided finesse worm with an erratic swimming tail, and it is the home-brew answer to the bait that won at Erie. It is available in injection and open pour molds and creates a slim, natural profile that pressured smallmouth in clear water eat with confidence. Angling A.i. field-tested it best in a medium plastic three ways: on a bullet weight, Texas-rigged, which also makes it a natural on a drop-shot or a shaky head.
That flat-worm shape is the whole point. It is subtle at rest, but the tail comes alive on the fall and on a deadstick, which is exactly the reaction that deep, finicky smallmouth reward.
How to pour it
- Heat your plastisol to just over 350 degrees Fahrenheit, until it turns from milky to clear. A 700-watt microwave in short bursts is the most common home setup.
- Run a medium durometer plastisol. The Action Worm was field-tested best in a medium plastic, which allows for tail action and keeps the worm on the hook through a long day of drop-shotting.
- Add salt for a faster fall if desired. Deep Erie smallmouth like a bait that gets down and stays put.
- Fill the cavities. For a natural look, pour a laminate: a green pumpkin back over a pearl or shad-colored belly. If using an injection mold, a dual injector is preferred.
- Cool, pull, and cure them flat so they stay straight.
Colors that mirror the Erie forage: green pumpkin, natural shad, morning dawn, and smelt.
How to rig and throw it
- Drop-shot: nose-hook the AR Worm 12 to 18 inches above the weight, the same setup that won the tournament. Shake it, then deadstick it over deep rock and let the tail quiver.
- Texas rig or shaky head: rig it on a bullet weight for dragging offshore structure or working shallower cover.
- Neko rig: add a nail weight in the head for a nose-down bottom quiver.
For more places to fish it, browse the drop-shot collection.
Match the shad-shape bite with the 4" Drop Shot Minna
The 4" Drop Shot Minna is a compact, single-tail minnow bait, a quarter-inch longer than the classic drop-shot bait, with a subtle tail action that never overpowers the presentation. It is similar to the shad-shaped worms that smallmouth ate all over the Lake Erie leaderboard, the same profile Michael Neal drop-shotted near the Detroit River mouth. It comes as a 6-cavity or 12-cavity injection mold, so you can make a lot of baits in a hurry.
It is also more versatile than its name suggests. Beyond the drop-shot, it shines as a chatterbait trailer or on a Ned rig, and the natural minnow shape works for smallmouth, largemouth, and even walleye when you change colors.
How to pour it
- Heat plastisol to just over 350 degrees Fahrenheit until clear.
- Start with a medium durometer, or go slightly softer if you want a little more tail quiver on the drop.
- Add salt to speed up the fall and help the bait hang in the strike zone.
- Use the 4" Bloodline insert mold if you want to add a two-tone tail.
- Cool, pull, and cure.
Colors that match the hatch: natural shad, smelt, goby, and pearl.
How to rig and throw it
- Drop-shot: the meat-and-potatoes Great Lakes smallmouth rig. Nose-hook it above your weight for a hovering, minnow-in-place look.
- Ned rig: thread it on a mushroom head for a bottom-hugging finesse presentation.
- Bladed-jig trailer: add it behind a chatterbait for a compact minnow profile with a subtle kick.
Pair it with the rest of your finesse arsenal from the finesse fishing collection.
Why pour your own tournament baits
Finesse fishing eats soft plastics. Drop-shot and Neko worms tear after a few fish; you leave baits stuck in Erie's rock, and a good day can burn through a bag or two. At retail, that adds up fast. Pouring your own flips the math: a single gallon of plastisol makes roughly 415 five-inch baits, which would cost hundreds of dollars off the shelf.
Beyond the savings, making your own lets you do what the pros do best, which is match the local forage exactly. Pour a goby brown for your home lake, a smelt pattern for the Great Lakes, or a custom laminate no tackle shop carries. You also control the durometer and the salt, so your bait falls and holds the way you want it to.
Both of these molds run on plastisol you inject or pour, so you will want an injector and a heat source to get going. If you are starting from scratch, the Premium Injection Starter Kit gets you pouring quickly. For the full breakdown on cost, see Is Making Your Own Soft Plastic Baits Worth It?
Frequently asked questions
What bait did Justin Lucas win on at Lake Erie?
Lucas won the 2026 MLF Bass Pro Tour finale with 98 pounds, 11 ounces of smallmouth, caught mostly on a flat worm fished on a drop-shot, with a tube mixed in for a bigger bite. A flat worm is a slim, flat-sided finesse worm, similar to the profile of our A.i. Action Worm.
What soft plastics win on Lake Erie smallmouth?
Small, natural finesse plastics: flat worms and shad-shape worms on a drop-shot, tubes, and compact minnow baits, in shad, smelt, goby, and green pumpkin colors. Clear, deep water rewards a subtle, match-the-hatch presentation.
Can I make my own flat worms and drop-shot baits at home?
Yes. The Action Worm makes a flat-worm profile you can rig on a drop-shot, Texas rig, shaky head, or Neko, and the 4" Drop Shot Minna makes a shad-shape minnow profile for drop-shots, Ned rigs, and chatterbait trailers. Both are poured from plastisol, so you need a heat source and, for these molds, an injector.
What durometer should I use for a flat worm versus a drop-shot minnow?
Run the Action Worm in a medium plastic, which is how it was field-tested best; the medium plastic allows for the tail action and improves durability. Pour the Drop Shot Minna in a medium plastic, or slightly softer for more tail quiver. Add salt to either one to speed up the fall.
Is it cheaper to pour your own tournament baits?
Much cheaper. One gallon of plastisol makes around 415 five-inch baits, versus paying roughly eight dollars for a bag of ten at retail. Finesse fishing burns through plastics, so the savings add up quickly. See our full cost breakdown.
Ready to make your own?
The pros proved it again on Lake Erie: simple soft plastics win. Grab the 3.6" or 4.1" Action Worm for the flat-worm bite and the 4" Drop Shot Minna for the shad-shape drop-shot bite, and start pouring baits tuned to your own water. Make your baits, your way.
By the Angling A.i. team · Updated August 2026