Soft plastic lures are used by every angler for their exceptional versatility and customizability. They come in countless shapes via molds, with vibrant color options from pigments, salt added for weight adjustment, glitter for light-reflective effects, and scent additives to mimic real prey fish.
- Raw Material Selection
99% of soft plastic lures are made from four main materials: PVC, TPE, TPR, and silicone.
All four can be colored, typically as specified by clients (Pantone color charts are recommended). Single-color and two-color lures are most common, with three or more colors used for special designs. After color mixing, salt and glitter are added per custom requirements. Scent additives are usually incorporated after the final product is formed.
PVC lures are the most widely used, thanks to their hard texture, wear resistance, and adjustable transparency. Manufacturers melt PVC at high temperatures using soft lure equipment; its hardness allows for special soft lure paints to be sprayed or printed on, enabling more color combinations and realistic effects.
Characteristics of TPE & TPR
If you have many soft plastics in your tackle bag, you’ll notice that PVC and TPE lures melt when stored together—this is why many anglers keep lures in their original packaging. TPE and TPR offer better elasticity and tear resistance.
- Soft Lure Shapes
Soft plastic lures come in the most diverse shapes: realistic fish, shrimp, insects, and more. Their forms are determined by molds during design.
Lead weights can be embedded inside to add weight while keeping the lure soft, expanding its fishing range. Different line setups and rigs (e.g., Texas rigs, Alabama rigs) modify the lure’s swimming action to attract target fish.
- Production Process
Molds are loaded into injection molding equipment, and mixed raw materials are injected into the molds. After cooling, lures are removed, manually trimmed, and initially inspected for defects—results are logged into the MES system.
Trimmed lures are assembled per requirements (e.g., adding 3D eyes) and scented. Finished products are packaged as specified and undergo full inspection by the quality control team.
- Additional Customization
Due to soft plastic’s excellent malleability, brand logos are often integrated into molds during production. Major brands’ soft lures frequently feature logos on the lure itself (not just packaging), indicating exclusive mold ownership. - Factory vs. Home Workshop Production
Factories control raw materials more effectively, leveraging large volumes to manage supply costs. They use steel molds—more durable and higher-yielding than the aluminum molds common in home workshops.
Home workshops, with limited order capacity, often face supply shortages and delays—issues eliminated by factory production. For established brands, partnering with a reliable, scaled factory is critical.
Factories also enforce strict quantity standards. In soft plastic production, switching colors requires flushing residual colors from pipes, wasting significant materials—hence minimum order quantities for single colors.