Ease of Rigging : TPE soft plastics are notoriously difficult to deal with. The elasticity of the material makes them challenging to rig. Fortunately, thanks to their sharp points, hooks are easy to work into these baits. Where the challenges do lie, however, is getting the bait to sit on the hook where you want. For the Geelacanth, this challenge presents itself trying to rig it weedless. The baitkeeper/line tie area of the hook doesn't always stay put. Mind you, it's not impossible, or even close, it's just more challenging than getting a standard soft plastic to sit right in this spot on the hook.

Weights that are compatible with TPE/Elastomer baits - Gamakatsu's Trigger Tungsten Nail Weight (left) and BKK's Permalock weighted hook (right)

The real challenge is if you choose to add something like a nail weight directly to the bait. Here, you need a specialized device like Gamakatsu's Trigger Tungsten Nail Weight developed specifically for TPE baits. How is it specific to these baits you ask? This weight features wire flanges that stick out and act against the TPE like an anchor bolt does in drywall.

Even with the flanges, nail weights are difficult to conceal in this bait

BKK has something similar in their Armor Point Permalock Nail Keeper. This is a tungsten weight with flanges made of fluorocarbon. This weight can be added to your hook of choice as a keeper (similar to how you use a centering pin) or can be purchase pre-rigged via BKK's Armor Point Permalock Weighted Hook.

Bones have circular end points creating drag. This allows them to react to micro-currents

Ease of Actuation : However you decide to rig it, the Geelacanth is a really intriguing bait once you get it in the water. Fished on the bottom, the tail will kind of sort of float up. This happens more easily with the larger sizes because there's more material making the back more buoyant. However, you can also swim it slowly in a horizontal presentation and it will kind of undulate. The bones and tail all wiggle ever so subtly giving the bait a very unique action.

The bait's tail is a supposed feature mimicking the one found on the brand's Virola Minnow

The bait's tail is a supposed feature mimicking the one found on the brand's Virola Minnow only slightly less pronounced at the tips. Reportedly, the more aggressive you are with your retrieve, the more action is imparted in the tail, but I didn't notice anything profound when moving the bait at faster speeds. Perhaps if it were just nose hooked so the body were more free to react to currents, but with a hook point buried mid length, the Geelacanth didn't have much action for me at faster speeds.

It only took two casts to get my first bite on this bait

That said, I mostly fished this bait on the bottom and pitched up close to visible structure. I was successful within my first few attempts fishing it in this manner, so why change? In hindsight, I bet the smaller size would make a deadly drop shot bait. For that matter, even the larger size using a bigger hook. Typical of most soft plastics, options on how you rig and fish the Geelacanth are pretty wide open.

Looking a little disheveled after several fish, but still effective

Durability : Because the Geelacanth is made of TPE, durability is pretty good. The material does get kind of worn and will be increasingly difficult to reset on the hook if rigged weedless. Just kind of the natural progression of fishing a soft plastic and the reason there's more than one in the packaging. I imagine if this bait were made from plastisol (the material in your every day plastic worm), it'd barely last one fish per bait due to the delicate nature of its construction.

The Geelacanth in Gill