A few months before their initial release in Australia, Nomad Design reached out to me to test their new soft plastics range, called Live Ops. They were scheduled for release on July 25, 2025, as part of AFTA 2025 on the Gold Coast. I wondered how these soft plastics would differ in an already saturated market. As consumers, how many grub, paddle tail, and yabbie soft plastic offerings can we possibly choose from? However, the team from Nomad Design was very confident that their product would provide a range of new features, unique designs, durability, and strong swimming action.
I soon had my hands on the new Range of Live Ops Soft Plastics. At first glance, they looked terrific, and I was able to identify some new and unique features and designs that had me keen to get them on the water. There was an adjustable tungsten weight system, interesting profiles with wings and bibs, flashy foils and a brilliant colour range. Also, incorporating features we have come to expect in this mature soft plastics space, such as TPE material, UV-infused, and scented.
Watch the video as Al from FishingMad walks you through the entire range of Nomad Live Ops Soft Plastics.
Testing the Nomad Live Ops Soft Plastics Range
Over the coming months, I thoroughly tested these soft plastics on waters around Melbourne and Victoria, by land, kayak, and boat, targeting a range of species across various systems. Unsurprisingly, I caught heaps of fish with the Live Ops soft plastic range and was impressed with the unique designs, swimming action, catch rates, and durability. My first session using the Live Ops soft plastics was using the Doza minnow locally in Port Phillip Bay on my Hobie Outback in shallow waters. I caught many Australian Salmon between 45 and 65cms and a few pinkies up to 42cms. Salmon found the swimming action and the realistic translucent colours irresistible. Casting them out and working them back at a medium pace, and they were getting smashed. The durability of these soft plastics was impressive, constructed with a tough titan TPE elastomer material. I used only one soft plastic for my entire session. I had similar experiences over the following days, fishing in the surrounding areas from my boat chasing pinky snapper, flathead and more Australian Salmon on some local shallow reefs.
With water temperatures locally at their peak lows of 11 degrees, I went on a road trip along the south coast the following week, stopping at many surf beaches, piers, and rock ledges. This time, armed with the Live Ops wingman, Cobra and Fallout Minnow, I caught countless Australian Salmon, tailor, flathead, and pinkies. These three soft plastics were distinctly different from each other, and I was particularly impressed with the unique swimming action of the cobra, which features wings that enable it to dart from side to side. Like the Doza minnow, the durability was excellent. Swapping between sizes and colours depending on where I was fishing. In one session, I rigged my daughter up with a Doza minnow at Lorne Pier and she landed 20 Australian Salmon, with the biggest going 68cm.
Watch my first session fishing with Live Ops Soft Plastics.
My testing continued along the Barwon River the entrance to Port Phillip Bay, where I chased silver trevally in the shallow estuary runoffs. This time I was rigged with the Spectre Minnows on 1/8 in 1-0. Catching several silver trevally as well as many smaller-sized flathead, pinkies, bay trout and wrasse. Followed by targeting bream locally on the Werribee River and along east Gippsland armed with the radiax curltail grub, which accounted for many bream up to 43cm. The radiax grub has a smaller profile than your typical 2.5” grub, and finicky bream in bitterly cold conditions were happy to take them. Since then, locally, I have been catching many flathead and pinkies with the jerk squid. This soft plastic draws inspiration from Nomad’s own Squidtrex series, but it is a soft plastic variation that can be rigged in numerous ways. I like the profile, tentacles that move with water currents and cool colour range. I caught pinky snapper to 50cm and countless flathead to 55cm in Port Phillip Bay, fishing around the Werribee area and vertically jigging them along the Princess Pier pylons.
I have spent a considerable amount of time on the water during this period. A lot of the testing has been done from late autumn through to winter, which is historically a tough fishing window here in Vic, as water temperatures in many systems are 11 degrees and below. However, I caught many fish and didn’t go through many soft plastics, as the durability was fantastic. As my experience with these soft plastics grew, so did my confidence in rigging them in different ways and experimenting with tungsten weight system in various situations, allowing me to see firsthand the difference in sinking rates and reactions from fish in shallow, crystal-clear waters, as well as watching their reactions on scope. The tungsten weight system is fascinating; some of the soft plastics in the range have six chambers where you can add, remove and move small tungsten ball weights to make the soft plastic sink and cast differently. This is easily done by inserting the tool that comes with each packet into one of the chambers and simply sliding the tungsten ball weight in or tipping the soft plastic on the side to remove. You can also buy refill packs to load the plastics with more weights, should you choose to do so. It’s a fascinating concept, and I suspect we will see a lot more in this space in the years to come.
In my experience, there has been enough difference with the unique profiles of the cobra and wingman, the adjustable tungsten weight systems, the flashy foils in the wingman and delta, and the proof is in the pudding with countless catches in what has been an extremely successful testing period. No doubt we will see more movement and refinement from Nomad in the years to come, and I’d encourage you to try them and make up your mind.
Now let’s walk you through the entire range of Nomad Live Ops Soft Plastics, sharing what they are, what you can target with each, how to rig them and my experience on the water to date with each of them.
Nomad Live Ops Fallout Minnow
A beautifully presented natural minnow soft plastic that mimics a baitfish so well. Available in 3 sizes, 3.5, 4.2 and 5” in 10 different and very natural-looking and translucent colours. These soft plastics include the tungsten ball adjustable weight system with six individual chambers that can have the tungsten weights added or removed. The weights allow you to control the sinking angle, sinking speed, casting distance and swimming action. These soft plastics can be rigged in a variety of ways, from standard jig head, weedless, Texas, dropshot and even unweighted with built-in cavities at each point. They are also UV-reacted to make them shimmer and stand out in the water, and scented to encourage bites. These soft plastics can be worked with lifts and pauses, slow rolled as they wiggle from side to side or sinking naturally. These will work very well on a wide variety of species and systems.
Nomad Live Ops Cobra Shad
A very unique profile with a winged neck that makes it look somewhat like a cobra with its head flared up. Those unique wings make the soft plastics swim aggressively, rolling from side to side, much like a wounded baitfish, drawing the attention of eager predators in the area. These soft plastics have a slightly larger profile than the Fallout Minnow and feature wings on the sides that create an erratic and pronounced swimming action. These come in 3.75” and 4.5” inches, and in 10 natural, translucent-looking colours. In my cases, Australian Salmon found these soft plastics irresistible when worked at a medium and fast retrieve; they darted side to side. These soft plastics are UV-infused, Scented, and made from a strong Titan TPE material, offering a blend of unique design, excellent swimming action, and durability. They also incoprtae the adjustable tungestn weight system and would work on a variety of fish species across different systems.
Nomad Live Ops Delta Minnow
Another very unique soft plastic profile with a soft bib at the front of the soft plastic giving it a very erratic swimming action like a soft variation of a bibed hard body lure, but a fraction of the cost. These soft plastics also include the tungsten ball adjustable weight system, and the soft plastic has six individual chambers that can have the tungsten weights added or removed. The weights allow you to control the sinking angle, sinking speed, casting distance and swimming action. Also available in 10 different colours and a single size of 4.5 inches. These are unique and work remarkably well in shallow waters and top feeders.
Nomad Live Ops Jerk Squid
This fascinating soft plastic undoubtedly draws inspiration from Nomad’s exciting Squidtrex range, providing customers with a more affordable alternative that can be customised and utilised in various ways. These soft plastics look incredibly cool, and I’ve caught countless flathead and pink snapper with them. Hoping them off the bottom with subtle lifts and twitches. These worked great in both shallow sandy flats, but came into their own along the shallow reefs. These are available in 2.5, 3.25, 4, 5, 7 & 9 inch sizes, as well as 11 awesome-looking colours. My favourite was Bone Tiger and Pearl White. I had some fun with these soft plastics at Port Melbourne, fishing the poles in 8 meters of water and slowly sinking them, then holding on.
Nomad Live Ops Dozer Minnow
The first soft plastic I used in the range, with a large profound paddletail. This versatile soft plastic will work well in estuaries for big dusky flathead and mulloway, in the bay for Australian Salmon, flathead, snapper and freshwater for redfin, yellowbelly and big Murray cod. This is a profile that has been around for a very long time, and although this model doesn’t bring anything new, it consistently catches a large number of fish. Available in 3, 4, and 5-inch sizes and 11 different colours. This time, a mix of bright colours and also realistic translucent colours. These will work exceptionally well when targeting big mulloway and flathead in estuaries, as well as salmon and snapper in the bay, and big redfin and cod in our lakes and rivers. The ribbed sections are great for keeping scent on the plastic, and the ribbed sections and cutout are great for rigging in multiple ways. The durability of these soft plastics is incredible. I caught over 50 Australian salmon with one plastic, which was still rigged and swam well afterwards.
Nomad Live Ops Spectre Minnow
The Spectre minnow is a stunning soft plastic made from PVC material. It features a skinnier profile, replicating a baitfish, with foils that make the soft plastics glimmer and shine when worked in the water. They look amazing and mimic a baitfish so well. These could catch just about anything; however, I had great success targeting bream, silver trevally, flathead, Australian salmon, and pinkies. Available in 2.3 and 3.25 inch sizes and 10 translucent colours. This was the only soft plastic in the range that didn’t quite have the same durability as the others, but it made up for it with its impressive catch rates and realistic appearance.
Nomad Live Ops Wingman
Another fascinating soft plastic design. This one has such a unique fork tail, which you can tear down to increase the gap to enhance the swimming action, depending on if you want a subtle or profound action. These look similar to the Spectre Minnows; however, they come in larger sizes and have a very unique tail. I haven’t seen a profile quite like this and was pleasantly surprised by how many fish it caught. I’ve always relied on a big grub tail or paddle tail to create that perfect swimming action; however, these caught plenty worked in a variety of ways. They work best with a finesse approach, using subtle lifts and pauses, relying on the flash of those aluminium foils to elicit reaction strikes from fish. They are available in 3.75, 4, and 5-inch sizes, as well as 10 translucent colours.
Nomad Live Ops Radiax grub
The smaller 2.25 profile incorporates fineness features for movement and vibration. These include small legs on the body that move and vibrate with subtle twitches of the rod and a thin, elongated tail with a bellied end for significant swimming action. These soft plastics are designed with bream in mind, but have been good on most estuary species. They come in 2.25 size and eight colours, including realistic and bright.
Nomad Live Ops Switcher shrimp
The switcher shrimp enters a highly competitive space with numerous excellent shrimp and yabbie imitations already available. These soft plastics look and work great. They look so realistic and can be rigged in multiple ways including forwards and backwards. I like using the 3.5 and 4.25 inch sizes in natural colours, which accounted for many flathead and pinky snapper. These come available in 2.3, 3.5, 4.25 and 5-inch sizes. The small 2.3” size are a very cool finesse option for smaller estuary species. These soft plastics are UV-infused, Scented, and made from a strong TPE material, offering a blend of unique design, excellent swimming action, and durability.
Thanks for reading the Nomad Live Ops Soft Plastics Review. You can find this range of soft plastics in all major fishing retailers and tackle stores after AFTA 2025. The prices will be finalised over the coming days, so I’ll be sure to update this article as things progress. For more information, please head to the Nomad Design website.
