Kicker Pickle Kick PK-3 Soft Swimbait — 3 Inch, 5 Per Pack

When the bait in the water is small, five inches of swimbait is the wrong answer. Inside harbors and bays, spotted bay bass are keyed on little stuff most of the year, and a big profile gets looked at and refused.

Short version: 3", 0.35 oz, five baits per pack, weedless on a 1/0 or 2/0 hook. The smallest bait in the Pickle Kick line, the cheapest per bait, and the only size where one pack builds one complete umbrella rig.

Where It Earns Its Keep

• Harbors and bays — the primary use. Spotted bay bass on the bottom around structure, docks, and rock walls.
• Skinny water and calm conditions, where a heavy bait lands too hard and a light one can be crawled.
• When you're getting followed but not bit. Fish tracking a bigger bait and turning off is a size problem more often than a color problem.
• Umbrella rig arms for harbor fishing — five small profiles reads like a real bait ball inside the bay. See below.
• Freshwater largemouth and smallmouth, where a 3" paddle tail is a year-round confidence size.

One Pack Builds One Rig

Five baits per pack, five arms. This is the only Pickle Kick size where the math comes out exact — the PK-5 takes two packs and leaves you three spares, the PK-7 takes three. It also makes the harbor build the cheapest way into umbrella rig fishing by a wide margin.

The lighter baits also drop the total weight of the rig, which means you can throw a harbor A-rig on a more reasonable setup than the 5" and 7" builds demand.

Rigging It

Match a 1/0 or 2/0 hook to the body — considerably smaller than what the PK-5 takes, so don't reach into that box. Run the point up through the belly so it sits flush in the slot. On a body this size, a hook that's even slightly oversized will bind the bait and kill the tail.

Keep the head light. A 1/4 oz head is the general-purpose pairing for harbor bottom work; drop to 1/8 oz in shallow calm water. The whole reason to fish a 3" bait is a slow, natural fall — too much lead and you've thrown that away.

Picking a Color

Inside harbors the water is usually working against you, so contrast matters more than pattern detail:

Pro Tips from the Tackle Express Crew

• Size down before you change color. When fish are following and refusing, the profile is usually the problem. This is the bait you drop to.
• Fish it on the bottom, slowly. Harbor spotties are a bottom-contact fish. Drag, pause, and let it sit longer than feels right.
• Don't reuse your PK-5 hooks. A 4/0 in a 3" body binds the bait and kills the action. 1/0 or 2/0.
• At five per pack, buy the color you'll fish all day. One pack covers a full umbrella rig or a full session of singles.

Common Mistakes

• Too much head weight. The slow fall is the entire advantage of a 3" bait. A heavy head throws it away.
• Oversized hook. The most common rigging error on this size, and it stops the tail dead.
• Fishing it in open water where the bait is big. This isn't the outer-island bait — that's the PK-5.
• Retrieving it like a 5" bait. Faster doesn't help. Bottom contact and pauses do.

Specifications

Colors are listed in the selector above and change with each production run. Hooks and jig heads are sold separately.

What's Included

Five PK-3 swimbaits per pack, in the color selected. Hooks, jig heads, and the umbrella rig are sold separately. One pack rigs a complete five-arm umbrella rig.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many baits come in a pack?
Five.

What hook size does the PK-3 take?
1/0 or 2/0. Much smaller than the PK-5's 4/0–5/0 — an oversized hook binds the body and kills the tail.

How many packs do I need for a five-arm umbrella rig?
One. Five baits, five arms. It's the only Pickle Kick size where the math is exact.

PK-3 or PK-5?
PK-3 inside harbors, bays, and skinny water where the bait is small. PK-5 for open water, boiler rock, and the outer islands. If fish are following your bigger bait and refusing it, drop to the PK-3.

What jig head weight should I use?
1/4 oz for general harbor bottom work, 1/8 oz in shallow calm water. Keep it light — a slow fall is the point of this size.

Is it weedless?
Yes, when the hook point sits flush in the body slot. That's what lets it come through structure without loading up.

Can I use it in freshwater?
Yes. A 3" paddle tail is a year-round size for largemouth and smallmouth on the same slow, bottom-contact presentations.

What are the Aftco colors?
A collaboration series between Kicker and Aftco. Same body and same specs — the difference is the color pattern.

Gear That Goes With It

• Warbaits Neck Breaker Swing Head — 1/8 oz and 1/4 oz are the weights for this bait.
• Kicker PK-Rig Umbrella Rig — five-arm rig with quick clips.
• Kicker Pickle Kick PK-5 — the everyday 5" open-water size.
• Kicker Pickle Kick PK-7 — the big-profile option.
• Kicker Booty Spin — same family with a spinning blade instead of a paddle tail.

Buy It From People Who Fish It

We sell Southern California saltwater tackle from our shop on Soledad Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, and we fish these baits in the same harbors you do. Not sure whether to size down, or which head weight your water wants? Call us or come in — we'd rather work it out at the counter than have you guess.