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Hey guys, I like throwing tubes in the 2.5" to 2.75" size range. In the past, I've used a lot of the Berkley Power Tubes and have had good success with them as far as putting fish in the boat and they held up ok for as soft as they seemed. However, this past year I was running into a lot more durability issues than before and having tube heads popping through the head of the bait many times even on the first fish. Maybe they had a few runs that didn't have quite as thick of walls or something, but I'm looking for your recommendations on your favorite small tubes.

Ok guys I’m interested to hear others opinions on this. You allowed 1 hardbait 1 softbait and 1 rod and reel or 1 rod 1 reel and 1 bait co what would they be for me I would have to go with dobyns, 13 fishing, and strike king, the only thing I would have to buy would be some berkley stunnas and megabass visions as strike king doesent currently make a nice sexy thin twitch style jerkbait

This is a question I see asked and get asked more than anything else included is a quick guide on how I select colors and the reasons why. I would love to hear your input as to why you choose colors for plastics. Maybe if I’m lucky we’ll all learn a little bit and maybe be able to hook into a couple more fish. in general I carry 3 types of colors translucence’s sulliuttes and transitions with these I generally consider water clarity to be my #2 consideration witch is mind blowing to most as they solely pick of water clarity however light is much more important imo. While in muddy water bass have semi restricted sight at night or in low light conditions they have extremely limited sight. My third criteria is depth as in most lakes if you fishing on the bottom in deeper water this fish will have limited visibility in everything but clear water. selection process 4-8 + feet of visibility natural colors like green pumpkin for cloudy or deeper water or watermelon red flake for sunny days if I’m fishing in the shade however I almost always throw pumpkin over watermelon red something I learned fly fishing for trout is that on cloudy days flash or fleck that reflects sun doesn’t look as realistic I do like translucent blues and grey for super super clear water like an electric shad trick worm 2-6 ft of visibility. Transition colors such as junebug, purple oranges, like Texas craw I also throw these in higher visibility if I’m fishing deeper water, these colors also produce well in clear water during low light conditions such as early morning and dusk 0-3 or 4 ft silhouette colors that you cannot see through black, black and blue, white things that leave a shadow underneath the bait these are also my go to colors at night. for swim jig or chatterbait trailers I follow a similar pattern with a translucent shad color in clear water and a white in dirty water im curious to hear how u guys pick colors and if you think my system is flawed or maybe you don’t have a system and this may get you a few more bites who knows another tip to not have to have 4-6 bags of each type of plastic is to find you tos in clear water and go rod on dirty water and carry them in the colors for that situation for example full size brush hogs are a hammer in dirty water for big fish so I only carry black and blue junebug and maybe a green pumpkin then I carry my clear water colors in the midsize

Those of you who are Senko believers have asked over and over for bulk packaging. Yamamoto heard you and is now offering bulk Senkos in 50 or 100 packs. Although the color selection is a little limited, I feel they covered the most used colors. It is online only so you will have to go to the website if you want to order.

The best way to describe Wisconsin water is tea-stained water. Being in northwest Wisconsin and that's how many lakes, streams, rivers, ponds, and other water sources are colored around here. With stained water, what's the best color for a plastic worm to buy? I currently have green pumpkin YUM Dingers and black and blue Mann's Jelly Worm.

Hey so I’m fishing a pond near a college campus. The air temps have been hovering around 45° for about a week now and when it’s not too windy I’m able to get out for an hour or two. Unfortunately this pond is fished by any and all anglers on campus because it is the only pond nearby. That means the fish have probably seen anything and everything imaginable. I’ve been to it 3 times and got skunked each time. Do you guys have any tactics that you use for VERY heavily fished ponds? PS. The pond is basically a big shallow circle with its deepest point in the center. It’s small too. Small enough to walk around the pond in under 10 minutes.

wordy thread, but thought I'd share....... I am primarily a crankbait user. Over the past 8 years or so, a friend of mine always tries to get me to use worms/plastics. He swears by them, along with many others. I have purchased worms over the years, would use them for a couple casts from time to time, but obviously have ZERO faith in them. They didn't produce immediately, so back in the box they'd go, and back to the crankbait I'd go. Normally I'd at least catch one bass every trip out via the crankbait. That was good enough for me. Essentially, it was enough to get by, and I was OK with that. Back in April, there was a month long kayak tourney that I signed up for, so I figured I would need a lot more than crankbaits if I wanted to have a fighting chance. So I stocked the yak with everything in my arsenal. So every time out, I tried everything.........Between the cold weather and the rain, it wasn't a fun time. Again, the plastics, along with everything else never produced for me. Back in the box they went. Needless to say, I never caught a fish in the month long tourney. Well I caught catfish on a crankbait, but obviously they weren't the desired fish. May pulled me in a couple of bass via the crankbait. All was well. Fast forward to the month of June. June 10th to be exact. Went to my main body of water. I found a river that branched off the lake and I took that back for a couple miles, fishing along the way. The waters were very calm. No boat traffic due to the shallow depths. No one would dare go back there. Except for me and the kayak . I started with my trusty crankbait casting over and over, coming up short. I tried a few other lures on and again, nothing. I was frustrated and bored at that point, so I dug to the bottom of the barrel and pulled out my circle hooks, and 5" senkos. (Saw a kayak video a while back, where the user swore by these worms and if all else fails, throw one and you'll catch a fish ). Obviously he left an impression in my mind, so I listened. I tossed out the wacky rigged green pumpkin colored senko a few times, and nothing. Paddled a bit to the next promising spot, tossed it out. nothing. Wasn't giving up yet, close, but not yet. Hit the next spot, tossed it out, as soon as that worm hit the surface of the water, BAM!! I didn't even have time to set close the bail. Scrambled to close the bail, and set the hook all in one motion. I lost him due to not being able to set it in time. I was excited at this point. So I figured, well, let's try that again. Tossed it to the same spot, I was able to get a turn and a half in before the bass slammed it again. set the hook, got him in. Now I was even more excited. Thinking it was a fluke, I paddled about 20 feet up, casted to another spot, and same thing. about a turn and a half of the reel and another largemouth slammed it. At that point, It was hard for me to swallow my pride to tell my friend he was right and that they do work. SO I refused to. I tied on a couple other colored worms, T-rigged, to see how they'd do. They didn't. So I quickly lost faith. Threw the crank for a bit, nothing. figured I'd try one last time with the senko again. Tossed it out, and slam....another one. SO after the third, I sent my friend a text and pictures showing what had happened. I could tell it made him proud I stopped after that, it was time to go home. I plan on going out tomorrow to the same river, using the same senkos, and I will see how they produce. If it happens, yet again, then I will no longer say worms suck!, and they actually produce. As of right now, I still have zero faith . I am almost there though. Here are pictures of the first two I caught.

Any recommendations on a medium size jig and plastics rod? Not looking to spend more than $180, thanks.

New bass fisherman here and I'm trying to learn everything I can. One question I have is why people repack their plastic baits? The original package seems better than any ziploc I would use. Great site here and thanks for sharing all the great info.

Okay so I know the bait you're using is really important but my question is how do you know which bait to use if they are similar. In my arsenal of baits I have a lot of different soft plastics and when I'm trying to fish slowly on the bottom I normally go off of color but does the bait actually matter? Like if I am throwing a texas rig what is going to decide whether I tie up a craw or ribbon tail. And when I do fish slow What is the difference of fishing a fitness worm, jig, or any slow moving bait, if the color matches and sizes is it just personal opinion or is there better times to throw a craw over a worm and so on?

Hey there everyone! Needing a bit of advice so I am going to attempt to try to fish using a Carolina Rig which I have never done before. Most of the lakes i will be fishing is roughly no more that 20-25ft deep. So I learned on here that there is this contraption called a Carolina keeper that you can put on your line so you dont have to tie multiple knots. I have lots of different plastics and creatures/craws that i can throw on there what size hook should I use or recommended type of plastics? Do i use kindof the same set up as a Texas Rig except you have a weighted leader with a bead? Placing the hook into the plastic the same way as a texas rig? Now can I cast that into some pretty heavy cover? I live like 30 miles south of Seattle and alot of the small lakes in the area have submerged weeds and lots of lily pads. Thanks so much for the advice and help.

What is your go-to bait that always seems to catch you a fish when having a tough day? For me I'd have to go with jigs, and chatterbaits.

I will COMPLETELY honest with you, I have no Idea what the Pros & Cons are with a split grip, And the Pros & Cons of a standard/full grip rods. I use casting rods only, and I only do topwater, and soft plastics/w texas rig. What is the recommended grip for a casting rod for the types of fishing I do? ~Tom

This might have been asked before on the forum, but let's here what you got. For me, time and time again....I catch more fish and have more confidence in a Zoom Magnum Ultravibe Speed Worm. Is it just me or is this worm overlooked as one of the best fish catchers there is? I love a green pumpkin, California 420 & Junebug Red with the tail dipped in Spike-it 90 % of the time. Let's here your go to plastic...I mean the one you find yourself picking up a bag or two every time your at the tackle store. And give a shout out if your a big U-Vibe fan like myself!

I was wondering how to fish these zoom lizards. They are the 6 inch super salty in green pumpkin with purple green flake. Ive never fished soft plastics before but i was reading up on it and with lizards i think theyll be best during all phases of the spawn. I learned to basically just fish it near shore and along beds can be deadly. Most of my curiosity is how to rig them. I have some gamakatsu 4/0 offset shank hooks, i see a lot of videos of people rigging soft plastics with larger hooks. I was also curious if you can rig it on a jig head (does jig head color matter) I have smaller jig heads in size 6 since i do not fish exclusively bass and i felt that this was a good all around size hook for all different species of fish. Thanks everyone!

I am looking to start fishing plastic swim baits now as I have never really tried them. I need advice as to what plastic swim baits, hooks/ jig heads, and line I should be using. I am targeting largemouth bass in MA so fish are a bit finicky and I want to find a good set up to catch them.

I'm planning on trying out dropshotting (from shore) highly pressured water tomorrow after work, and I'm taking the time now to prep my plastics and such. I'll be fishing water that at its deepest is maybe 7-8 feet, but most of it is around 3-5. The clarity is usually surprisingly clear for the area, but has a very weedy/scummy bottom, hence the desire to dropshot. I picked up some VMC Spinshot hooks thinking that since it's got a connection point on both sides of the swivel, I could premake some weight rigs of varying lengths and rigs and use these too-small duolock snaps I mistakenly bought to clip them to the lower eye. The idea is that this should allow me to rapidly change up my dropshot depths without having to totally retie. So far, I've put together three: 12" with a 1/8oz, 20" with a clip on the end, currently carrying a 1/4oz, and a 24" with a 1/4oz. I read somewhere that a somewhat longer length is generally desirable when fishing from shore, doubly so when fishing shallow bodies of water, as the line often flattens out to nearly horizontal. Somebody say something if I'm totally off my rocker with this whole idea. So with those made, I'm picking out some soft plastics to try now. I quickly went for the more traditional dropshot-sized baits, which didn't take very long as I don't have many too downsized baits. So far, I've pulled Zoom Super Fluke Jrs in White Pearl and Arkansas Shiner, 4" Yum Dingers (which were $1 sample 5-packs from Walmart) in shad/pearl laminate, baby bass and watermelon red flake, Strike King Bitsy Tubes in Green Pumpkin and these two packs of handpoured reapers made locally in ghost/black flake and watermelon red flake. I'm also looking at these Finesse Worms I have in watermelon seed to round out the larger end of the spectrum. First question: I assume reapers should be rigged so that the "leaf" is horizontal to slow the fall of the bait? I really can't find much information on how to use them other than they used to be a very popular finesse bait in the pre-internet era, but have mostly fallen out of favor. Second question: I'm thinking about cannibalizing some of my better-stocked plastics for use as a smaller dropshot bait. I'm particularly looking at cutting most, if not all of the tail off of some Zoom U-Tales, and cutting Trick Worms in half to make two dropshot baits out of one full-size worm. I also have some Strike King Elaztech 7" finesse worms I'm thinking about cutting in half to harness some of their buoyancy. Some of the crazier ideas i'm playing with are cutting a beaver-type straight down the middle to make two smaller-profile baits, and even just using a Zoom Split-Tail spinnerbait trailer nose-hooked. Total mad-scientist mode here. Any other input on my rigging or plastics choices?

Hi. I'm international student in NC. I do bank fishing. Usually, I don't have problems catching fish but for last two or three weeks I can't catch anything. Not even a single bite. Not even pan fish, bowfin, or anything else. I use junebug, watermelons /red flake lizards, smoky shad fluke, red/yellow spinnerbaits, white buzzbait. Nothing works. Same baits I used earlier with no problem. But I can see a longnose gar activity out on the pond. The water is between murky/greenish/muddy. I don't know the depth but it is not deep at all. May be up to 10 feet, which I doubt. What is the cause of the luck of biting fish? How to manage that? Thanks.

I am a big fan of gary yamamoto's plastic worms creatures etc. Seems like I cost myself an arm and a leg everytime I go to cash out (but i know they are worth the money) Just curious what kind of cheaper plastics (lizards, creatures, worms, etc) work effective for you as a bass fisherman. Trying to explore a little more with different brands this year.

I mostly use spinners, and crank baits. I have some soft plastics but I dont really know how to rig them or use them in the water. Any Tips are appreciated. Thanks.

Curious to see what people reach for first when dropshotting. I'm looking to gear up when a sale rolls around and wanted to see what others are rigging up!

Have any of you ever added HOMEMADE scents to any of your soft plastic lures? I realize that I a never going to recreate megastrike or match a shad/crawfish flavor in my kitchen. But, when I see coffee, garlic, and salted lures, I think to myself "shouldn't I be able to do this at home to spice up some of the unscented lures that I have lying around?". To the best of my knowledge, I have never heard of anyone who has used ingredients from around the house to add scent to their lures, but it seems like it should be possible and I know that catfishermen do it all the time. Has anyone ever tried this with bass lures, and has it been successful? Realizing you can't impregnate lures that are already formed, is there any way to make the scent last if you do add it yourself?

Seems to be that purple and junebug colored soft plastics work best around where ive been fishing lately. I have been pretty cheap and usually buy the cheapest worms i could get my hands on bc ive been paying off alot of wedding/truck bills. But I want to expand and use what would work best. Im a firm believer in quality or quantity so I need some help on this. So tell me...what is your favorite brand of soft plastics? What works best for you in lowlight conditions as far as plastics?

Hey guys, Sort of a newbie in bass fishing. I'm only 21 but I'm having a hard time with anything i use. My dad gave me some stuff to get started such as some top water lures and tons of crank baits. I don't know why but I seriously can say that I haven't caught one fish off a crank bait and I can say that I have been fishing at least 20 times this summer. I got frustrated and moved on. Discovered the Texas rigged and Carolina rigs for soft plastics and again I can honestly say that I haven't caught one fish on it at all my local lakes in a 20 mile radius. I know my description is vague but I am becoming frustrated spending money on plastics and what not and having nothing to show for it. I just want to be an ok bass fisherman. Any advice is desperately desired. As many people's input would also be helpful. Thanks fellas

Fishing has been really slow in Michigan these last few weeks! Any tips that may help me land a bass?