Somewhere in a past thread here on BR, I remember reading about someone fishing plastic crawfish baits. Two guys using the same bait. They were catching consistently, when the bite slowed down. One of them caught several more fish, on a craw bait with only one craw. The other angler put on the exact bait, tore off a claw, and caught a couple more fish, before the bite shut down. I've heard guys talk about this before. Tearing off one claw on a crawfish bait, or a couple of legs from a plastic lizard etc. The concept is to make this creature appear wounded, helpless or hurt. An easy target for bass. But, many of the baits we use are made to look hurt or helpless, which we think draws more strikes. I've never purposely torn things off my plastic baits. I just fish them as they come in the package. I do know that many times, I've caught bass on plastic worms that have already caught several fish, and are torn and rough looking. I can't explain why? Has anyone else noticed an increased bite on plastic baits that have been torn up, or missing things? If so, please explain your experience with this.
