Trying A New Soft Plastic, Not That Any Of Them Work In The First Place

[crankbait2009]

ok, for my second trip to the BPS classic, I decided to try yet another soft plastic.  I have zero luck when it comes to plastics but there are so many to choose from and so many people have luck with them. 

 

so I bought a pack of the 4" Berkley Gulp minnows, smelt.  these minnows look so life like it aint funny.  so that drew me to them as well as them being almost identical to the minnows in the lake i fish.

 

so heres my question.  the guy at BPS recommended me use a jig head with these minnows, so i bought a pack of 1/8oz.  now if im not mistaken, when i cast it out, the minnow will slowly fall to the bottom, with a twitch here and there i can bring it off the bottom and have it dart back to the bottom. 

 

to me, it would seem best to have them swimming/twitching throughout the water like the rest of the minnows.  how many minnows are actually darting to the bottom and repeatedly lifting off/on?  is this a normal reaction for minnows?

 

so i guess my main question is, jighead or weightless?  im assuming weightless would cause it to float.

 

how should this be thrown with a good hope of success?

[Rangerphil]

Those would work great on a drop shot rig!

[crankbait2009]

i think i recall the BPS guy mentioning that technique as well

[MarksHooked]

I used these last year, same colour and size. I nose hooked them on a drop shot and had a lot of success.  Dip the tail in your favourite dye or scent and hang on!

[John G]

Have you tried slowly dragging a T-Rigged Rage Tail Craw or a Yum Money Craw weightless or with a 1/8oz Tungsten bullet weight on a 4/0 or 5/0 EWG hook?

[Montanaro]

dieing minnows will flutter to bottom and then jolt up. Jig head mimics this but there are better ways to do it.

[jsc4324]

Have you tried slowly dragging a T-Rigged Rage Tail Craw or a Yum Money Craw weightless or with a 1/8oz Tungsten bullet weight on a 4/0 or 5/0 EWG hook?

I'll second the craws comment. grab some rage craws or rage lobsters. No way you won't catch fish if there nearby. Just hang on because the fish will crush them. I couldn't believe it the first time I tried them how hard they hit the rage craws.

[Raul]

There are so many ways to rig and fish such baits that there is not enough room in a single post to cover a few ones, www.apstv.net THE STRONG POWERBAIT, an image is worth a thousand words, it is in Japanese but the language you see is universal.

[Comfortably Numb]

Depend on depth of water and how fast you are moving it. If the 1/8 does down too quick in shallow water try a 1/16 oz jighead or swimbait hook.

 

Dropshot for those would be my first choice though.

[iceintheveins]

You don't even catch fish on senkos? I have yet to fish a plastic that doesn't catch bass at least some of the time. Many of them will catch bass most of the time.

[K_Mac]

Crankbait2009 while "plastics" covers a huge range of baits and techniques and some may be more suited to our personal style than others, it is hard to imagine you have not had any success on some type of plastic unless you you just don't them or use them only in the swimming pool!

 

I have not used any of the Gulp minnows. I have caught many fish on 1/8 oz jig heads and grubs from 2" to 5" fished in a variety of ways. A wacky rigged Senko/knock-off is as close to a sure thing in many situations as you are likely to find in my experience. A garden variety ribbon or paddle tail worm T-rigged (in some kind of green color) will also catch fish in most conditions. A Trickworm or other finesse worm on a shakeyhead is another great option. These are only a few proven ways that have put too many fish to count in boats across the bass fishing world.

 

Find another bass fisherman who knows how to fish plastics, or read and study the huge amount of info available on the subject. Learning to use them will make you a better fisherman. Good luck. 

[crankbait2009]

Have you tried slowly dragging a T-Rigged Rage Tail Craw or a Yum Money Craw weightless or with a 1/8oz Tungsten bullet weight on a 4/0 or 5/0 EWG hook?

dragging?  uh, no.  normally I will swim it through the water slowly allowing the flappers and what not to flap.  couple casts, and if no results i will either change up the plastic to another or go back to my loved crankbait.  i usually throw the plastics with an EWG, do not recall the size.

[crankbait2009]

I'll second the craws comment. grab some rage craws or rage lobsters. No way you won't catch fish if there nearby. Just hang on because the fish will crush them. I couldn't believe it the first time I tried them how hard they hit the rage craws.

I do have the rage craws.  i bought them due to the heavy recommendation of users here on BR.  maybe thats the problem, im throwing the plastics when NOTHING is nearby

[crankbait2009]

You don't even catch fish on senkos? I have yet to fish a plastic that doesn't catch bass at least some of the time. Many of them will catch bass most of the time.

I have thrown senkos more than anything, wacky rigged.  Again, a few tosses out, slow fall, twitch here and there and never had any hits.  like i mentioned, i could very well be throwing it at a spot where there are ZERO fish.  that would NOT surprise me!!

[crankbait2009]

last summer i tried fishing plastics, varying from one type to another.  i could have swore i spent a good half hour but when you are using a non trusting lure and there is no confidence what so ever, that half hour could have been 10 minutes. 

 

with this fishing season coming up, i will definitely try to fish plastics a lot more.  I love my cranks but also want MORE options to go for than just cranks.

 

I have a good assortment of plastics i have bout through the past couple years.  i bought them just cause i like buying lures/plastics .  i will use them a lot this year.

 

something has got to give.  once i catch one fish then i'll be sold.  for now, not so much.

 

after plastics work for me, i will then move to a jig (football head, swimming, etc).  thats another one i have plenty of but no results

[Catt]

The biggest mistake most anglers make when learning to fish plastics is, they fish to fast!

30 min is not enough time for any bait!

You're an example of why we teach, "don't take anything else", fish all day with 1-2 plastics techniques.

Once you put a couple bass in the livewell it'll all start to click.

[ww2farmer]

After reading this thread, the problem is not the baits... It's you. Sorry to break the news to you so harsh, but hopefully your adult enough to understand what I mean with out getting bent about it.

[crankbait2009]

theres no doubt in my mind that its "me" and not the bait.

 

I know once I catch one (like catt said), it will change my perspective on it.  more or less......................excitement.

 

consider me the poster child for "what not to do".

 

I shall be dedicated to plastics this year.  I WILL post my first catch

[jsc4324]

Are you sure your not missing the bite? Maybe go to a high vis line and leader so you can line watch to learn what the bite feels like. Sometimes there so subtle they spit it out before you even know there there. Also very very slight rod movement is usually more than enough to move the bait around to look intriguing.

[Catt]

Are you sure your not missing the bite? Maybe go to a high vis line and leader so you can line watch to learn what the bite feels like. Sometimes there so subtle they spit it out before you even know there there. Also very very slight rod movement is usually more than enough to move the bait around to look intriguing.

I agree 100% with the importance of feeling the bite.

What will happen when we throw only plastics is that one dumb, lost, ignorant bass will knock the crap out of your lure, you will react with a hook set that is just enough to catch it.

After that a little light will go off in your head, things will start making sense, you will feel bites you never felt before, & you'll set hook with purpose.

[crankbait2009]

although this may be true, i could not tell you the last time i felt a thing.  I am not a big fan of "watching line" but uh, maybe that's the key 

 

every time i throw the lure out, the first thing in my mind is "what the heck is it supposed to feel like?"  i mean i have caught crappie on plastic panfish baits but never anything bigger than that.  i know the bite isnt the same as that when it comes to bass.

[jsc4324]

Definitely try the hi vis line then like yellow braid to add to the sensitivity at least a couple times. Like said above sometimes they will crush the bait and if your not hanging on it feels like the rod will disappear. Other times it feels very subtle , maybe like someone is taping your line with a pencil. If you think you feel something set the hook. No harm if nothing is there. Eventually you will be able to determine what is on the bottom by feeling the bait move across mud, rocks, grass etc. Be paitient and be willing to change colors on worms etc. I have had days that I've been skunked and a simple color change makes all the difference.

Also what are you using for rod and reel for senkos Trigs etc. That could also be part of the problem.

[WIGuide]

You've got to give yourself more time. If you know what you're doing, and you give a bait a half an hour and nothing then maybe it's time to switch. If you're trying to learn how to fish a new bait, you have to give it more time. You also HAVE to watch your line! No if's, and's, or but's about it. If you're not going to watch your line, you might as well just stop before you start. The other thing to remember is to S..L..O..W down. There are times when swimming them will work, but 95% of the time you want bottom contact. You will either want to drag a T-rig or hop it. You don't want tons of rod tip movement maybe a movement from a 10 O'clock position to 11-ish. If you lift too much you no longer have a very realistic presentation because your bait is down there trying to leap buildings in a single bound like Superman. Another tip would be to be sure you're keeping your rod tip up for optimum feel.

 

If you're using a wacky rigged senko style bait there's post on here how to fish them. I'd take a look at them before heading out next time. It's a pretty effective rig and even my grandma who's 89 years old can even catch fish on them. I'd definitely give them a try.

 

 Hang in there and you'll start catching fish! Don't get frustrated with the learning curve. I assure you it's all worth it!

[crankbait2009]

Definitely try the hi vis line then like yellow braid to add to the sensitivity at least a couple times. Like said above sometimes they will crush the bait and if your not hanging on it feels like the rod will disappear. Other times it feels very subtle , maybe like someone is taping your line with a pencil. If you think you feel something set the hook. No harm if nothing is there. Eventually you will be able to determine what is on the bottom by feeling the bait move across mud, rocks, grass etc. Be paitient and be willing to change colors on worms etc. I have had days that I've been skunked and a simple color change makes all the difference.

Also what are you using for rod and reel for senkos Trigs etc. That could also be part of the problem.

i understand what you are saying.  i went through the same experimenting when first introduced to cranks, trying to figure out if it was a bite/rock/tree. 

[Wbeadlescomb]

I know a lot of people watch there line. But I'm not a line watcher I use a sensitive enough rod I can feel the fish tap the bait or you just get a heavy feeling then I'll watch the line. I try to set the hook opposite the way the fish is running. The only time I do watch my line is when I'm flipping because the majority of my bites come on the fall.