Missing Out On Something Sticking With Plastics Only?

[Felix77]

I am going into my 4th year fishing and I found myself using more and more plastics for just about everything.  There are only a few "hardbaits" which I use.  A Sexy Dawg and a Spinnerbait.   The rest just sit in my tacklebox.  Note a jig, since it uses a plastic is in my arsenal as well.

 

I don;t know if it's a "grass is always" greener mindset but it made me curious.  How many of you consider yourself mostly plastics like I?  Who rarely use things like crankbaits, jerkbaits etc.

[Penguino]

Im  pretty much the same as you. I barely see any clear water here, so I am essentially limited to topwater, jigs, soft plastics and spinnerbaits.

[CRANKENSTIEN]

I have been taking bass fishing more serious for the last 15 years and the first 6 I mainly fished plastics.  Then I decided I was going to get good with cranks and I spent most of that year fishing them and as of the last 6, I consider myself to be better than average at cranking.  In the right conditions, you can do very well, but if the don't favor it you can die with a crankbait.  As of the last 4 years I have gotten much better at calling it quits with the crank and going to jigs and soft baits. You have to make yourself get out of your comfort zone and if you keep doing it you, you will be rewarded.  

[Steveo-1969]

I'm like you too, I would consider myself a soft plastic fisherman (and jigs).  I have an aversion to anything with treble hooks.  I'm sure I am missing the opportunity to catch fish but I'm ok with that.

[RSM789]

As a teenager, I learned to fish with crankbaits & topwater lures.  To this day, I enjoy fishing with them more because of the power of the strikes.  It is a more visceral reaction by the bass as they try to destroy the bait compared to the more subtle inhaling of a slow moving plastic bait.

 

That said, the past two years I have caught nearly 70% of my fish on various soft plastics (soft plastic swimbaits excluded).  On my home lake at least, they are just that much more effective for the structure & cover the bass inhabit.

 

So while I often start out with a hard bait, I am quick to change if the conditions dictate.  It is a matter of liking the results more than liking the process.

[Dwight Hottle]

I'm hard baits first plastics second. My smallmouth fishing is 95% hard baits. Largemouth fishing is more like 55% hard baits & 45% plastics.

[F14A-B]

Soft bait here.. But I sure enjoy a crankbait or topwater bite when it's the deal..

[Senko lover]

Plastics, jigs, and topwaters are about all I throw, with an occasional spinnerbait and lipless in the mix. Let's start a fan club. We could make friendship bracelets..........

[livemusic]

I am probably 90% soft plastics. Other would be spinnerbaits, frogs.

[Matthew2000]

I went fishing yesterday with five rods. Three had a Texas rig one a wacky and the other a rage rig. So yeah I like plastics.

[Scott F]

I am going into my 4th year fishing and I found myself using more and more plastics for just about everything.  There are only a few "hardbaits" which I use.  A Sexy Dawg and a Spinnerbait.   The rest just sit in my tacklebox.  Note a jig, since it uses a plastic is in my arsenal as well.

 

I don;t know if it's a "grass is always" greener mindset but it made me curious.  How many of you consider yourself mostly plastics like I?  Who rarely use things like crankbaits, jerkbaits etc.

 

If you fish from a boat and only fish alone, do what you like to do. On days when they aren't biting plastics, it would be a good idea to know how to fish hard baits. When you aren't fishing alone, especially if you aren't the one operating the trolling motor, you'd better be able to match what the guy controlling the boat is doing. Pretty hard to fish jigs or senkos when the boat is moving along while the guy up front is trying to cover water quickly with a crank bait or spinner bait.

Do what you like to do. If you're catching fish and having fun, you're not missing anything. If you'd like to be more than a one-note-charlie fisherman, expanding your skills will help. 

[Choosylobster]

That's how I catch all my Large mouth bass here in Florida. Soft bait is the way to go.

[RoLo]

You're not alone, soft-plastics dominate my tackle box.

I hasten to add, I live in Florida where weedless lures also dominate

 

Roger

[bassinnoobie]

I just started bass fishing the end of last summer didnt get to go at all during the fall but thats beside the point but I see soft plastics being more versatile take a Z-Man Zinker for example you can cut it in halves and ned rig the halves drop shot it if you were desperate, t rigged, wacky rigged, and I know im missing something. And thats just rigging it.Then take a spinner bait for example which IMO the most versatile hard bait there is you can only do about 4 to 5 things with it you can crawl it a on the bottem, buzz it, slow roll it, and burn it. Just my opinion

[curtis9]

I'm the opposite. Other than a fluke, I only go to plastics after I've gone through my full box of hard baits, or to target a specific spot. Normally I'm throwing something moving majority of the time.

[fish devil]

Plastics are way down on my list.  Yeah I use them during club tournaments but If I could use hard/moving baits exclusively I would.

[scaleface]

I use to fish plastics a lot more than I do now. For more than thirty years they were my number 1 bait  . I purchased Jelly worms by the hundred packs. For the last several years now , they have probably only accounted for about 10 percent of my fish . Crankbaits have really been hot for me . I dont know why but I'm catching more fish now on cranks than I ever have before .

[C0lt]

Ive only been bass fishing seriously for a little over a year, and I feel like Im pretty well rounded in my technique. I feel like both hardbaits and soft baits have their time and place. I use hard baits such as cranks, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits when im fishing water with large structre and not a lot of weeds. When I fish smaller ponds with a ton of vegetation, I tend to mostly use plastics, frogs, and depending on the water level; some topwaters lures with trebles. My theory is that If you tend to fish the same spots - say you only fish two or three very weedy ponds- youre probably going to get into a habit of using the same techniques. 

[scaleface]

This post got me thinking as to why I dont catch as many fish on soft plastics and catching more on hardbaits .Maybe it has something to do with the lakes I fish  getting older and there is not as much cover as there once was .

[RSM789]

Maybe it has something to do with the lakes I fish  getting older...

 

The lakes getting older or you getting older?

 

Or both?  

[F14A-B]

This post got me thinking as to why I dont catch as many fish on soft plastics and catching more on hardbaits .Maybe it has something to do with the lakes I fish getting older and there is not as much cover as there once was .

Could be, I went thru a bit of a funk in about 96 on plastics, began cranking heavily for a few years, now I'm back on the plastics... Whatever the bait, it has to be enjoyable for me..

[DogBone_384]

I'm also new to serious bass fishing (only 4 years) and this is is my 1st full season on a kayak. I spent more time last year learning new waters and had moderate success with Senkos & Zoom U-Tales, so that's what I've leaned on.

I'm starting to play around with hard baits. Going to give them a go this year and see how I do.

[GoTakeANap]

Soft plastics and jigs are about all I use unless i'm on Lake Murray. The water I fish is muddy all the time. 

[geo g]

Being a south Florida guy, I fish soft plastics 85 to 90% of the time, but that was not always the case. 30 years ago I was throwing Rapala baits, spooks, and shad raps 90% of the time. Down here we fish a lot of very shallow waters full of every type of vegetation imaginable. Although I would have some outstanding days using hard baits, there were days that the only thing I was accomplishing was casting practice. I have since mastered the use of plastics, and have gone to throwing them in the nastiest of junk. Although some days can be tough, I now always seem to catch fish even under the toughest conditions. I am under the philosophy you should throw the baits you are most comfortable with, and do what makes you happy. There is more then one way to skin a cat, so don't worry about others, and what they are using. Its all about having fun, and enjoying the environment you are fishing.

I use different plastics for different bodies of water. In very shallow large flats I will use frogs, swim baits, raggin craws, and speed worms. In canals with drop offs, I will use senko's, flukes, trick worms, centipedes and beavers. Plastics are just so versatile. You can throw the same bait on the surface, suspended mid level, or crawled along the bottom. You can throw it weightless and let it free fall through the water column so you can find how deep they are holding. You can rip it along the surface, and then kill it on a lily pad. You can put a small piece of Styrofoam inside a tube and let it float a foot or two above a big Carolina weight. It will sit still and with the slightest shake, dance in place above the weight. When you pull it will drop down and then float back up when you stop.

Plastics are so versatile, its just really enjoyable using them!

[Darren.]

I am going into my 4th year fishing and I found myself using more and more plastics for just about everything.  There are only a few "hardbaits" which I use.  A Sexy Dawg and a Spinnerbait.   The rest just sit in my tacklebox.  Note a jig, since it uses a plastic is in my arsenal as well.

 

I don;t know if it's a "grass is always" greener mindset but it made me curious.  How many of you consider yourself mostly plastics like I?  Who rarely use things like crankbaits, jerkbaits etc.

 

I consider myself a soft plastics fisherman,

but I will use jigs, lipped/lipless cranks, 

spinnerbaits, but those pale in comparison

to the soft plastics.

 

Fishing is for fun and enjoyment in my book,

and I have had so much success with worms

and such that I tend to stick with what works!