Overwhelmed With Soft Plastics

[Shifty06]

As a newer bass fisherman I get overwhelmed with the choices available an mostly how to choose. I have the understanding that colder water slower less action is needed in a trailer, worm, basically in general, an the opposite in the warmer water.

My question is how does one look at a soft bait an say yep that's going to have less action, or yep that one is going to have more? I watched a vid on jig trailers an they went through about 4 diff. options for water temps. of different times of the year.

How does one decide by looking at a bait what type of action it will have more or less? when you see people say ahh this has less action then go to a tackle shop online or in store, all the packages say "loads of action", "lots of fluttering action" Exc, Exc,..

Is there any general rules one could follow to determine where a plastic worm, grub, trailer, creature, beaver, & Exc. will fall on the "action scale"?

Sorry if this has been answered before I have tried using the search feature but couldn't quite find what I was looking for.

Thanks in advance!! 

[PAbasser927]

I probably oversimplify in the way that I look at it.  In regards to worms, for me curly tail = more action, while straight tail = less action.

 

Creatures, craws, beavers are a little trickier.  However if you look at the appendedages you can usually see that they are either flat or have a lip at the end.  Flat appendedages, like those on a pit boss, will flap.  To me, this = less action.  Appendedages with lips, like those on a rage craw, will kick.  To me, this = more action.

 

Most of all, observing your baits in the water is the easiest way to determine action.  Though this obviously requires purchasing and testing.  Over time you will develop your staples and the guess work will be eliminated until you decide to go outside of your wheelhouse and try something new.

[A-Jay]

Each brand & type of plastic along with the salt content, can be different as it relates to action.

Many bassheads know which ones do what and most all that comes from fishing them.

The more you fish the more you know.

So general guidelines: 

The longer the 'appendages' the more action you'll generally see.

 The softer the bait the more action & less durable it will be.

The cheaper the bait the less of the above you're likely to see.(There's a few exceptions).

Baits with 'action type' and or 'thin' appendages often have the most action or the 'fastest' action -  SK Rage Tail baits for instance

Baits with short or thick 'flat cut' style appendages often have less action but these excel in cooler / cold water - Zoom has several.

A long ribbon tail worm swims better than a straight tail worm.

A straight tail worm excel is finesse or even drop shot applications. 

 

Everyone has at least one (or more) favorite brand & styles of baits - but there are a TON of them out there and most all of them will catch bass at some point.  

Fish enough of them and you'll figure out which ones you like & which ones you don't.

Good Luck

A-Jay

 

[Dens228]

I try to keep it simple.

 

1. A stick bait......(Strike King Ocho's)

2. A craw..........(Strike King Rage Tail)

3. A creature........(Strike King Rage Bug)

4. A 6 inch worm.....(Googan right now)

5. A 10 inch worm.......(Strike King Bullworm)

 

Three colors each

1. Black/Blue Flake

2. Watermelon/Red Flake

3. A green/pearl laminate

[A-Jay]

1 minute ago, Dens228 said:

I try to keep it simple.

 

1. A stick bait......(Strike King Ocho's)

2. A craw..........(Strike King Rage Tail)

3. A creature........(Strike King Rage Bug)

4. A 6 inch worm.....(Googan right now)

5. A 10 inch worm.......(Strike King Bullworm)

 

Three colors each

1. Black/Blue Flake

2. Watermelon/Red Flake

3. A green/pearl laminate

Nice selection 

Me Too - But my success level appears open for debate.

A-Jay

[fishwizzard]

Using a paint pen is more commitment then I can handle. 

[Shifty06]

Wow I really like how you have that all separated out! Very Nice!

[MN Fisher]

I may not have as many as some here, but I do try to keep them organized.

[Chris at Tech]

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Nice selection 

Me Too - But my success level appears open for debate.

A-Jay

Wow! Must have been a looonnnggg winter.

[A-Jay]

Just now, Chris at Tech said:

Wow! Must have been a looonnnggg winter.

And it's not over yet.

A-Jay

[Dens228]

4 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Nice selection 

Me Too - But my success level appears open for debate.

A-Jay

95% of my fishing is from a kayak.  That would take up all the room! 

 

[A-Jay]

2 hours ago, Dens228 said:

95% of my fishing is from a kayak.  That would take up all the room! 

 

I hear ya ~ 

I also fish from a canoe - 

So that rig requires quite a bit of supply reduction.

#downsize

A-Jay

[Maxximus Redneckus]

I keep it very  simple .....super fluke ..manns 6 " jelly  worm and a 2 " curly tail grub ...i have used about 98% of soft plastics made in the last 30 yrs  or so and these 3 are all i need. Blue gill bass saltwater ... ow where did i put those plastic brush hogs i bought for 50 cents ??

[bh91]

Just buy them all , you will eventually get to use them 

[LCG]

As a bank angler I try to keep it simple, light, and versatile. I use a single Plano 3601 thin box with the following plastics... 

 

Trick worms - straight tailed long thin worm, subtle action

 

Senkos - shorter fatter worm, subtle action 

 

Curly tail grub - shorter fatter, good amount of action from the tail

 

Beaver style bait - creature bait with subtle action or faster if retrieved at a moderate speed

 

Creature bait - Christy critter or brush hog in both large and small size lots of action from the tail and arms. 

 

Craw - realistic and slow action. 

 

 

 

 

[twigss]

3 hours ago, punch said:

 

Z-man: fill all the remaining gaps from anything in their lineup. TRD's, Finnese wormz, razor shadz, fatty wormz... they are cheap and will last you a LONG time. Good on the wallet. 

Agreed whole heartedly. I would add TRD Crawz to this list as they have been killer for me. 

 

Keep in mind that Z-Man plastic doesn't play nice with any other plastic, it will melt is, so keep them separate. I keep all my plastics in their original bags so it's never an issue for me.

[Spankey]

I don’t know what you know or have experienced with soft plastics but I would not go out and buy a bunch of stuff off the cuff. And especially 1000 different brands. 

 

I know my opinion sucks but what I would do is pick a brand like Berkley and buy a couple packs each of the grubs, worms, finesse worms, lizards, craws, creatures, shads and stickbaits and fish them. They have a selection second to none. They will work. Any color you or the fish desire are there. They’ll have good action. A brand that is well proven. 

 

It won’t take long and you’ll be catching under the right conditions. 

 

Then an start to expand from that. Compare one brand to another. Compare the action of the Berkley vs. Culprit. Compare the color of Berkley to Zooms. This is just hypothetical but you get the idea. 

 

Maybe im full of bull but I’m pretty dang sure this will work. 

[greentrout]

ZOOM ... Culprit and Berkley Power are all you need .... i fish zoom trick worms 80 percent of the time ..... you will will catch bass with them .... lizards are next .... 

 

dated but still mainly relevant ...

 

https://www.bassresource.com/fish/plasticworms.html

 

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/soft_plastics.html

 

good fishing ...

[gilkeybr]

If you hear a pro (and i'd lump youtubers in with this) comparing actions of baits and saying how one is ____ times better than the other, theres a 75% chance they're just trying to push a product and a 25% chance theres actually some substance to it.

[Jigfishn10]

16 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Many bassheads know which ones do what and most all that comes from fishing them.

Such great advice throughout this thread but I quoted this statement because time on the water, experience with the current inventory of baits you have and seeing what they do will always provide more valuable information.

 

You can even educate yourself at home. Rig up a plastic on a hook, attach a leader and fill up a sink or bucket and just drop the bait in and see how fast or slow it falls, swim it and see what kind of action it provides and finally, twitch it on the bottom to get feedback as to what the bait does and how a fish sees it.

[Todd2]

Give me a Texas rigged Zoom Mag 2 - Black Sapphire on 14 lb Clear Blue Mono and all is right with the World for a few hours...lol

[Shifty06]

Wow thanks a bunch for all the information. Like I said I'm just trying to see how one determines action by design of a bait regardless of what the package says. Lots of great information here! Man thanks a bunch!!

[crankbait2009]

One way to look at this.  PABASSER mentioned, in time, you will figure out your staples and go from there.

Luckily plastics are pretty darn cheap, obviously some more expensive than others.  Unless using a Senko, you won't shed too many tears for plastics lost or non-producers.

[TOXIC]

Half the fun of plastics is trying them.  Plus, they are not that expensive.  Experiment because what I like, you may not.  That's exactly how you develop your own style.  

[Columbia Craw]

I have gone through more plastics than I care to admit. After thirty plus years there seems to be a " formula " that has made my selections much easier.

 

1)  PROFILE:  I look to present one of two profiles, shorter and broad body and or longer and slender. Examples of both are Rage Structure Bug/Sweet Beaver and a Brush Hog/Trick Worm/ Senko

 

2)  ACTION:  Subtle slow action or an active action.  Subtle examples would be a SK Rodent, RI Sweet Beaver, Senko, Trick Worm, SK Ocho.  Active bait examples are Rage Structure Bug, RI Man Bear Pig, Yum Christy Critter.

 

3)  PREY IMITATION:  Some baits mimic prey better than others and many will cross over.  Rage Bug, Rage Craw, Curly Tail Worm, Reaper, Swimming Grub and so on.

 

4)  COLOR:  Surprise !  Color is last.  Light or dark options. Colors to mimic shades of the local prey.  I want to provide contrast based on. water clarity.  Basic colors that work in most parts of the country are Black-Blue, June Bug, Green Pumpkin, Pumpkin Blue Swirl, Watermelon Seed or with Red Flake. Pearl, White, Shad or Ayu.  Some brighter colors such as pink, Morning Dawn work in finesse presentations such as the drop shot.

 

Hope this helps some.