Hard Baits Take a Back Seat to Soft Plastics

[papajoe222]

I've been noticing a trend over the last 10-12yrs. Hard baits (cranks and many topwaters) have been catching fewer fish.  During my tournament days a common strategy was to work over a spot top to bottom with different cranks, or a spinnerbait. If they didn't produce, just move on to the next spot.  I seriously doubt that strategy would work on the highly pressured waters now, using those same baits. 

I tried testing this theory out last season, I'd work the hard bait over a spot and then go back over the same spot with soft plastic presentations and compare the two.  I attempted to work the soft plastics at the same speed as I'd worked the hard baits to eliminate presentation speed as a factor.  Then I took it one step further. I went over that same spot again after a short break with cranks without rattles. The comparisons didn't surprise me much.  The soft plastics out produced the hard baits and the silent baits out produced those with rattles. 

Here's what really surprised me; The majority of fish were caught from the middle of the water column and this was on a day that I anticipated the fish to be actively chasing.  Days like that, I rarely target the middle of the water column. Needless to say, for the remainder of the season, I threw a lot more swim jigs, C-rigs and soft swim baits.

Is it just happening in the highly pressured, natural lakes of the mid-west, or are you guys down south and out west experiencing the same thing?  Of course, there is the distinct possibility that the old man is just imagining things, but the voices in my head tell me different.

[Mobasser]

I catch most of my fish on some sort of soft plastic bait. The main reason for me is milfoil weeds, which make it almost impossible to fish hard treble hook baits anymore.

[Shimano_1]

I've noticed the same trend in the lakes i fish.  Used to be all about spinnerbaits and crankbaits.  Anymore i don't throw much besides plastics post spawn. Still do well pre spawn on jerkbaits and crankbaits but I'm sure this is partly because the pressure hasn't cranked up yet in the spring. I just had a wonderful weekend fishing and every fish was caught on plastics. Buddies tried everything and we all ended up throwing the same plastics.  Never really dawned on me that the pressure was the culprit...and it may not be...but it sure makes sense! Thanks 

[roadwarrior]

Well, I think it just varies.  Some days moving lures are the ticket, but most days a slower

presentation is a better option.  My best day ever was on a BassResource Roadtrip at Pickwick

during massive flooding...18" of rain!  My partner caught most of his on a RES which had just

come to market. My 78 fish total was almost exclusively caught on a Sworming Hornet/ LFT Live

Magic Shad.

 

[caposa]

IMO, novice to intermediate bass fishermen (such as myself and 90% of anglers out there) would still be wise to throw spinnerbaits and cranks solely because of their ability to cover water. They can be fished in basically any weather conditions and can work a variety of depths.

 

That these baits can cover water far quicker and more efficiently than soft plastics outweighs the relatively small aversion bass might have to these presentations.

 

I've found 3/8 white spinnerbaits with keitech swimbait trailers, or VMC spin jigs with keitech fat impact swimbait trailers offer a happy medium between the two - ability to cover water effectively while still offering a reasonably natural presentation.

[tander]

I use to be a spinnerbait/crankbait person. I would throw a worm every now and then. Now, it mostly a plastic of some kind. Talked to a young fisherman in the same area I was fishing, said he caught nothing. He was throwing something fast. I caught 14 on a worm, 2 days later I caught 16 in the same area, all on a worm. I still throw a spinnerbait and crankbait but now I'm primary a worm fisherman.

[Teal]

I think fishing pressure has alot to do with it.

[roadwarrior]

4 minutes ago, Teal said:

I think fishing pressure has alot to do with it.

Probably true, but when there is lots of pressure, soft plastics seem to rule!

 

 

 

 

 

[Teal]

Just now, roadwarrior said:

Probably true, but when there is lots of pressure, soft pastic seem to rule!

 

 

That's exactly what I'm saying.  When it's tough here in north eastern nc, typically I go plastic.  It works.  I'm not sure if it's the finesse aspect, but like you said, it rules.  

 

Senkos, robo worms, ribbon tails, rage baits, and baby brush hawgs have kept the SKUNK away many times.  

[FishinBuck07]

I fish them all, no matter what the result doesn't change!  Still can't catch a cold!!!  ?

[roadwarrior]

Yeah, but I will sometimes fish a jig when I know there is a better option.

 

[Teal]

Just now, roadwarrior said:

Yeah, but I will sometimes fish a jig when I know there is a better option.

 

Me too! Sometimes, you are the hero and some times you are the goat.  

[plawren53202]

36 minutes ago, Teal said:

I think fishing pressure has alot to do with it.

This is consistent with my observation at the water I fish the most, my subdivision HOA pond. It gets a LOT of pressure. I see a lot of people throwing spinnerbaits for some reason; I don't know if it's the draw of the $1 box at Walmart? Whatever the case I also have never seen anyone catch anything on them. The baits that work the best for me there are all soft plastics, primarily wacky or weightless t-rigged Senkos, or weightless flukes. I have also had some success when the water is dirtier with a Bitsy Bug with a Tiny Paca Chunk trailer, but because of the trailer I almost put the jig more in the soft bait category. It's certainly not what I would call a moving bait, especially when fished crawled along the bottom.

 

Very rarely I have caught a few on a moving bait there; did okay over the winter and early spring on a red craw lipless crankbait, and occasionally when it is warmer I have caught a few at late late sunset or even as it is dark on a mini spinner bait, Colorado blade and black/blue. But for a place that I fish a lot, I have probably caught 95% or more of my fish there on soft baits, and I do think this is due to pressure.

[king fisher]

     I fish two lakes with next to zero fishing pressure.   I prefer to fish hard baits, but there are many days, I have to fish soft baits to catch fish.  Some times the reason is I can rig the soft baits weed less making it possible to get the bait in the strike zone.  Other days the fish are in an area accessible to both, they just plain prefer a soft bait.  Some days I can over come the fish preference to soft baits, by covering more water, and getting more reaction strikes, but other times fishing the hard baits is just a waste of time.  I much prefer the days, when I can make long casts, retrieve fast, and get crushing strikes on my favorite spinner bait.  There are days, when I am stubborn and late to change, but fishing is all about fun, not just about how many fish I catch.  I have a friend that prefers the subtle bite of a worm, and can slowly fish a small area all day.  The only hard baits he ever brings with him are surface baits. ( Proving even the most hard core finesse guy can be seduced to the dark side when the surface bite is going off).  Can be a real circus when we fish in the same boat.

     When I do fish pressured waters, I have noticed the fish are more picky about what they want at any particular time with both types of baits.  Numerous baits and techniques may work on at the same time on a waters with little pressure. This may just be my imagination, I do know I am fortunate to be able to enjoy some solitude where I fish.

[Armtx77]

I think as a whole, soft plastics get worked slower and because of that, moody fish are more apt to take a swipe at it.

I have never had much luck throwing hard baits, aside from Rat L Traps and buzzbaits. Both being obnoxious sound makers that invoke a strike.

 

I catch the occasional fish on a spinner bait, but T-Rigged and top water frogs have always been good to me. So, I keep buying them and I keep throwing them.

[scaleface]

15 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

and the silent baits out produced those with rattles. 

I wish all manufacturers would make rattleless versions . The hooks make enough noise most of the time  . 

[fin]

It’s surprising to me that most of your catches were coming from the middle of the water column, but the rest of your results are not surprising to me. I fish from the banks in a reservoir in the south.

 

I don’t agree with your conclusions that it’s directly due to pressure, and I don’t agree that one type of lure (soft vs hard) is always superior for everyone. It’s easy to compile results, but very difficult to draw hard conclusions from those results.

 

Most of my fish are caught on soft baits, but there are certain times during the year when they are useless and I can only catch fish with hard baits. Friends fishing the exact same spot out-fish me with hard baits, and I out-fish them with soft baits. In my opinion, presentation and mastering a particular bait is more important than which bait is used, but certain baits work better certain times of the year.

 

I think rattles are a gimmick that should have been discontinued decades ago. I think they probably spook more fish than they attract, but I couldn’t prove it.

 

Pressure is a different thing altogether. Fish are not as stupid as they seem, but it’s not likely they have learned to avoid baits with rattles unless they have been caught and released. And even then, not likely they made the connection. I think pressure mainly affects when and where they forage, and it has a huge effect on that. It might seem like a fish in a private pond will bite lures that a fish in a pressured pond would not, but I think that is an illusion. They are just not scared.

 

[MGF]

I've been a jig guy since I was a child but part of the reason that I lean to plastics and jigs must be the cost. Outfitting yourself with several styles of crank baits in several sizes that rub several depths could cost more than my house...well maybe my truck. By contrast, a modest assortment of jigs, plastics and lead and you can fish almost anything.

 

For a long time I did real well on Repalas from floating to neutral to sinking but the pike were taking too many. Maybe the fish got educated too? For a few years a wacky rigged yum dinger out fished everything. Then I killed them on the ned.

 

Somewhere in there I rediscovered the tube and "swim jigs". Now I'm thinking that I can live with an arky head for most of what I do.

 

So far this season it's the jig with a tube (Texas or jig) in close second.  

 

What I can't say is whether any of this has more to do with the fish or just my own tastes.

 

[DitchPanda]

I feel like most fish are in a neutral to negative mood most of the time. Because of that soft baits which are generally more natural looking and fished slower will draw strikes from a bigger % of fish. That said I like a lot of anglers much prefer to fish aggressively with moving baits which is why I try them almost every time out even when I know better.

[WRB]

I am a believer of active bass will chase down faster moving lures and strike most lure types. The opposite end of bass behavior is inactive bass that are not interested in eating or striking any lure. Activity means the bass is alert, inactive the is sleeping/ resting.

The key to catching bass is timing the bass activity levels. Hard baits moving fast appeal to a smaller population of bass based on behavior. Soft plastics presented to active or neutral/ less active bass usually gets a strick response. Inactive bass ignor lures and live bait, no interest.

For me lure selection comes down to knowing the rythym of the bass activity, being at the right place at the right time and selecting lures that will get a strike response.

Tom

[Bankbeater]

Hard baits work best around here in the spring, then when it's warm enough to go without a jacket the bite on plastics starts up, and the hard bite dies off until mid or late fall.  This pattern may vary a bit from year to year, but it's what I begin with.

[WRB]

Bass are cold blooded animals thier body temperature is the same as the water temperature they are in. The need for food is based on metabolism, bass need more food in warmer water and have more choices of prey availble in warmer water. More feeding activity equals more active catchable bass are availble to chased down faster moving lures.

Tom

[CountryboyinDC]

Very interesting post, and thanks for sharing the results of your comparison testing @papajoe222.  I definitely want to test out that theory once the lockdowns allow that to be feasible. 

[papajoe222]

When I conducted this experiment, I knew that if I fished the soft plastic baits slower, it wouldn’t be a fair comparison, so I strove to duplicate the retrieval speed for all presentations. I also attempted to match the size of the offerings, but the spinnerbait comparison was a guess on my part as I matched the body/skirt not the whole bait.