Wasting Money on Soft Plastics

[Chris186]

I have wasted a bunch of money trying new plastics, only to end up going back to what I always use anyway. These days I don't have that many different styles, just a few certain ones in two or 3 colors each.

[Bankc]

Okay, so maybe it matters sometimes.  

 

Yesterday I was throwing a Berkley Craw Fatty and was getting bit.  Then I ran out and switched to an Arkie Houdini (which albeit, was designed for a jig trailer, not a T-rig), and the bites stopped.  I also noticed the Houdini had virtually no action of it's own, which I thought was weird considering how thin the craw's arms were.  Switched to a speed worm (I cut a small slit in the inside bend of their tails if I'm not going to retrieve them fast to give their tails more action) and the bites came back.  Also, the Craw Fatty and Houdini were green with red flakes, and the speed worm was black and blue.  

 

So obviously something was different.  Perhaps the size?  The Houdini was the smallest of the bunch.  It also had the least action.  I fished all three the same way, around the same time, in the same place.  But whatever was going on, I spent more time with the Houdini, and never got a nibble on it.  The watermelon Craw Fatty did as well as the slit black and blue speed worm, and both crushed the watermelon Houdini.  

 

So sometimes it matters?  Kind of?

[CrankFate]

On 8/18/2021 at 12:59 PM, gimruis said:

Isn't that the truth.  Live bait is very popular up here especially in the spring, fall, and winter for certain species of fish, but stopping to buy it, keep it alive, and then dispose of it properly is a complete headache that I am rarely willing to deal with.

Yes. But there’s no way around it. Certain saltwater species, basically all of the ones I fish for, require fresh bait. Or live bait. I got it down to a science to keep bait fresh or alive. I keep it in a 6 pack cooler. Either swimming in cold water or on ice. Or in a bigger cooler, with containers inside. I started this when I realized that in crowded bunker dunker spots, whenever a few new guys show up and get in the water, bam, fish on. Maybe 2 or 3. Then, nothing. Same thing. Over and over. Every time. The only thing it could be, if they are just all soaking the same bait, is it goes bad in about 20 minutes. At $8 and up a pack, for one use, I’m keeping it fresh.

[Can't Catch Bass]

I think everyone "over-thinks" it and you left out the most important element, which is proximity.

 

It's like the chubby girl at the bar that you normally wouldn't talk to, but being that you're at a bar, had a bit to drink, now they're suddenly more attractive... Yeah, we all know what happened.

 

I think the same thing goes for fish. The more time you spend closer to them the better your chances are of them having a lapse of judgement. There's times you can connect the dots and say, "the mayfly hatch was happening, so that's why they were so on my whopper plopper... there were mayfly scuba, splash, sex parties going on everywhere!". Or it could be that the hatch had them all close to the surface feeding and that was why the bite was on.

[Maggiesmaster]

I’ve got hundreds of plastic baits in all colors, but (DON’T TELL MY WIFE!) all I’ve used this year is plastic worms in red bug  or green pumpkin; watermelon red if red bugs are too hard to reach. 3/16 oz. tungsten weights & 3/0 hooks Texas rigged.