Are you more successful with plastics??

[Cracker]

I went out today after work fishin some canals and first tried a cheap black colorado spinnerbait ( I caught a 1.5 pounder yesterday on it, just one)...nothin. I tried a small popper, caught darn near every weed but still...nothin. Then I tied a t-rigged finess worm with a 1/16 ounce bullet and a bead between that and the hook...bam fish on! nothin all that big, mostly a pound or less but one was about 2.5 lbs.

was it just the way they were feeling today or is there something to plastics where they seem to go for them more often?

[daviscw]

I am mainly because I fish them exclusively. I don't feel the need to change since they always produce for me. I haven't found the confidence in other types of baits either.     (Something I really need to work on.)

[soccplayer07]

yes, i am more successful w/ plastics. this being said every type has its day and place...

[peidy_p]

Plastics have been around sense the begining and there is a reason for that, they produce. Experement with dierent types of plastics and other lures. don't get discuraged when they dont work just go thru the process of elimination. Down here we have ALOT of grass and I can throw a weedless frog all day. Good luck!

[BadKarma42]

Yes.

[Cracker]

That makes me feel better. I know I can catch on plastics, I mostly use senkos or zoom finesse worms and they work well, I was just curious because I am trying to learn to fish other typer of lures and have had somewhat limited success so far.

I'll geep on tryin I guess.

[roadwarrior]

Soft plastics have caught more bass than all other lures combined.

Some will argue that jigs attract bigger bass. Either way, these are

the two top artificial baits, everthing else is just for fun.

Disclaimer:

Swimbaits are a relative newcomer which may change the dynamics.

These are definitely big bass lures.

8-)

[rondef]

I have good luck on plastics and I have probably caught more bass on plastics than any other bait.

[SimonSays]

So far i've caught more fish on plastics than on any other lure.  They're great also because for about $4 you get more or less 8 pieces of plastic vs one hardbait.  Great for a college budget like mine =D

[skillet]

Definitely! To the point that when I'm using something else, I'm wondering if I should be using plastics ...

                                 As Ever,

                                  skillet

[Daniel My Brother]

Any time of year, any time of day, you can catch fish on soft plastics. Some days there may be a better choice, but a plastic worm is never a bad choice.

[Raul]

No, the ammount of fish I catch on a given day is spread evenly between soft plastics, cranks and spinnerbaits.

[Catt]

Can't say I thoroughly fished an area until I've thrown plastic  

[burleytog]

Soft plastics have caught more bass than all other lures combined.

:-?

In around 60 years?  :-X

[Davis]

I am mainly because I fish them exclusively. I don't feel the need to change since they always produce for me. I haven't found the confidence in other types of baits either. (Something I really need to work on.)

That is exactly how my thinking was last year. If you can force yourself to use different baits go for it. Jigs were non existant and frankly I was getting tired of being skunked while fishing them. This year I went back to it until I stuck a fish. It happened......a lot. Broke out the spinnerbait a few times this year after only catching one fish last year on them. Threw a crankbait for the first time as well. Walking lures? I threw a Gunfish the other night and learned how to walk the dog.

Results for May? Gone out half the time of last year but have increased in my numbers and definately the size of my bass. Haven't been skunked yet. Last year I was skunked at least five times in May.

Lesson: Force yourself to fish other lures and you will be a happy man. Not to mention it's fun to learn new techniques.  8-)

In closing...I use to be an all-plastics man that had a good amount of success. When I opened up my mind to other presentations my fishing skills increased by big amounts.

[Brush Hog20]

I think so, but then I was raised fishing plastics almost exclusively.  I have be trying to branch out to other lures lately but like skillet I always think I am missing fish when I am not throwing plastics.  So I have very littles patience for other lures.  Which is ironic because I have ample patience to fish a plastic painfully sloooow...   ;D

[fishinfiend]

Definitely! To the point that when I'm using something else, I'm wondering if I should be using plastics ...

                             

could not say it better myself

[Yakfish]

Definitely! To the point that when I'm using something else, I'm wondering if I should be using plastics ...

                             

could not say it better myself

X3. I go out with two rods in the kayak and one always has a plastic on it. The other is usually a jig...with a plastic trailer.

[Cracker]

Wow this has been a pretty unanimous reply, however I think Davis said it best, it is fun to learn new presentations.

Thanks you guys.

[TournyFish001]

Depends on your definition of "success", I have in most occasions caught my bigger fish on either a spinnerbait, jig or crankbait.  Last weekend prefishing I actually wacked my largest fish on a paddle tail swimbait.  Soft plastics are very productive and have aided in my "successful" days of fishing filling limits and sometimes catching my big fish for the day. I guess what I am trying to say is I like them all, depends on what's working. To say, "yep, I only use soft plastics because they are more successful" will limit your full potential of being a "successful" angler.

[NDet-Fishing]

I'm going to play devil's advocate:

KVD just won the Bassmaster classic in Orlando using a Red-eyed Rat-L trap shad. Jerking it through the weeds and letting it "flutter" downward. I think it all has to be what your confidence bait is.

[bass wrangler569]

I think there are definiately times when other baits will work much better than plastics, however, all of those other baits have certain times/situations where they don't work well. Plastics on the other hand always produce and they work under every condition imaginable. Although they are not always the best choice, they are never the wrong choice and that is something you can't say about other baits.

[SnowBass23]

Skillet summed it up!  I learned that if fish aren't biting soft plastics, then they aren't biting anything!  So, yes, I ALWAYS do better on plastics but it is admittedly only because I don't have confidence in anything else.  I have randomly hit one here or there on a crankbait (rarely) or a spinnerbait (occasionally) but my skills are better suited to the plastic, to where I know I can throw them and pick up bited fairly frequently.  Whereas anything else, I feel like I am passing the fish by because I'm not throwing a worm.

Man! I need to fish some cranks and spinners. :'(

[Wayne P.]

NDet-Fishing, for KVD, that was just one event during the year where a Trap was the best presentation for him on that body of water for that particular condition in a particular location. It wasn't a recent Bassmaster's Classic, it was the Elite Series Citrus Slam. You can bet if power fishing is not working, he is smart enough to use soft plastics or some other presentation. Spinnerbaits come to mind when his name is mentioned as well a tubes on smallmouth waters. His main presentation when he won the Classic in Pittsburg was an old Smithwick Rogue. This year at the Classic, his lure of choice was a medium running crankbait in Citrus Shad color- he didn't win.

The devil made me post this-LOL

[Brian_Reeves]

Soft plastics are responsible for most of my fish.  But considering I fish texas rigs, flordia rigs, carolina rigs, or jigs almost 90% of the time, that probably has more to do with it.  Cranks, spinnerbaits, and topwaters all produce for me when I take the time to use them or find a way to squeeze them in between flips and pitches.