Plastics and slow retrieve - one spot/no movement?

[piranha]

What are your thoughts on why you should fish a plastic bait painfully slow? Is it because you feel the bass need to see the bait in the same area for an extended period of time? Or is it because you feel the bass want something that is moving very slow? If it is the former, a drop shot rig could have been used because it keeps the bait in the same relative area. However, the bait would be moving, anywhere from an easy up and down roll to a crazy spastic twitch which would not be ideal if you were shooting for the latter.

Besides trying them all and seeing what the bass want, why do you fish it so slow?

[roadwarrior]

I fish slow because I think big bass are attracted to a slow moving bait. If I make the right cast, I rarely throw to a spot twice, I thoroughly fish it the first time. I may only move up five or ten yards, but move I do.

When I talk about slow, I mean three to five minutes per cast. I usually let a soft plastic sit on the bottom on the initial drop for a minute or so. I often get hit on the first movement. I think bass are attracted to the splash and fall. I think they literally sit there and stare at the bait. Part of it's reaction, part of it's feeding and a large part is just curiosity. I'm amazed at just how many times I get bit with a bait sitting on the bottom still, doing nothing.

This bite also occurs in the middle of a retrieve. I usually let the bait sit for thirty seconds or so at the end of "the zone", before bringing it in. Again, that's when a strike often occurs.

BTW, I don't drop shot. Since I don't fish tournaments, I don't care about little fish. That may be a great technique for catching numbers, but I don't think it catchs many big bass.

[alhuff]

Personally I think the bass are going to hit a bait that appears to them as being injured.  The slow moving bait does that.  And it gives them more time to bite.

My 2cents....

Alfred

[flechero]

I think the best reason to fish extremely slow is big bass.  I used to think they were just lazy but have realized that they rarely do much chasing for a meal.  Now I think it's more of an efficiency thing kind of like a cost/benefit.  Without question only a single digit percentage of my big fish come from a fast moving bait.

If you have a chance to watch a kitten and a cat play, notice how usually a kitten will chase and grab a fast moving thing and is willing to chase it all over a room where as a cat will normally grab a slow or erraticly moved toy, string or whatever. (and will usually wait for the "toy" to get close to the cat before pouncing.)

I don't always fish plastics slow, I usually leave the boat ramp in one of two moods.... catch fish or hunt fish, when I fish it's not painfully slow but when I hunt, it's like I have my bow in hand.

[Matt Fly]

When I get hits on the fall, bass are in a feeding mood, aggressive.  If nothing on the falls, but i get hit on bottom.  Was I next to the cover, on the edge, in the cover, the positioning of the bass tells me its mood.  This time of the year, I expect the fish to be aggressive.  I like a quicker movement on bottom.  No bites, slow down,  After two or three fish, you should have an idea on a pattern forming.  This is the time of year that when a bass is hooked, I'm always looking under the for other bass following.  That tells me their very aggressive.  I vary my approach on similar targets.  I go to the center of a brushpile first where I've caught better kickers, and work out wards.  If I picked up more on the outside, again, the fish are positioned in an ambush mode.  A key is having a piece of structure you've had success on, and knowing where to probe to determine the positioning of the bass.  Its only painfully slow if the bass wants it that way.  I think we say bass are in finicky mood.  Bass dictate the pace.  Seasons and weather dictate to the bass.

[roadwarrior]

Matt_Fly,

Everything you mentioned in your post makes sense to me, but I fish soft plastics slow year around. Finding fish is the challenge, but if I can find them, a slow presentation always works for me.

[DDbasser]

I let the fish dictate the speed at which I fish plastics.

Sometimes they want it real slow, but other times they want a little faster moving bait.

I'll cast to a target and try various retrieves untill the fish hits, if after several presentations to my target I don't get bit, I'll try a different lure or assume that no one is home at the time.

The best day I've had this year was in early May,

it was post cold front conditions and the fish were holding tight to woodcover that had lots of weeds around it, this lake was fairly shallow with a ton of weeds around the shoreline that came out 50 to 100 yds in some places .

I fished a Gene Larew salt craw for 2 hours and caught only 1 small bass.

Then I remembered something I had read in a magazine about deadsticking plastics.

I changed to a Zoom fluke and started deadsticking the lure, on my firts cast I nailed a 2 1/2 lber.

I let that bait set in one spot for about a minute and when I went to move it the fish was just there, I never felt it hit.

Now, take last weekend, I was fishing a fairly deep, clear lake that has a ton of spotted bass in it.

I started off fishing real slow and couldn't get bit.

I moved to a pretty good stair step drop off and was just lifting my rod tip to let the worm fall from one shelf to the next and the bass were hitting it on the fall.      

[gatrboy53]

bass have threemoods active ,neutral, and inactive,active periods are around the major and minor feeding periods only 4 short periods in a 24 hr. day.these times bass aren't as picky and will hit more colors ,speeds types. nuetral and inactive bass do not as a rule strike out of hunger.but out of reaction or "instinct"colr ,speed ,and types will be more critical at these times which are most of the time.soft plastics fished slow or even dead sticked will usually draw more strikes in these periods over fast moving retrieves.flat on the bottom w/ no or very subtler movements. you are no moving the bait to the fish the fish are coming across your bait.

[chevy]

I believe it also depends on the plastic you're using. If I was fishing a 10" YUM curly tail worm, I'd be moving it pretty fast, it's tail and ribbing are meant to displace water, so deadsticking seems to almost void it.

Where if I were fishing a senko style bait, I'd let it sit dead in the water. Or a Jerk bait, I'd jerk then let sit.

Big bass are big bass because they don't go after everything. If they did they probably wouldn't end up being older, fatter and wiser. Fish just like humans live and learn. And that big bass will wait for a meal to come to it before it goes taking chances looking for a meal.

So moving it slow gives the idea that this is an injured baitfish and easy pickins.

[skoal123]

I've had alot of luck fishin slow with different plastics....usually a black lizard bein the most productive....anyone have any tips or basic guidelines for plastics?

[Chris]

I fish slow because its the only gear I have lol. I have a tendency to strain the water for fish. The way I look at it if I am the only one fishing an area slow then I am fishing different from others. I use it as a way to deal with fishing pressure. If the bite is on then I speed up my lure not my boat. Sometimes I cast repeatedly to a object to get strikes. I try to fish efficiently with no wasted casts. Which means I put the bait where I need it the first time. If it takes letting my worm or jig soak for 10 minutes to get a strike and I know the bite is slow then thats what I do.