Some bait advice

[marlboroman]

I have been fishing sence I was a little one, but I have only been serious bass fisherman for about 2 years. I have a big fear of plastics, yea i can admit it. I don't know why, maybe cause i have never been shown how to fish one, I just dabble with them a bit.

Sunday I plan to go fishing, prob going to leave at 3pm and the weather is going to be Sunny 59 degrees and wind from the south at 6 mph... Water level up and stained...  

I have a few jigs, but I have never fished oned before. I want to take the time to learn them and plastics, The 2 colors of jigs I have are brown/orange and blue/black.

Is there any advice on how to fish these baits... jigs and plastics?  I know the very basics..

I am looking more for types of presentations with the rod, or letting it sit etc...

What is the basic rise and fall tech,  lower rod to 5 o'clock raise to 10 o'clock?

any help would be great cause I really want to learn this, and feel better about knowing what I am doing with them, instead of just acting like it...  

[K_Mac]

There are a number of good articles in the Fishing Articles section of this site. I would start there. Jigs and pastics are my favorite baits by a large margin.Learn the basics and then find what works for you. Good luck.

[Guest avid]

Plastics covers a whole lot of territory, so you need to be a little more specific.  As far a jig/plastic goes there is alot of good info so read up and learn.

I'll tell you that the jig is one of my go to lures but I really only got confident in it a year or two ago.

To give you a starting point try this.  Use a black/blue 1/4 oz jig, a chunk of black or blue/black plastic with twin tails.  Toss the jig toward your target and let it sink on a tight line.  Jig strikes can be very soft.  A semi slack line will give the jig a better vertical drop, but as novice you will miss too many strikes.  Believe me, a tight line is definitly the right way to go for a newbie to jig fishing. When you THINK you feel a strike, set the hook.

Have fun and good luck.

[Rob G.]

My advise would be to only take those baits with you.  Seriously, it will MAKE you fish those baits and will make you learn.  It takes practice and experience, especially the jig, but once you get onto it you have accomplished something that will catch you many, many fish.  Let us know how you are doing with this.  One more piece of advise, do not make this more difficult than it is.  I only say this because I have a real propensity for doing that.  Have fun!  I almost forgot, hook sets are free, so if you think you have a strike, set up like you want to cross the fishes eyes.

[Chris]

In stained water with the jig I would just use it pitching to targets. If you see a stump or heavy cover put the jig as close to the object as you can or in it. After the jig hits the water strip off about 3ft or so of line so that the jig falls on slack line. Engage your reel and reel down some so that the line is simi slack and then lift the rod so that at the 2 o'clock position your line is tight enough to feel the jig without moving it. You are also in position to set the hook if needed. I then work the jig by shaking it or I will hop it. I then let it fall or sit still for awhile then repeat action. I work the bait out away from the cover then pitch it again. If the jig is deep in the cover and I can yo yo the bait I may let it sit there and yo yo several times before moving the bait for the next pitch. Each time I let the jig fall I want it to fall on simi slack line as I watch the line for a tick or anything out of the ordinary. Sometimes the jig will just feel light or it will stop prematurely which means a bass has it. Plastic worms unless I am fishing heavy cover where the lead might get hung up most of the time I don't peg the sinker. Some guys put a bead behind the lead to make a clacking sound like a rattle. I use 2 different styles of worms the most but I will give you all four.

Straight tail: Most guys use this style for super clear water. This style has the least amount of vibration. Any action that this bait has is because you worked it in a way that it has action. (no built in action)

Hooktail: You have two styles on is a small hook tail the other is a gatortail. The small hook has a better vibration than the ribbon and the straight tail. The larger gatortail style people use mainly for flipping grass. It has a slow fall with a lot of vibration compared to a ribbontail.

Ribbontail: This is more of a clear to slightly stained water worm that has some vibration but has the most action. This is more of an eye contact bait that has enough action from a slight twitch or movement to look alive.

Paddletail: This has the most thump kinda like the Colorado blade of the plastic worm family. This is the style that I use in stained to muddy water but is effective in clear water also. This is a very popular style used in flipping and when reeling it steady like a shad. When you pitch this worm into cover it hangs up the least and when you hop this style it gives off a thump that the other styles don't have.

[bobo]

All good stuff, as always.

My opinion, and i'm sure i'll get some flak over this. If you learn plastics completely. You've learned Jig as well, even if you've never havin thrown one. I've never able to do anything with a jig that I couldn't already do with a plastic. And one extra is, I think plastic is slightly more versatile cause you can do a few things with it you just can't do with a jig.

Don't get me wrong, you need to throw both and see which one develops for your personal preference. 'll step out on a limb here though, you combine jig and worm fishing and then combine everything else. The  jig/worm will blow everything else combined away. So until you make yourself learn one of them, you're missing out.

As far as learning them, In my opinion, once you develop the feel, the contact, knowing exactly whats going on at the end of your line, the other stuff like presentation, technique choosing the right setup for situation will just fall into place. Developing that feel, for me, seems to be the key to fishing plastics/jigs. And it's nothing to fear. I admit, it's a little complicated to expalin EVERYTHING you can do to get the feel. and then you start getting into techniques,  presentation and so on, it can be alot of stuff. But once you get them down, you'll be like, this is real simple.

I'm a plastic fool. I can and do everything possible with a plastic. But over the years, I've really come to love the C-rig. But if someone told me I couldn't fish with plastics anymore, i'd be throwing a jig

I think those of us that have been doing it for years take it for granted as far as ease. We tend to think that everyone gets it... Best thing you can do, is get someone to go with you that lights em up with jigs or plastics. And tell him to teach you, I know that is hard to do, but tell him, you wanna know his every thought when it comes getting that feel. Why he picks up on the rod at that moment or why he reels at that moment, why he stopped it, why he shaking the rod, I mean every thought the guy has as soon as he casts it. I did it for my bother-in-law, it's a great story, might share it one day.

Of course, if you don't know anyone that might do that. It's just gonna take time. And  if I had to pick which is easier to learn as far as getting that feel developed. I'd say Jig it's not as forgiving as plastics, so it will MAKE you learn. But that's just me, If you picked plastics to develop that feel, I wouldn't say you were wrong by any means. Just don't give up on it.

Just start basic. Go slow. Keep the contact. Going slow means, going slow. Think of it like this. Forget about catching a fish. Concentrate on what you feel. Don't even think about something hittiing it, just try to see if you can feel what the lure is coming across. Or into contact with.

good luck!

[bigdog]

I have been fishing sence I was a little one, but I have only been serious bass fisherman for about 2 years. I have a big fear of plastics, yea i can admit it. I don't know why, maybe cause i have never been shown how to fish one, I just dabble with them a bit.

Sunday I plan to go fishing, prob going to leave at 3pm and the weather is going to be Sunny 59 degrees and wind from the south at 6 mph... Water level up and stained...

I have a few jigs, but I have never fished oned before. I want to take the time to learn them and plastics, The 2 colors of jigs I have are brown/orange and blue/black.

Is there any advice on how to fish these baits... jigs and plastics? I know the very basics..

I am looking more for types of presentations with the rod, or letting it sit etc...

What is the basic rise and fall tech, lower rod to 5 o'clock raise to 10 o'clock?

any help would be great cause I really want to learn this, and feel better about knowing what I am doing with them, instead of just acting like it...

Fish them slow and hold on!!!

[crank it]

I agree with what every one has said. It took me two years of fishing only plastics to learn them and Im still learning the main thing is just take your plastics with you and thats it fish only them it forces you to learn them and not reach for your confidence baits when they dont produce fish for you and always fish them slow that was my hardest thing to learn because I was a run and gun fisherman. good luck