No Confidence in Plastics!

this year i bought a bunch of plastics with the plan to use them until i start to catch fish with them and gain some confidence. I tried to model my use exactly with the way James shows in some of his videos pitching them for walleye on the river. Ive tried fishing bass for them in the weeds wacky riggin, carolina riggin, texas riggin…. I cant say that i have caught one fish yet. Im not giving up but i sure would love to figure it out so i could rely on plastics more and add that to my arsenal.

Any words of confidence or resources you can point me to?

Funny how that works. I catch a majority of my bass on plastics. Plastics are first and then spinnerbaits. Cranks, not so much. Granted I do a lot of shore fishing, but I fish the same pond as this other guy and he catches a majority of his fish on lipless baits.

Granted 2 fish isn’t a great sample size

Two things come to mind:

1) Right now plastics wouldn’t be my first choice for Walleyes on the river. Live bait and cranks will work better until the water temps start to drop.

2) When you’re chasing Bass, try slowing down. I fish plastics very slow, in fact I leave them in one spot and shake them more than make an actual retrieve.

Good luck! People catch a lot of fish on plastics and I’m sure you will too.

SR

“1) Right now plastics wouldn’t be my first choice for Walleyes on the river. Live bait and cranks will work better until the water temps start to drop.”

yeah i was trying this approach back in march when it was colder. now ive been sticking to bass fishing with plastics.

I can’t speak for Walleye. But for Bass Plastics are all I use. The 3 techniques I’d tell you to learn 1st are:

A Texas rigged worm. This can be used all season long and can be fished deep or shallow. You may need to adjust the weight size based on Depth and wind. You can use almost any plastic you want to on it. The 7″ powerworm is hard to beat – Red shad or black color are my 2 go to choices. You can fish this on the weedline of throw slightly inside the weedline

A Jigworm. Once again Jig size will depend on Depth and wind. Use as light of a jig as possible. Plastic choices are endless – Onced again hard to beat the 7″ powerworm in the same 2 colors/ Great for weededges or over the top of new or deep weeds

A Dropshot. Great for midsummer deep weededge fishing and on rocks. Almost any plastic will work. I tend to stick to small (3-5″ ) strait tail thin type plastics.

Other than that its just fish fish fish. The more time on the water the better you will get with plastics and the more confidence you will build in fishing them.

Cold water we won’t bring anything to the river except jigs and plastics.

I fish with my buddy; a river rat who’s spent his life fishing the mississippi. He has got the fricken touch man. He’ll outfish me using the same jig and casting to the same spot 12-2. All on plastics. He’s 100% anti-live bait.

1) Got to keep that thing in the strike zone.
Then worry about color, speed, and type.

I think he does a much better job keeping the bait in the strike zone and he does a better job of steadily bringing the bait back to the boat rather than “JIgging” it back to the boat.

We’ve found better success using plastics that have contrast vs solid color baits, but each has their time and place.

It’s fun. I committed to fishing plastics a few years ago. Bought a crap load of baits. Still using them up and will grab that tote of plastics before i think i need to go to the bait shop for fatheads.

Right now i’d be fishing a more aggressive approach. Rip jigging with plastics might put more fish in the boat than a cold water approach.

“I think he does a much better job keeping the bait in the strike zone”

Bingo…..I think this is the main reason some guys catch more fish than others. Knowing where your jig is relative to the bottom is a huge deal. I wish I had a formula or suggestion on how to do this, all I can say is spend as much time on the water as possible until you get a feel for this. I’m not great at this yet but I’m better than I used to be and the more I keep my jig in the right spot the more fish I find.

Steve Root wrote:

try slowing down.

This

I think with some people your baits match your fishing personality. I like being methodical and deliberate in my approach and it is what I am most confident and comfortable doing. Some people are more adept at search and scouting by working baits fast. Then there are the people who are really good who are good at both.

And people who are good at neither.

Are scented plastic baits a must? Or sprayed or dipped in some kind of “attractant”?

Nice Fella wrote:

Are scented plastic baits a must? Or sprayed or dipped in some kind of “attractant”?

I think when the bite is real off or tough scent may help some. Most plastics now a days tend to have some sort of scent added to the baits during processing. Some scents tend to work better than others for me. Then again, some of them that I’ve had poor luck on are other peoples go to baits. I tend to think a lot of fishing has more to do with what is in a fisherpersons head than what is tied on their line. If you are confident in a bait you will catch more fish on it than if you are not.

Nice Fella wrote:

Are scented plastic baits a must? Or sprayed or dipped in some kind of “attractant”?

Scent? In my opinion scent is one of the last things I’d be concerned about when targeting walleye. See those big eyes on each side of their head? They rely on their vision to hunt first and foremost. My advice would be to focus more on size, shape and color of the plastic being fished and leave the scent concerns to the catfish anglers.

With eyes it seems to me they dig on a certain profile and “feel” they put out.

When people say match the hatch it dings in my head match the profile, then with each season and day, figure out the feel. Fish hear the bait before they see it IMO, and they get a sense of what it is, then if it looks right when they see it MUNCH. If it don’t feel right to begin with, then they see this piece of plastic, well, good luck.

When figuring out what they want look at size of ribs on bait, how big the tail is, how thick, how much movement in the tail, etc. If you are confident on a spot, cast the area to cover it once, no bite switch, cover ita again, no bite switch, sometimes they will be so particular its nuts.

I agree with leaving the plastic alone for now. So much food in the system currently they need something tantalizing in front of em, or something to get an aggresive reaction bite.

When it comes to bass….well I got nothing.

Nice Fella wrote:

Are scented plastic baits a must? Or sprayed or dipped in some kind of “attractant”?

(Bass) I don’t normally add any scent. I use a lot of Powerbait, but I also have plastics that don’t smell or even smell a bit like rubber. I prefer a subtle scent. My concern is a fish grabs a bait and gets sensory overload with the “taste”, especially if the taste is like a shad on a worm.

At least that is what the 2 fish taught me.

mplspug wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Nice Fella wrote:</div>
Are scented plastic baits a must? Or sprayed or dipped in some kind of “attractant”?

(Bass) I don’t normally add any scent. I use a lot of Powerbait, but I also have plastics that don’t smell or even smell a bit like rubber. I prefer a subtle scent. My concern is a fish grabs a bait
and gets sensory overload with the “taste”, especially if the taste is like a shad on a worm.

At least that is what the 2 fish taught me.

Pug. You are now up to 2 fish. That move to Florida is really paying off big time in your success rate

Op I’m in the same boat as you. I had zero trust in plastics. Even when I was a bass fisherman I could not get a hit on a Texas rig.

I watched the ido videos this year on plastics. I did get a couple fish on em with a guide back in April but nothing since.

Jonesy wrote:

Op I’m in the same boat as you. I had zero trust in plastics. Even when I was a bass fisherman I could not get a hit on a Texas rig.

I watched the ido videos this year on plastics. I did get a couple fish on em with a guide back in April but nothing since.

if nothing else its nice to hear some guys are in the same boat. thanks for the tips fellas, ill keep pluggin away at it. I do like the idea of going to a spot that i know produces fish and just trying different plastic baits there until i catch something. i do have some sucesss in the winter time fishing for panfish for plastics but not yet with the bigger fish. Ive seen others catch plenty of fish on plastics in person so i know they can work

You need to get where there are some fish. I know, that sounds obvious but there’s no way you cant get bit by a largemouth on a plastic worm. I’m not very worldly on the topic because I dont stray much from senko rigged worms but I have high confidence in that rig and don’t feel like I am missing out.
Usually weightless in shallow water but also drop shot rigged.
Another way to get confidence is with small plastics off a dock or boat where there are panfish. I have learned a lot about plastics from the dock. Walleyes are another story and I dont have much to offer on that topic.

Keep plugging away Crappie, I was the same way for a long time. What finally got the ball rolling was using them when I knew the fish were biting. Eventually you will find one(s) you like best and are most successful with and it goes from there. Also agree with the previous comments about a time and place, and that time and place not being right now. I love them in the early spring/summer on rivers and lakes. I doubt I’ll ever go totally away from meat, but it’s nice to have another option you are confident in.

fishthumper wrote:

Pug. You are now up to 2 fish. That move to Florida is really paying off big time in your success rate

Oh.

Disclaimer: 2 fish is Mn +Fla combined.

I can’t wait to get a boat…

…so I can blame the boat.

It took me a long time to gain confidence in plastics but they are all I have used (spring and fall to ice up) the last three years now. It can be a frustrating process but keep the faith and keep plugging away crappie. It will all come together for you one of these days.

If you want to gain some confidence in plastics, fish for fish that don’t have any particular aversion to them. Panfish and crappies are year-round plastic suckers and you can get a ton of confidence in the plastics this way. Bass and northerns would be right behind crappies and sunfish, but will get pretty cool towards plastics as the water itself cools. Walleyes and sauger will give you all sorts of confidence in plastics used to catch them once the water drops below the 50 degree mark. For the latter, the colder the water, the better the plastic bite.

Right now crappies will tear plastics from 1 1/2″ to about 3″ to pieces.

Scent…..skip it for the most part. The most important part of plastic is color, flowed very closely by profile or action. Crappies and sunfish may show a preference to, say, Gulp 1″ minnows at times but keep in mind Gulp is a close relative to plastic so find a plastic the same color as whatever Gulp or Powerbait may be working and you’ll catch just as many fish. Bass and Northerns are reaction hitters and they don’t smell anything before smacking it. As James mentioned, scent doesn’t come into play with walleye/sauger because they rely on sight.

Go to the water with nothing but plastic and fish. Keep it simple but don’t be afraid to run thru colors or actions fairly quickly. The fish will left you know when you’ve hit pay dirt. As for getting some confidence, start with panfish because they haven’t got a specific period when they will not hit on plastic. And don’t feel bad targeting small fish for now just to get the hang of things. And one of your handiest tools to help you along is a float that is sensitive to upward hits.

I was a plastic doubter too!!!!!! but tom convinced me to try……now I am a half believer and have had decent success with plastics!!!!

Glenn? Aren’t you the one I told to sit on an egg and it would hatch?

fishthumper wrote:

A Texas rigged worm. This can be used all season long and can be fished deep or shallow. You may need to adjust the weight size based on Depth and wind. You can use almost any plastic you want to on it. The 7″ powerworm is hard to beat – Red shad or black color are my 2 go to choices. You can fish this on the weedline of throw slightly inside the weedline

This would be my advice as well. 1/8 to 1/4 oz weight, Offset worm hook, and just drag it slow through the deep weeds. You will get bit.

Fishing plastics is a lot like marriage. You take them out, some look very appealing, and some are a one nighter. But at one point you’ll find that there is a time that you can’t be without them.

I don’t like to reference it as a mistake, but more of a stubborn habbit. Feeding patterns and habitat dictate profiles. Then I apply color based on how they eat it. If they are feeding mud flats, dragging ringworms…if they are feeding minnows, then paddle tails. From there, color makes a difference.

A lot of great points stated above. You need to know the fish are there, and your presenting in the zone. Too heavy of a jig and you’re plowing bottom. Too light and you’re too high in the water column. When I’m teaching people, I try to get them to visualize the jig as if there wasn’t any water. Having confidence in knowing what your jig is doing is key.

Like said above for walleyes this time of year other approaches can be more productive. Couple of patterns I will use them on during the summer is either on a draggin jig pitching them into heavy wood cover that has some flow going over it. The other is pitching them right at dark on rock/gravel ledges where the walleyes will move up on to feed. Both of these approaches seem to be targeting walleyes that want to feed making them very aggressive.

Both of these patterns should just keep getting better and better as it get close to fall. October is getting closer all the time.

I too was like you and had no confidence in plastics years ago. Now I have went over to the dark dark side and fish them almost exclusively. You have to work plastics slow. The fish will tell you how they want the bait. I can tell you that I have caught bigger fish with plastic. I use a lot of hair grubs. Plastic with hair. Also flukes catch a lot of fish for me. I chase walleye on the river all the time. Plastics have caught most fish on the Mississippi. Be patient and it will happen.

Bruce Jones wrote:

Be patient and it will happen.

When I decided that plastic was the way to approach crappies and panfish I used plastic exclusively for the first year…never bought any sort of scented products or live bait. I had some severely disappointing days, but then too I had some days that made other people feel pretty slighted. If you give plastic it’s due, you will be rewarded but it won’t happen over night.

I too admit to frustration and no confidence in plastics. I have never fished much for bass but my brother and son where in a local tournament and his son could not fish with him this year so I stepped in. I have never been so frustrated fishing! I have been using a senko and cannot get bit. Last week one guy came in said he caught 15 bass on senko in pads, exactly what I was doing. Not one bass! Finally gave up and went to pitching cranks and caught a couple in deeper water. After reading this I am going to slow down as I probably fish it too fast. Going to Forest this weekend to work on figuring it out.