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Soft Plastics for Beginners
By our good friend Mike from anglingfanatics.com
For years, I have been fishing for bass. I remember 20 odd years ago, my brother and I would hop in our old green flat bottomed rowboat, and row all around Upper Buckhorn. Back then, our most productive bait was a plain old hook, worm, and bobber. Sure, we got the odd fish on different artificial like Benos and Jitterbugs, but, more often than not, we had our success with the old standby.
In the years since, the soft plastic industry has exploded. There are so many brands, shapes, scents and flavors, it can be confusing to the newcomer. Quite honestly, I rarely applied these baits until 2 or 3 years ago, when I was introduced to a new soft plastic jerk bait that was supposed to be killer for huge bass. When I realized that they were easier to use than I thought, they quickly became a large part of my arsenal.
This year has been my best year ever for bass. I’ve done a lot of reading on soft plastic rigging, and have learned a lot. I’m writing this to help out the other newcomers, and to hopefully answer some questions they might have on the different types, and how to fish them effectively.
General Tips
I think the best piece of advice I would give someone new to soft plastics, is to fish slow. The more time you spend in an area the better. The run and gun technique might get you a few fish, but I find a slow approach more effective. I like to anchor away from the structure you are fishing, and cast towards it. Make fan casts all throughout the area, and don’t be afraid to cast to the same spot your partner just did. If your approach is different in some way than your partners, that alone might trigger a fish.
Equipment
For the most part, I prefer spinning gear. A 7 foot medium heavy or heavy action rod with a soft tip works best. You need a rod with a stiff backbone to pull fish out of heavy cover. I also recommend a strong super braid line. I like 30 pound. Sometimes you will be throwing into thick weeds, pads, or fallen timber. The faster you can get the fish out of that heavy cover, the more likely you are to boat it.
My Shimano Symetre 2500
A good reel, with a strong, yet sensitive drag is a must. I like to keep my drag tight. Again, I do this to avoid giving the fish an opportunity to get back into thick cover. More often than not, if that happens, bye bye bass.
For the hook, I like 5/0 extra wide gap worm hooks. I also like to use red ones. Hooks are one thing I find where you get what you pay for. This is not an area to scrimp on, so use the best hooks you have.
One thing to note about hooks is the point. Quite a few times this year, I’ve been snagged on submerged wood. Should this happen to you, make sure you check out your hook point. Quite often, you’ll find the point has been bent. Always make sure you check your hooks often. You wouldn’t want to miss the fish of a lifetime because of a bad hook!
In this next section, I will go through some of the different styles and shapes, and describe how I fish them. One thing I will say is that each and every plastics manufacturer makes their own versions of these baits, with their own name. I’m not doing this as an advertisement for anyone. I’ll let you decide which brand to use.
Jerk baits
These are the types of baits I started using a couple years ago. I’ve had quite a bit of success on them.
I like to fish them weightless, and I rig them Texas style. I keep the point of the hook buried in the plastic for a more weedless design. I also like to use ones that sink very slowly. They can be retrieved as fast or slow as you would like. Cast them out, let them sink as deep as you would like, then use a downward jerk of about 4 inches with your rod. Each jerk will send the bait gliding from side to side, an underwater Walk the Dog type action that can be deadly.
Weightless Texas Rigged Jerkbait
Another thing you might want to consider is adding some glass rattles into the bait as an attractant. Adding a small nail into the bait will add weight causing it to sink faster. Alternatively, you can use weighted worm hooks, but the lead on the shank of the hook makes it harder to rig the bait properly.
I like to fish these baits around docks, through lily pads, and over submerged trees.
Once your bait has came back into open water, don’t just reel the bait in as fast as you can. I have had a number of fish hit a good distance away from the cover I just cast into. Remember what I said before, fish slow, and methodical.
Straight Worms
Some examples of straight worms in various sizes.
Most of my success this year has come on this type of plastic. They come is all sizes, and colors, and I can’t honestly say one size is better, or this color is the best. They will all work in the right conditions. Experimenting does wonders.
I like to fish these in the same cover as jerk baits. I also like to fish them in thick reeds and grass. I find they pick up fewer weeds in this structure then the jerk baits.
I also rig these weightless Texas style as well, although there are a number of ways you can rig these baits, like Drop Shooting, Wacky Style, and many more. You can also add rattles, and weight, just like the jerkbaits.
A weightless Texas rigged worm
An example of Wacky Rigging
For the retrieve, I like to let the bait sink right to the bottom. Quite often, you’ll get a strike before the bait gets down all the way, so be prepared to set the hook fast!
Once on the bottom, I like real short and slow downward strokes with the rod. There’s that word again: slow. Again, I like to work the bait right up to the boat.
An interesting thing to note about these worms is that they can also be retrieved using the exact same technique as the jerk baits. They Walk the Dog quite well, and this is also a very effective method of fishing these baits. These are also the style of bait that caught me my personal best largemouth weighing 7.7 pounds. Without a doubt, my favorite baits to throw for bass.
Creatures
Some creatures.
Lizards, crayfish, beasts and others weird looking plastics all fall into this category. These baits are best worked as slow as possible. They seem to take forever to hit the bottom, but your patience will pay off big time should you try these baits out.
I also rig these weightless, and Texas style. I really prefer to fish these as slow as I possibly can. They seem to work best on inactive fish that won’t hit anything else.
Texas rigged crawfish
I like to cast them out, let them sink right on the bottom. Then, I basically drag them along the bottom, as slow as I can, while giving them the odd small jerk. If you have a good set up like I mentioned before, don’t be afraid to cast these into the heaviest cover. Quite often that’s where the biggest fish can be found.
Remember folks, work these baits slow, and cover the area completely, and I can guarantee that you will catch more bass.
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