Tips for Plastics & Pork

[Sinjin Kim]

My girlfriend and some friends think I am crazy and obsessed with fishing. I am. I think about fishing more today than I use to think about sex when I was a teenager.

With my compulsive fishing disorder I am constantly trying to get the most out of my fishing gear.

A lot of plastics on the market today are a bit too hard and/or stiff to my liking (especially Zoom). But there is a simple fix.

BOIL the plastics. The longer you boil it, the softer your plastics will become. Don't worry, the plastics will not melt. Get a pot of boiling water going and then stir the plastics of your choice (I've done this with all types of worms, creature baits, swimbaits etc...) and then lay them on a flat glass or ceramic style counter and let it cool at room temperature. You will notice the plastic will become STICKY. No problem, simply add a thin coat of oil based scent or even vegetable oil and store in a Ziploc bag.

Zoom products are very popular and the fact that you get a lot for a dollar is another plus! However, I wasn't too thrilled with the stiffness of the plastics and the strong chemical smell. By boiling these plastics, most of the chemical smell will be removed you will be amazed with the softness (action) of the plastics. Softer plastics will have more action and the bass will hold onto it longer. If you like wacky rigging Finesse and Trick Worms, boiling these plastics is a must! (especially when using the Neko Rig).

If you have plastics that are creased/bent, boiled them and lay them in the manner you want them. Everyone talked about Gary Yamamoto Twin Tail trailers used with jigs. Although I've caught fish using the twin tails with my jigs, I wasn't too confident because the tail held too much salt and killed the action. The tails would kick heavily and seemed very unnatural. Because of this, I often resorted to going back to using pork trailer. After boiling the twin tails and hopping or dragging your jigs in shallow enough water for it to be visible, you will be pleased with the action!

*I would not recommend boiling plastics where the salt content helps it sink. Ikas, Senkos, Kreatures (if used weightless), or any other plastics you would use weightless.

*During the colder winter months, dead sticking plastics is a very productive way to get bit. T-Rigging, C-Rigging and dropshotting plastics with little to no movement of your rod tip is often times a must to get bit at lakes such as DVL, Pyramid and Castaic. This is also the case for night time anglers. If a presentation calls for a slow drag/pause, softer plastics will have a more natural appeal to the bass.

*I was never a fan of plastic chunk and craw jig trailers because the plastics were too stiff and in the cold water, they would tend to become even stiffer. Although I once strictly used pork trailers, I've found out boiled plastic chunks and trailers had equal or even better movement in the water than pork (Super Pork and Uncle Josh Phantom Craws).

*Some pork trailers are a bit stiff out of the bottle. You can bend and try to pull on the legs of the pork to assist with the action, but here is a tip.
-Remove the pork out of the bottle and save the brine solution. Place the pork trailers in your palm and add a few drops of DISH WASHING soap and rub vigorously. Rinse thoroughly with warm water and place them back into the brine filled bottle.

There is no end with what you can do with the plastics on the market today. If I were to fish for trout with a lead head and trout worm, you bet I would customize it by boiling it. If I need a saltwater swimbaits such as Big Hammers and Fish Traps to kick more naturally, I'd boil it.

I purchased some Osprey 6" Tournament Talons, Dinks and some of the older school models while I was at the Delta a few weeks ago. Although they swam well, there was room for improvement. I was quite thrilled with the results after boiling them for a few minutes. Remember to remove the eyes prior to boiling it.

A lot of people would spend extra money on hand poured plastics simply because they are softer than mass-produced plastics. True, most are softer but I find many of today's hand poured products are not designed as well as some of the mass produced plastics.
Moreover, many of the hand poured plastics are not that durable. They tear too easily and the plastic won't hold on the hook properly. Do yourself a favor and boil your favorite mass produced plastic and compare its action and durability to hand poured plastics on the market today.

Warning!
*Before you start boiling all your plastics, check with the lady of the kitchen, lol. If you are married, you don't want your wife screaming at you for using her favorite pot. For you younger guys, ask your mother ahead of time and ensure her that the pot will not be ruined.

[3dkicker]

SK - Interesting tip.....thanks for the post and welcome.

[basstech]

Excellent tips, Sinjin. I agree about the stiffness of the tails on the pork trailers, The only pork I use are the pork frogs. What I do when I'm on the water to soften up the legs is take the blade of my knive and scrape the legs with it just like when when you put a curl to a ribbon or straight piece of paper. That seems to work very well for me. I also cut the skin between the legs down to the fat and may split the ends of the legs as well for x-tra action. I really depends on what I lthink i need out of the trailer. In colder water I may not modify them at all. Welcome to the board. Most of the guys here are polite, some friendly, and all have good ideas and suggestions. Hope you stick around.

[pignjig]

SK- Good to have a fellow jig-o-phile on board! Thanks for the tips. Is that you in the pic with that bassasaurus? Beautiful bass, man!

-Pig

[Rebbasser]

My girlfriend and some friends think I am crazy and obsessed with fishing. I am. I think about fishing more today than I use to think about sex when I was a teenager.

SK, you have come to the right place. You are definitely among like-minded bass addicts and tackle junkies.

Great tips, BTW-boiling soft plastics will definitely make them softer.

[JB]

ditto on that reb,
ya think ya "got it bad" now, just give this forum a few months, you'll here about hot new products that WORK! start feeding the "baitmonkey" today!

[Lilmoosecountry]

That's to time consuming to do on store baught products. Pour your own soft plastics in the same amount of time. http://www.barlowstackle.com/plastic-worm-molds.html Then you can make them the way you see fit.

[pignjig]

Lilmoose- That link was down right interesting. Do you pour all your own plastic?

[Lilmoosecountry]

Yeahh alittle. I can make my bait as hard or as soft i want.

[carolina-rig-01]

sinjin kim welcome and thanks for the tip!

[Buzz Wing]

Thanks, Sinjin!

I'll really have to try that tip about the pork. My new Unlce Josh Phantom Maxx trailers are so tough I had to use my Kershaw to thread 'em on the jig!

-Buzz