Fishing Plastics

[ny7y3]

Hi I am new to fishing. I am wondering, what are some ways to fish plastics (lizards, worms, tubes, grubs, sweet beaver)?

[Jrob78]

I would start off with a weighted t-rig.

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/worm-fishing-1.html

[walkeraviator]

yep... weighted texas rig.... simply find some structure and methodically cover it by casting shallow and dragging it slowly toward deeper water... by cobering it thouroughly you will be sure to drag past cover on the bottom you would nit find otherwise... when you feel the fish suck it in... drop your rod tip... reel out the slack and set the hook...

when in doubt....jerk him out...

[Bassboss]

Ho boy! I love these threads, you'll get tons of different replies, try 'em all find which works best for you.

Plastics are about as versatile as it gits man! I prefer doing it like this:

With a 7" culprit worm (powerbait if I have it), or lizard, I think I'll opt for the liz. I'll put on a 3/16oz bullet weight, and let it sink to the bottom. I'll side sweep the rod slowly and when I get a little hung on a piece weed or something, and I'll give it a little pop. It'll jerk it out and send some plooms of dust or soot, and draw attention to it. They'll hit shortly after most often. It's almost like a crankbait hitting after you knock a stump or something. Never peg with way, when you knock it out of weeds, the weight will go up and than down, leaving the worm on the fall. I think that is VITAL for this technique. When A fish hits it'll be a little more pressure, and or a little bump, bump. Give a few seconds, 3, or 4, and set the hook hard straight up, towards your chest, you'll get more power and a better hook set this way. At least 12lb for this, 14lb to 16lb (17lb seems a little high) flouro or a low stretch nylon line, or 10lb P-line CXX. Braid if you're in higher weeds. Also a low stretch line is vital! If you've got a stretch line forget about snapping the the rig free of weeds. Fast the reel the better, no less than 6.1:1. A good sensitive 6'6" MH rod at least. 7' - 7'6" is the best.. lower end of 7 prolly being better, everyone there own!

Around pads I'll do it a 'lill different. And I learned this from someone in his late 20's. He lived around here all his life when lakes where all over the place. He slowly swam the worm near the bottom almost like fishing a spinnerbait. Twitching the rod tip up a little and reel it at a medium place. Fish will hit almost like they're hit a t-rig. Set the hook the same way. Not this technique this I rig it a little different. Same weight bullet head with a PEGGED weight. A strong offset hook (EWG will work, but I think the off set shank will work better, it'll slid though the stalk better) Don't let the hook penetrate the worm when you rig it, just hook through the center of the worm (if don't make sense, I can give you an illustration). Let it take it longer because you rig it this way, and CROSS THERE EYES on the hook set to get the hook to penetrate the plastic and the fishes mouth! A sharp hook is a must! I like braid for it, it'll get through the stalks better, and and you get a better hook set. 7" rod a least, MH F action!

Those are the two ways I rig them most. Hope this helps may! Catch a boat load!

[tim4081]

NY7y3.....first of all welcome to the board and the exciting realm of bass fishing!!!!

I'd suggest trying senkos. They're easy to rig, you can't fish them wrong and they are extremely productive. You fish them with no weight. Two basic ways. If fishing heavier cover I prefer t-rigged....I like Gamakatsu skip gap hooks....4/0 for 5 inch and 3/0 for 4 inch. For more open water try wacky rigging which is where you run the hook thru the worm's collar.

Many times the fish will hit the lure on the drop so you need to watch your line carefully for any unusual movements. If nothing hits it on the fall there are many ways to retrieve it. You can raise the bait using your rod and then letting it fall on slack line...work it slow with little hops.... twitch it back using sideways movement of your rod or simply drag it slowly along the bottom. Try different techniques and let the fish tell you what they prefer.

As for rods you can use a medium or medium heavy power in fast or extra fast action. Some people prefer spinning tackle while others like casting gear. For line some like braid, others prefer fluorocarbon.....again experiment and see what you like best.

Good luck and if you need more info just ask....there are alot of great people on here who are more than willing to help you out.

[Mac2]

Here are a couple finesse presentations.

This is a page of information a fishing buddy and my wife helped me to develop over the years. We’ve caught a lot of bass using the following techniques and presentations.

We fish with spinning outfits, usually 6 pound test mono.
I buy a pack of zoom speedworms in watermelon/red and clip off the tails at the narrow spot just in front of the flapper tail. This makes approximately a 4 inch lure that works exceptionally well. Not having internal salt, it sinks more slowly. This is key when you have submerged weeds, giving the bait much more exposure to the bass on the slow fall.

I rig the lure texposed on a 2/0 offset shank worm hook, weightless most often and often use a sidearm skipping cast.

This lure doesn't cost as much as a Senko, yet holds up under use much better. When one end wears out, I rig it in the other end....when that end goes, I save it for wacky rigging. I call the speedworm body in watermelon/red a zoomie, for brevity.

It casts like a bullet, and skips well under log, rock and dock.
I fish it most often in the following manner.....cast to likely cover/structure. Sometimes the fish prefer a "Here I am" skipping cast, at other times a quieter entry seems to work better. I let it fall with bail open, to the bottom, watching line at all times. I wait, initially, for 30 seconds, just letting it remain on bottom. After 30 seconds, gently take out the slack and lift it slowly off bottom about two feet to feel for fish....if nothing on, I tremor the bait by suddenly grabbing the rod handle harder, but trying not to move the rod tip.....this gives the lure a sudden little twitch at the top of the raise and will sometimes elicit a strike, if nothing hits, I let it re-fall and rest again for 20 seconds. Lifting slowly a second time...and pausing at the top of the raise, if nothing takes it this time, I reel in at a moderate pace and cast to another likely spot.

If done properly, this presentation will take one full minute per cast.

An alternate presentation.....developed and perfected by my wife. Using either a regular or skipping cast....she lets the zoomie fall to bottom and lets rest for 15 seconds, then takes one s l o w crank on the reel and lets rest again, with the line draped over her index finger for feel, and watching the line carefully.....after 15 seconds, another s l o w turning of the reel handle and another 15 second pause. She does this until the lure has travelled 8 to 10 feet across bottom, then reels in at a moderate to slow pace, and casts to another likely spot. It should be noted she uses a Zebco 33 reel ( just her personal preference ) so that when reeling s l o w l y, the lure doesn't go far with one revolution of the reel handle, so should you use a higher gear ratio, and want the same results you'll have to maybe take a half or quarter turn.

If weight is needed, I clip pieces of small finishing nails into 3/8 inch lengths and use one inserted in the skin of the lure about even with the hookpoint, but on the side of the lure to maintain a good horazontal fall.....the closer to the hookpoint, the tighter the wobble, the farther out to the side of the worm, the wider the wiggle on the fall. This is a side to side movement, kind of a rocking back and forth. Discovered totally by accident, but beneficial in that the glitter inside the worm body rocking side to side creates a lot of extra flash. Most often, we don't weight, but once in awhile the wind drifts the boat along and the touch of weight added gets the lure down deeper.

Fishing weeds.....bump and fall, bump and fall. I cast to the edge or inside pocket, letting the lure fall until it lodges in a weed. I lift slowly until I feel it bump another weed, then let fall again. I pause 10 seconds each time I lift to let the lure fall farther down in the weeds. Caught some really nice bass doing this along weedbed edges and pockets...... You may be surprised how thick the weeds can get and you can still work it down deep.

In lily pads and reeds, I use a 5 inch zoom lizard in watermelon/red exposed weightless. With the rod tip up, especially in pads it will crawl up on the pads and over the tops. When it comes to an open pocket, I let it sit on the edge of a pad with just the head showing and after 20 seconds or so, I tremor it twice with a little pause between before moving on.

I hope these will help as starters....for each presentation there are probably a hundred or more variations , these are just a couple that have worked for us.

[ny7y3]

Thank you everyone.