Soft Plastics Question

[Rebbasser]

PnJ's comment about torn plastics in the bottom of the boat on another thread got me thinking(yeah, I know, that can be dangerous). When y'all get through with a soft plastic bait do you stick it back in the box/bag or just chunk it? I pretty much just chunk them.

[bassinbob]

I've done both. I usually throw them all in the back of the truck and clean them out once in awhile. If the bait is reusable it goes back in the bag. I save some for practice casting. I just bought some glue so I might be getting more use out of them.

Bob

[bassintom]

i'll just toss them on the deck in the corner by the console(they don't blow off the deck there).i'll reuse what i can.for example in one reservoir here a good tactic is putting half a senko on a standup jighead.i have plenty of baits for that.another thing you can do is,most plastic worms float for quite a while.i use them as marker buoys when i don't want others to see my marks.the worms seem to stay in one place even when it's a little windy.of course they won't stay there in gale force winds but this does work.i'll also use the worm tails as trailers on jigs and spinnerbaits.
another trick i use is when rigging a senko type bait wacky rigged,i'll hook a tail of a plastic worm on it.i'll hook the worm tail through where it was removed from the rest of the worm.so it looks like a "T".sometimes this little bit of added action will catch you a bass when a plain old senko doesn't.
i also use pieces of worm to hold trailer hooks in place on spinnerbaits.
and of course the kids love "catching worms and lizards"all over the boat while i fish.

[JB]

i try to remember to take them off the deck and then stick them in the top of my tacklebox, then on a rainy day sort through them and pitch them.
Tom is right, many a downsized version of plastics are key in getting bites, I found that out years ago with a gene larew craw, I was getting bites on the 3 1/2 inch size, but after a few fish only had one left, and ended up throwing it in a scaled down 2 inch size, and man they sure wanted it that day...I don't know if I matched the hatch or what .

[NJBassDevil]

I usually just chuck them but I think I am goin to put a bucket on the front of my boat as a plastic grave yard. If I'm fishing topwater or something and I miss a strike, I can grab one of those grave yard plastics and toss her in there as a back up bait.

[BassQualifier]

I do basically what NJBassDevil does. I have a coffee can in my side rod locker that I just toss whatever lures or baits I cut off my line. Every spinnerbait, crankbait, worm and jig, if cut off my line, ends up in the coffee can. I forget about the lures in there a lot of the time and sometimes they all stick together from the heat. But after a month or two I will take the can out and put the non-scraps back in their respective places.

[Fishing4Soup]

i usually just rig them differently or let my little brothers put them on a bobber....my brother cought his biggest bass putting a ripped piece of worm...not the curly tail or anything on a hook and bobber and just let it sit there.

[nb1226]

I like to use my used powerbait worms and put them in with non-powerbaits to give them the smell.

[pig n jig]

Well as Rebbasser stated, I throw them in the bottom of the boat.I never put them back in with my unused baits and I always strip the baits off the rods after a day of fishing, even if I didn't use the bait after rigging it the night before. If its had a hook impaled in it, it gets thrown in the bottom of the boat.Hard baits get cut off and lay on the carpet on the bench seat so they can air dry.They then go into a side pouch, until I can clean them up in the sink at home and completely dry them before putting them back in the plano box with the rest.I am way out there when it comes to baits.If a plastic bait , such as a senko, or super fluke does not get rigged exactly right,or it doesn't fish the way I expect it to, it gets thrown in the bottom of the boat and a new one gets put on in its place.The bait monkey assures that I will never run low on baits, I cleaned the baits out of the boat bottom, because the damned new 3x type plastic trailers and the other plastic trailers were melting into a sticky glob of a mess.I gotta remind bait monkey, to stay away from the new plastic types, even if they are on clearance sale. P N J

[lizardsrule]

I toss them, unless they are my discontinued favorite worm. Then I save them, and one day will rebuild them.

Lizards

[flfireman]

Use the tails for trailers, sometimes get board and start creating weird worms.