# Working Plastics



## soua0363 (Jun 10, 2005)

When fishing with plastic baits or jigs, how much do you work the baits? For example when pitching a worm into a spot, how long do you let it sit before you twitch it? I am trying to get myself starting using more jigs and worms but sometimes I feel that I am working the bait too much. I find myself twitching or hopping the bait every two to three seconds. Sometime when I try to slow down, it seems like I let the bait sit too long. Any suggestions or tips?


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## liquidsoap (Oct 22, 2005)

I depends on what I am using. I like using senkos slowy.
If I am using a super fluke then I twicth it nearly right away.
Jigs I let sink until my line is slack. Unless i am swimming it


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## Pigsticker (Oct 18, 2006)

Some lures provide all the action for you and some you have to work harder. Then again on some days they want a slow presentation and somedays not. 

When throwing a Senko T-rigged i'd prefer to use it weightless if possible. If theres any wind at as small a bullett weight as you can get away with and stil feel the worm with a tight line. When I throw a Senko in a pond I let it settle all the way to the bottom, reeling in the slack as it falls to maintain a tight ling. Then when I feel bottom I make a 2-3ft sweep up ever so slowly so you can always maintain contact with the worm, no slack line ever. Then I let it fall again slowly. This tactic is used for weightless plastics and worms. They'll provide all the wiggle by themselves on the free fall.

When throwing a worm, lizard, craw, creature bait or other soft plastic T-rigged and weighted then I do it differently. I let if fall then just ever so slowly keep the handle moving and make very, very slight twitches of the rod and try and always be feeling the bottom and keeping it within 6 inches of bottom or so. 

If they're hitting higher in the water column then a fluke or sluggo is called for. I let it hit the water then wait maybe 10 seconds motionless. It sinks ever so slowly. Once its about a foot under water i'll start to reel and twitch in a 2 cranks for every 1 twitch pattern. These are worked much faster. Just try and keep the lure within a foot of so of the top but not on top. If you use a white plastic here it really helps so you can see the bait as its moving and the strike, which is exciting. 

If they're hitting on top then the frog is called for. A frog is basically a soft plastic buzzbait. If the water has weeds use the frog, if not use the buzzbait. I usually start burning the buzzbait as soon as it hits the water because it'll sink otherwise. Since the frog floats I let it sit a bit before starting the retrieve. Then pause it every now and then, like every 10 feet or so for only a second or 2. I went fishing with a guy from OGF last year that was killing them on a Texposed rigged weighted frog swam it about a foot under he surface and crushed them all day. IMO that goes against conventional wisdom but hey, it worked.


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## Wolfhook120 (Oct 17, 2007)

My theory is, if you think you're letting the bait sit too long, you're not letting it sit long enough. The "dead-stick" method takes or should take an agonizing amount of time!


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

I fish pretty quickly while maintianing bottom contact. if I connect on a fish then I slow down a bit and work the area or areas like it more thoroughly. So you don't waste to much time methotically fishing a spot that is devoid of fish.


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## JignPig Guide (Aug 3, 2007)

Big Joshy said:


> I fish pretty quickly while maintianing bottom contact. if I connect on a fish then I slow down a bit and work the area or areas like it more thoroughly. So you don't waste to much time methotically fishing a spot that is devoid of fish.


Good call Big Joshy... 
I agree. With an emphasis on bottom contact. Most guys work their soft plastics too quickly while not maintaining bottom (or very near bottom) contact.


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

yeah its something I learned a long time ago. Bass react differently to a bait that is on the bottom. I think they think its just easier for them to catch becasue they can pin it there. Or maybe they think its struggling. 

I would watch bass in clear water and I would swim a bait like a worm or soft jerkbait by them and they would just watch it go by. But the moment you let it sink to the bottom thier posture would change and they would swim down and strike. A very very important thing to know. This is the case with gills sometimes too.


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## soua0363 (Jun 10, 2005)

Thank you, fellas! I guess I just have to learn to be a lot more patient and let my bait sit. I have always power fish for bass my whole life and have never really done any slow fishing or finesse fishing.


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## AnglinMueller (May 16, 2008)

I am interested in fishing with soft bait too but how will I know if my bait has hit the bottom yet?


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## CARP 104 (Apr 19, 2004)

Keep your line slack and watch it. You will see the line moving, and when it stops you have reached the bottom.


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## Biodude (Nov 5, 2004)

Dreadfully slow is how I usually fish plastic. However, this weekend, I was nailing smallies by using a fast retrieve w/ a swimming worm. If it was on the bottom, they ignored it. I was reeling in really fast on the bass would leave a wake on the surface chasing it!


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## BennyLovesSaugeyes (May 1, 2008)

I usually jig down by griggs with a berkley PW's. I let it hit the bottom, tight the line, jig-jig-fall-jig then let it fall till my line is tight again. Pause, crank once. repeat.

Works pretty good for me fishing in cover/boulders. Really you just have to find a method that works for you and produces. After that it's a cake walk


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## soua0363 (Jun 10, 2005)

After getting tips from the fellas on here, I have been successful with the jig whether its a jig and pig or a jig head with the plastic. I have found the most success for me is cast it out and let it sink to the bottom for at least 10 seconds. Lift up the rod slowly and crank the handle half a turn to a full turn and let the bait hit the bottom and then do the cycle over again. Twitching the bait has not produced for me yet.


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## big fish (Oct 9, 2005)

i will usually hop, crawl, jump, or even swim. the best thing i have found it to cast into weeds, or brush and just crawl it over the branches. when i am working it in open water i will hop it to create a lot of comotion. and i will swim it anywere it usually works when the bass want something with kinda like a finnese spinnerbait


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## OZZIEOHIO (Dec 25, 2007)

I think on different days the fish react differently, so I always start out reeeeeeeel slow and speed up about every 5 mins untill I get a bite. Remember because it worked today does not mean it wil tomorrow.


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## ohiomelvin (Jun 22, 2008)

when bass see a fish or worm struggling on bottom they will attack it quicker than if it wasnt struggling so i would prefer when using soft baits is to jig them slowly with worms you can wacky rig it which is to put a worm on the hook sideways and jig it across the bottom or with a fake minnow or any type of fake fish you can put it on the hook sideways and do the same you might have some luck with this so try it


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## madcrappiekids (Mar 11, 2006)

i have had good luck with what I keep telling my son...."remember the 3 second reel!" that is to say that I count one thousand one...two...three and as i turn the reel .....twitch/sit - twitch/sit - 3 second reel....repeat process a few times and then just mix it up.


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## soua0363 (Jun 10, 2005)

A couple more things to remember...watch your line as the bait falls...if you see it moving in a direction it is not suppose to be going, set the hook. This will happen when the basses are aggressively feeding. They will enhale the bait on the fall and just swim away with it.

The other thing to remember is *do not* set the hook as soon as feel a tick. Wait about 3 seconds or so before slamming the hook home. If you do not wait a little bit you will more than likely pull the bait out of the fishes mouth or you will only hook the fish at the soft part of the fish's mouth. If you hook the fish at the soft part the hook can tear out when he/she jumps. I was making this mistake when I first started using the jig. After watching my teachers (pros on them fishing shows), they always say wait a couple seconds, lower the rod, reel in the slack, and then slam the hook home in a hard upward jerk. I took notice and have done a lot better.


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## misterpeabody (Jul 21, 2005)

when jig/worm fishing and I feel a tick, I set the hook immediately. I have heard the theory of counting to 3, but that gives them time to spit it. The tick you feel is the fish with the bait in its mouth, so why wait? If you've ever sight fished, you've noticed that bass can take your bait and you not feel a thing most of the time. I always set the hook whenever I feel something different. My theory is - hooksets are free. I've caught a lot of bass when I just "sensed" something, and took a shot. just my .02


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## ryosapien (Jul 5, 2008)

so right about that feeling to set a hook i was jigging a tube today and just knew there was something fishy on it so yanked the crap out of the rod and boom fish on. SPOOKY.....18 inch LMB nice. Alot of the time you don't even feel a bite it is more like "the building weight of the fish" as you try to jig it next and it just doesn't seem to want to go as easy you just lay in it then and boom. I like to throw a tube at a dropoff and let sit for thirty seconds or more bounce the rod tip like three times and let it sit 15 more sec... count 1 one thousand etc. and keep bouncing till you feel that weight. although many times i have said oh to hell with it and reeled in bouncin it quick and come up with a bass 2 ft from the shore go figure just when you thought you had em figured.


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## misterpeabody (Jul 21, 2005)

exactly, the larger bass will simply inhale their prey and not bother moving, you may not feel anything, depending upon the angle of line and the position of the fish, so when I feel anything, I'm swinging, hard, and yes, I swing and miss a lot...


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## BASmead (Jan 11, 2008)

In my home lake in Mich 2 of the biggest LMs i've ever witnessed were caught by my friend's girlfriends absolutley bored out of their minds. Both scenarios were pretty much the same: Glass calm hot summer days. We were chuckin' and retrieving tryin' our damndest to work the dropoff and in both cases the girls were barely paying attention, just letting their weightless plastic sit on the bottom for a long period of time. One was fishing a worm, the other a tube. Both caught 6lb plus fish, and i believe both times my friend and i were skunked the same day. We consider ourselves to be fairly avid fisherman too, i would say. There's a lesson there i think. You can't fish too slow. It takes either an immense amount of patience, or in their case boredom and luck that neither of those pigs were gut hooked. I've had a couple good days since on that same super slow weightless worm/ drop-off pattern. I'm not gonna lie though, i lack that kind of patience. And you definitley need to pay close attention to your line to avoid gut hooking. But it's hard to beat slow in the heat of summer when there's little or no breeze and sunny conditions.


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