I'm just curious, it seems that whenever you here of the pro's winning a tournament that they always do it with hard baits.  Has there been pro' s who have won a tournament with soft baits like worms etc.

Tommy Biffle won the BASS Ft. Gibson Elite Series throwing the "Sooner Run" colored Biffle Bug.

I could be wrong but didnt Skeet win the classic on Red river flippin a chigger craw?

I could be wrong but didnt Skeet win the classic on Red river flippin a chigger craw?

I think you're right.

I think that it was Robert Montgomery that touched on this, or a really similar topic.  He made the statement that the reason many events are won on a hard bait is that pros were/are keying on active or aggressive fish.  Most of the time they're not in the need of slowing to the point of methodical plastics fishing.  I'll see if I can find it and post it.

Whats crazy is that only ten years ago it was the other way around. I hardly ever remember tourneys being won on hard baits back then. And back then really wasn't that long ago. I remember reading an article in Bassin(I think that was the mag) they asked ten of the  top pros what is the number one tourney bait and something like 8 out of 10 said a jig the others were a plastic worm and  a spinner bait and that was about ten years ago. I wonder what the answers to that question would be today?

I think I heard Boyd Duckett saying he won the Classic with a chigger or crazy leg chigger craw.

I wish I won the classic.

I could be wrong but didnt Skeet win the classic on Red river flippin a chigger craw?

I think you're right.

skeet won his classic by flipping a crazy legs chigger craw and a lucky craft spinnerbait

boyd duckett won his with a chiggercraw, and maybe something else, not sure

ike won his classic with a jog, and two types of worms.

It just seems that you never see a pro on the final weigh in, saying  "Boy if weren't for those zoom junebug worms I would have never won this thing" It seems that everybody is running and gunning. Although I don't think I would have the patience to bounce a worm off the bottom. I would rather have a bait that was always on the move.

I could be wrong but didnt Skeet win the classic on Red river flippin a chigger craw?

I think you're right.

skeet won his classic by flipping a crazy legs chigger craw and a lucky craft spinnerbait

boyd duckett won his with a chiggercraw, and maybe something else, not sure

ike won his classic with a jog, and two types of worms.

I'm confused on something. I can not recall anyone ever saying they won a tournament on ZOOM plastics but, it seems that ZOOM is what alot of people use. I know many use other companies but it seems that people who aren't pros use ZOOM cause they are cheaper and they catch fish but I don't see many pros besides probably Andy Morgan,Luke Clausen, and Gerald Swindle using them.

I'm confused on something. I can not recall anyone ever saying they won a tournament on ZOOM plastics but, it seems that ZOOM is what alot of people use. I know many use other companies but it seems that people who aren't pros use ZOOM cause they are cheaper and they catch fish but I don't see many pros besides probably Andy Morgan,Luke Clausen, and Gerald Swindle using them.

Depends on their sponsors.

The top 12 finishers at Okeechobee a few weeks ago were all using soft baits.

The winner and second place guy (McMillan, Tharp) were fishing within casting distance of each other, both flipping a Bruiser Intruder. Third place guy (Prough) was also using an intruder and an RI Trixie Shark. Dean Rojas was throwing a frog. Powroznik was fliping a Jacobug. Virtually everyone else in the top 12 was throwing a soft swimbait (skinny dipper/Big Ez) and flipping craws.

The only guy in the top 12 who mentioned hard baits at all was Terry Scroggins who was using a Devils Horse at times. He was pitching craws also, though.

I think it really depends on what type of water you're fishing. I think, in general, pros prefer to use hard baits to target aggressive fish, but you're not going to be able to use those hardbaits in the Okeechobee slop ...

I'm confused on something. I can not recall anyone ever saying they won a tournament on ZOOM plastics but, it seems that ZOOM is what alot of people use. I know many use other companies but it seems that people who aren't pros use ZOOM cause they are cheaper and they catch fish but I don't see many pros besides probably Andy Morgan,Luke Clausen, and Gerald Swindle using them.

Maybe Zoom doesn't pay them enough to say they won a tourney on them haha

I'm confused on something. I can not recall anyone ever saying they won a tournament on ZOOM plastics but, it seems that ZOOM is what alot of people use. I know many use other companies but it seems that people who aren't pros use ZOOM cause they are cheaper and they catch fish but I don't see many pros besides probably Andy Morgan,Luke Clausen, and Gerald Swindle using them.

Maybe Zoom doesn't pay them enough to say they won a tourney on them haha

You can bet it is all about the sponsors money. If Zoom was sponsoring one of those winners you can bet every fish he caught would be on a Zoom bait.

  Give Zoom credit, they are doing very well without all of that.

Cliff Pace had a deck full of zoom plastics for the classic. Sapphire blue..

Lots of big events won with plastics. Last FLW championship, Robo worm. Clauson won in Florida on a worm. Larry Nixon won on the Ohio River with a Gator Tail worm. Lots of elite events won with the RI Sweet Beaver. The Delta event was dominated with beaver style baits. Robert Lee won on the Delta with a tube and a Zipper worm. Too many to recall.

Mike McClelland won an elite series tournament in 2008 pitching a junebug trick worm to lily pads. In 2007 he won with a football head tipped with a Zoom super chunk. I think Jason Williamson used a super chunk when he won on Clarks Hill last year as well. It happens but because it's not KVD, Skeet, or Ike nobody runs to tell everybody and their brother about it.

More tournaments are won on plastics or jigs than all the others by a margin of 4 to 1.