When I recently put a spreadsheet together of my soft plastics I realized I had more than I thought. I also would say I fish a lot, but don’t go through a lot of plastics. 

 

I do rig my plastics on a slider heads or swim jigs and I have bins of rigged plastics that I have used off and on with some being rigged up for over 3 years. I also don’t texapose the hook, because I haven’t seen it make a huge difference in the amount of weeds I pull up on the bait. 

 

Part of me says I should pitch plastics sooner so that I actually go through some. The other part of me says to not waste perfectly good baits. Is it odd that I can get baits to last so long? I could even get 4-6 fish out of a swim Senko. 

 

Editing to to add a photo of my boat boxes of plastics

Sounds like you have a solid plan in place where you are able to use, keep,  & save many of your plastic baits.

I'm a bit different in that my priority is to catch big bass with my plastics.

In fact, I want to catch as many as I can.  

However I do understand and accept the fact that in the process of catching all these big bass, I will inevitably go through a ton of baits.

I say "Dam the torpedoes, Full Speed ahead !" 

btw - Congrats on your collection of used baits.

A-Jay

 

 

 

This summer, my grandson and I mainly used roboworms in 6". We could get 3 maybe 4 fish out of them before they were done. I don't really save plastics and have a big collection. It's good that your able to save and use them.

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Sounds like you have a solid plan in place where you are able to use, keep,  & save many of your plastic baits.

I'm a bit different in that my priority is to catch big bass with my plastics.

In fact, I want to catch as many as I can.  

However I do understand and accept the fact that in the process of catching all these big bass, I will inevitably go through a ton of baits.

I say "Dam the torpedoes, Full Speed ahead !" 

btw - Congrats on your collection of used baits.

A-Jay

 

 

 

I am chasing the big girls too, but usually fish plastics only if they are lethargic picking them up off the bottom. If they are in a chasing mood I will switch to a lipless or some other crank to be more efficient. Also fish a lot of tubes, Kalyn’s 5” grubs and rage menaces that hold up well to multiple fish. 

This menace got me 23 largemouth in a few hours, finally had to retire it. Almost ran out of this color on vacation, only had one pack and the bass loved it. 

The amount of plastics I go through usually correlates well with the number of fish I am catching. I tend to change my plastic at the slightest irregularity if it gets bit. After all, I want to reproduce the same presentation if it’s working.

 

One exception is a time that I had prefished a lake and it was muddy with 6 inch visibility and then 5 days later it was clear 4-6 feet of visibility. I had brought only gear for dirty water. I fished a black and blue jig most of the morning and didn’t get a sniff. I hunted around through my boxes and I found a green pumpkin/blue jig with an okeechobee trailer, started throwing it and started catching them. One of the pinchers got bit off, and I didn’t have anymore in that color, but I thought “what the hell” and fished it anyway and continued to catch fish. The other pincher got bit off and I just kept fishing it and getting bit. I ended up with a 3rd place finish with about a 20 lb bag. Despite this, I still change my plastic at the slightest irregularity if I have them. But I frequently wonder how much it matters.

I go through this many blackberry Jelly Worms every year. This box was ordered last November and is almost gone. Although they don't hold up good to subsequent catches, the bass love em. Been using them since 1975 and as long as they continue to perform, I'll continue to use them.

You can have lures in your tackle box or bass in your in your livewell...ya can't have both!

 

If I catch one bass per piece of plastic it's done it's job!

 

Plastics that I know work I'll buy in bulk, the only used plastics I keep are for jig trailers.

Depends on what type of soft plastic lure I am using and what I am fishing for. On soft swimbaits I tend to catch several bass before I throw away the swimbait or I repair it for future use. Same lure might only last 1 time for toothy fish such as bowfin, gar, bullseye snakehead, etc.

9 hours ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

I hunted around through my boxes and I found a green pumpkin/blue jig with an okeechobee trailer, started throwing it and started catching them. One of the pinchers got bit off, and I didn’t have anymore in that color, but I thought “what the hell” and fished it anyway and continued to catch fish. The other pincher got bit off and I just kept fishing it and getting bit. I ended up with a 3rd place finish with about a 20 lb bag. Despite this, I still change my plastic at the slightest irregularity if I have them. But I frequently wonder how much it matters.

I read an article that someone posted here about research that Berkley had done in regards to bass feeding on craws.  The bass turned out to be FAR more likely to feed on craws with missing pinchers.  They said the bait resembled more of a shrimp than a craw.  They never produced a bait to look like this because their marketing research showed nobody would ever buy it.

 

Interesting your results seem to back that up!

I go thru plastics a lot.

I primarily fish a toad style bait and frequently will go thru 10-15 in one trip.

 

I save them and have a 5 gallon bucket about half full of used baits.

I made some molds and started using the old plastics to hand pour baits.

 

My favorite drop shot baits are swim baits that have lost the paddle tail.(keitech, rage swimmer types)

It still has that bait fish profile and the ribs + the thinning of the bait towards the tail still gives it a subtle action.

It depends on what I'm using.  I find that culprit worms and baby brushhogs are usually pretty durable, and I can catch several fish on them before having to replace them.  Senkos on the other hand, I can go thru a pack of those if I hit a bump to hard on the way to the launch.

I'm approaching retirement so I'm at a point in my life where I have plenty of money and not enough fishing time.  I'm trying to maximize my catch and I don't worry at all about the cost of plastics.  If a bait is damaged in a way that affects it fishability,  it gets replaced.  After retirement, when my income will be much lower and my fishing time will be much higher,  I'll probably pay more attention to fishing cost and will probably try to get the most out of a plastic bait.

I try not to go through plastics, for a few reasons:

-I'm stingy.

-I am concerned about biphenols like pthalates in the water, due to some evidence that some can cause reproductive harm in fishes and other aquatic life.

 

So...

 

I maintain my soft plastic baits. I repair them with Mend-It, or cyanoacrylic glues. If one gets torn and looks like it'll only catch one more fish, I replace it, and mend it when I return home.

 

I try to find more durable substitutes for certain baits.

 

Bc of toxicity concerns, I never discard soft plastics around water and pick up all I find out there. I'm also using some Elaz-Tech type plastics that are more durable and, supposedly, without the reproductive toxicity potential.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I go through a lot of plastics. It has made me really re-think the true value of a hardbait. I have caught dozens of fish on the same Whopper Plopper, it's worth it's weight in gold compare to a bag of plastics.

 

I do try and repurpose my plastics as much as possible. Half a stickbait becomes a Ned rig, etc. 

To clarify my thriftyness a bit, I will use a beat up bait like the menace picture I posted until I feel the damage is enough to change the action of the bait. At that point I change the bait to a new one. I have never used mend it to repair a bait. 

 

I guess i gravitate to plastics that catch multiple fish under tough conditions. Since I only get out for a few hours each time I see rerigging a new bait often as casts lost. So I guess I am really trying to maximize my time on the water. 

 

I also agree that over time the cost of a crank is a bargain compared to plastics. We don’t think twice of dropping 5 or 6 bucks on a bag of plastics, but to spend 8 to 12 on a crank can be a struggle some times. 

I use them until the head will not stay on the hook. If I fished more clear water I’d probably change pretty often though

1 hour ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I'm approaching retirement so I'm at a point in my life where I have plenty of money and not enough fishing time.  I'm trying to maximize my catch and I don't worry at all about the cost of plastics.  If a bait is damaged in a way that affects it fishability,  it gets replaced.  After retirement, when my income will be much lower and my fishing time will be much higher,  I'll probably pay more attention to fishing cost and will probably try to get the most out of a plastic bait.

Just a tip, start putting it out there now, when you're in a crowd at work just announce that you hope you don't get a watch for a retirement gift. They will start poking trying to find out what you hope to get. I did it and it worked. I told everyone that I wanted fishing lures!

14 hours ago, Harold Scoggins said:

I go through this many blackberry Jelly Worms every year. This box was ordered last November and is almost gone. Although they don't hold up good to subsequent catches, the bass love em. Been using them since 1975 and as long as they continue to perform, I'll continue to use them.

And they smell good enough to spread on toast!!  I love these old worms. Every time I get to smell these I am taken back to another time fishing with my Dad in his old aluminum  boat. I sure miss him....

 I remelt my used plastic and make new baits.

Seems like I go through senkos pretty fast. I can usually make my swimbaits last and my creatures and craws last a while.

each year, i will typically go through 30-40 bags of lizards, and the same amount of worms. i buy them in bulk. 

I go through plastics almost embarrassingly fast sometimes, and when I’m bored or it’s raining I’ll dig up packs that have been sitting for a while and test them as jig trailers etc which usually ends up being a somewhat wasteful endeavor. I’ve had the best longevity with chigger craws Texas rigged, iv used the same craw for a week before fishing everyday for a few hrs. You can texpose three times per side of the craw until it rips, then flip it over and do the same on the side with the writing. 

 

Does anyone one know if superglue has any noticibale scent to fish? I’ve always been paranoid it smells and am hesitant to use it for anything fishing related.

On 9/28/2018 at 3:44 AM, Catt said:

If I catch one bass per piece of plastic it's done it's job!

That's my goal, too.

 

I have 2 5 gallon buckets of used plastics that are both about half full, one is natural colors, the other is dark colors like black and blue and junebug. I melt them down and repour during the winter.

 I have no problem burning through plastics to catch fish, but I do become a little annoyed when one is destroyed (looking at you Keitech FI) just from casting it ton when the skunk is on.  

 

 I do however, find that I don’t go through plastics nearly as fast as I thought I would, I have finally broken myself of the habit of buying in bulk. With the exception of drop shot plastics, I can generally get a decent number of fish out of most of the brands that I use. 

I will use the same bait until I cannot rig it correctly anymore. It doesn't matter that I have 98 more of them I like to keep using the bait that is working. When they are finally done they get melted down into jig trailers based on color. Co-anglers leave a lot of used baits in my boat and I generally use what I can find if they are hitting everything. I won 2 club tournaments with just the baits I found laying in the back of my boat.

 

Allen