Just wondering how deep one can effectively fish weightless soft plastics such as any sinking worm, sinking creature bait or Fat IKA type baits.  Seems to me, there must be a depth beyond which weightless plusses get outweighed by the minuses, such as loss of contact with the bait, time involved getting bait down to or near the bottom etc.  Is there kind of a rule of thumb on this subject?  Thanks.

I wouldnt think there isnt a max depth, it all depends how patient you can be. I have fished a weightless worm over 10 ft deep.

You can fish them as deep as you want. Usually when I'm fishing weightless plastics, it's in water less than 15 feet.

I agree with nb1226 and do it often. Using fluorocarbon line will add to the sink rate. I don't worry about lure contact, I want fish contact.

Lots of time slow is the way to go.

With the larger fat baits you mentioned the sink rate is faster than what I use ( finesse worms and Trick worms)

Sometimes I throw them at bridge pilings in 30 ft of water.  They still work as long as you're patient.  No rule of thumb really, trust your instincts

yea like everyone else said. as deep as you decide. i fish flukes in no more than 15 feet of water. im just not that patient.

the only time when i use weightless sinking worms/minnows is when im fishing laydowns or shallow vegation and let teh worm sink into pockets of teh grass   i use soft jerkbaits alot but only 0-3 feet under the surface

Hmmm.....weightless soft plastics. Let's see, stick baits, i.e., Senkos, Kinami Flash, Tiki Sticks, Dingers, etc. sink faster than say a lizard and are excellent fall baits for close to cover situations. A tube on the other hand is good for a slow falling bait. Worms come in every shape and size under the sun and can be utilized for all types of presentations rigged weightless. I even still fish the "Air" series of soft plastics from time to time, they don't sink, however.

I agree with everyone else, how patient are you? I once caught an 8 lb. striper while fishing a 3" weightless sassy shad in 40 ft. of water. Wasn't what I was fishing for but sure was a fun catch.

About 12' is as deep as I fish weightless.

8-)

I don't think anyone could really pinpoint a max depth for using soft plastics but I tend to have the most luck using them in less than 10 feet of water.

10 ft is about the max for me on a still day and nail weights can sometime improve fall rate on some designs and allow you to basically cover the same water productively and faster.

Big O