In the world of soft plastics, does the choice of what specific type of lure to use often come down to angler preference/confidence, or are these lures always specifically designed for specific applications?

For example, is there a specific reason that an angler would choose something like a Brush Hawg instead of a worm?  Or, does it matter that I toss a brush hawg into a pocket of milfoil as opposed to a tube or worm? If presented properly, and with a fish present, would one not often perform (catch a fish) just as likely as another?

I can see very clear examples of plastics made for specific situations  (for jig trailers, C rigs, etc) but some of these choices seem a bit vague to me.

Any input is appreciated-

By my experience it depends on the Bass and what they perfer. As an example I threw a Brush Hog under a weedy dock which I was sure held a Bass cast after cast to no avail. Changed up to a Senko and on the first cast a 4 pounder hit it. Maybe the shape or maybe the sink rate? Sometimes they will tell you what they want.

For my part, the answer to your question is "Yes" and "Maybe".  Part of it has to do with water clarity - a lure with lots of action (like a Brush Hog for instance) may attract more attention than say a worm.  Every lure, in order to be effective, has to have both "triggering" qualities and "attracting" qualities.  But you still have to know what will trigger or attract the bass.  I have always heard that fish are more prone to strike a "lizard" type bait during the spawn to protect their eggs.  But there are no "lizards" in the water around here and these baits still will work some of the time.

It's a frustrating/interesting sport ain't it?

I personally think that what plastic you use can make a huge difference.  there are many different factors like rate of fall, action, bulk, color, and scent.

Catt also knows a lot about the differences between different plastics.

Maybe the shape or maybe the sink rate?

Over the years my three top producing lures have been soft plastics:

GYCB Senko

GYCB Fat Ika

Tube (Mizmo Grandes or Micro Munch Tackle El Gordo)

Although I fish all three lures with the same movement, the profile and action are different. On a given day, one of these baits significantly outperforms the other two.

8-)

In the world of soft plastics, does the choice of what specific type of lure to use often come down to angler preference/confidence, or are these lures always specifically designed for specific applications?

To a certain point there is a specific application, the conditions of the water and the weather make you choose one over the other, for example, in muddy water I would rather go with a bait that has more appendages with a larger profile ( larger profile = more water displacement, more appendages = more water displacement and more vibration ) than with a slender profile or small appendages, the water is muddy, visibility is poor ---> the fish don 't find the bait by sight.

I can see very clear examples of plastics made for specific situations  (for jig trailers, C rigs, etc) but some of these choices seem a bit vague to me.

Such thing my friend in the real world does not exist, plastic baits are not meant to be rigged exclusively or specifically for any particular rigging technique, it 's you who determines how to rig it, the rigging techique is chosen for the application which is determined by the where, what and how you plan to fish depending upon the conditions. In other words, you can rig a bait in any way you want it.

This is why most of us carry around $500.00 worth of plastics.

Be it fall rate, action, color, one will outproduce the rest on any given day. The trick is to find the "one"