i have used skitterpops, various types of rapala minnows/shad raps, spinnerbaits, 5 of diamonds and a couple other spoons, and even a little brass spinner and had luck with all but not once have i caught anything on soft plastics. ive tried everything from letting them sit on the bottom with the odd small twitch here and there to just reeling them in.. what is the deal? only thing i can think of is the fishermans tale of "have confidence in it and it will work" haha ive lost all confidence in soft plastics so maybe thats why they dont work for me. lol i really have no idea what im doing wrong.

Here's a couple of articles.  I've started fooling around with the techniques in them, and they've worked well for me.

Hope they do the same for you.

http://www.insideline.net/weeklynews/2009/09-0415.html

http://www.insideline.net/weeklynews/2009/09-0330-shakey.html

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Probably nothing you are doing wrong.

The bass may be suspended and not on the bottom.

Go out at dusk or dawn and throw parallel to and right up against the bank with your plastics.

Look for wood in the water and throw to the wood, be they big trees or just sticks sticking out of the water. Anything wood, especially in the shade.

With the sun out and bluebird skies, fish any docks and piers. The lower the dock or pier is to the water, the better it is to fish for bass. And throw into the shade along the shore as they will be in the shade.

Try to find a drop off along the bank.  Or throw a drop shot along bridge pilings and let the bait fall.

They will hit the plastics if they are in the area and are enticed by the bait's action.  

right on, thanks alot guys. i didnt even think of searching for it at the time, i posted while in the middle of a conversation here with someone about our luck with soft plastics.. or lack of. anyways ya theres alot of useful information about it. thanks again.

I'm gonna touch a little bit on the confidence part. I truly believe that to be successful on the water, you HAVE to have confidence in what your fishing. I think everyone will agree that they have some form of a "go-to" bait or lure that will get a bite almost every time it gets wet. But ask everyone what that lure is, and you'll get a thousand different answers. I always relate that to CONFIDENCE.

ya ive never been much of the superstitious but im quickly becoming a believer ahah

since you have to actually catch fish to gain confidence I would suggest finding someone to fish with that uses plastics successfully. I find I get confidence in a new bait if I can see someone else catch fish on it and I will try to watch how they work it.

maybe you need a better rod?if not.......i would get one just to be sure its not that.dont want to take any chances on missin out on the big ol bass.

buy a better rod that will give me more confidence in everything INCLUDING soft plastics eh.. sounds like the baitmonkey talking ahahah.

kms399 i like that bit of advice there. the only problem is i outfish anyone i go with around here anyways. i havnt been fortunate enough to bass fish with anyone that i can learn from, although sometime soon i will be hitting the water with a guy whos well seasoned in the bass fishing so im sure i will learn alot.

keep practicing your technique, keep reading the articles and blogs, and most of all have patience...it will all come to you. With the new lines of baits on the market, bass fishing seems to be getting easier. JMO

Do you truly want to learn soft plastics?

Take your worm rod plus 1 more rod for backup and start fishing at night during no moon phases like right now.

Get off the bank!

It will scare you what you'll learn

well i figured out what i was doing wrong. i wasnt doing a wacky rig!! ahaha i tried that today for the first time and the fish seem alot more interested in it. as for normal jig setups i think im too impatient, i need to just slow it down a bit.

Go to some shallow water, throw the worm in where you can see it, and move it around.  Get used to how it moves, what it does when you reel, jerk the rod, let it fall, etc.  Then when it's out in deeper water, you can picture in your head what it's doing.  If you want to throw something out and just crank it back in, a worm is not the way to go.  

If bass are in the area you will usually always catch at least one on plastic lures if your fishing them at the right depth and speed. And as the others have said, confidence is HUGE! Now that I have confidence in certain lures I used to not do well on (spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, frogs, and buzzbaits) I now catch lots of fish on them. I swear the confidence thing is like magic.