Plastics to Live Bait?

[Dale08]

Just wondering what fishermen out there think about plastics to live bait? I have had my best luck ice fishing I guess with live baits then I ever had with fake stuff. Don't get me wrong I have had excellent luck with a jigging spoon or jigging rap tipped with a minnow head but again that is a natural bait. I have talked to different people on this HSOforum and out on the lakes and I get a lot of mixed results. I did buy some power wigglers when they came out and I bought some gulp wax worms 2 years ago and have never set the world on fire with either one. This last weekend now, I did purchase some new gulp Alive the minnow larva being people said they work great. And me being a sucker and a fisherman (they go hand in hand I think) I figured it couldn't hurt. Just wondering what everyone else's input is on this subject.

[goblueM]

i switched completely over this winter after being skeptical last year.

Spring bobber and a gulp fish fry or maggot is deadly on a horizontal jig

[Scott M]

You can catch fish on plastics, but you have to put your time in to manipulate the baits, learn the best way to work them, best way to rig them, etc (which come to think of it, is not all that different from live bait fishing). Once you gain some confidence, the fish catching will go up. I think if you do a lot of hole-hop fishing, stay on the move, are outside a lot, or get into really hot periods of fishing where you need to keep the bait in front of the fish during a short window of time, you need to look harder at becoming more proficient with plastics. If not, maybe you don't need to make the move quite as quickly.

I started weaning myself off bait a handful of years back, but outside of a couple of the real diehards, I don't know of anyone that is 100% plastics. I still use a little bit of both, depending on the situation.

I'm giving you my completely true, no b.s. answer here, and I've only heard or read this as a concurring opinion from 1, maybe 2 other guys: In some situations, there is still no better option than live bait. There's something to be said for the erratic movement, original and not synthesized smell, and feel of the real thing. I believe companies like Berkeley and the other major plastics manufacturers are going down the right road by forging ahead with Gulp, Gulp Alive, etc. Amino acids are analagous to the bitter, sweet, sour, salty tastes that humans use to tell if they like foods. This is a fact documented in the literature, and Berkeley as an example, has hired PhD fish physiologists to find the right amino acid combinations to mimic nature, and at a high enough concentration level, one could argue, best mother nature with her own chemicals! So between the vast array of colors, chemical implants, molds, and sizes, you are not just dangling your grandfather's hunk of plastic somewhere in the water column hoping for a fish to do something foolish, you're fishing with a highly developed and engineered piece of equipment with enough sophistication to make a serious run at the bait industry.

My personal opinion is today's anglers should be at least trying plastics, because the industry is moving in that direction. It can make you a better angler, just like mastering fly tying, insect mimicry, and fly casting will make you a better angler. I think in some cases, its a methods form of fishing that is its own style.

The bottom line is I wouldn't be too intimidated, yet at the same time, I wouldn't give up on a plastic bait after one weekend. Keep trying, keep working on getting better with it. Try some sight fishing to see how the fish react to your rigging and manipulation of the bait.

Good luck.

[no bait nate]

great topic and great info!

[Chode2235]

I use both. I love fishing with the small plastics like the CJ&S finess plastics, or the Atom Nuggies. On a small jig like a diamond jig or wolfram they are incredible.

But I still catch a lot of fish with the jigging spoon tipped with some minnow meat or larvae.

[PerchPounder]

I use 100% plastics for panfish. I started fishing perch with plastics this year as well and have had more success than I had in years past. If I was to start my plastics collection over I would start with a few basic colors my favorites are red, white, black and chartreuse also try a few styles of plastics. Custom Jigs and Spins Finesse Plastics and Wedgies are a must have I would also add Little Atom Nuggies, Micro Nuggies, and Duppies to the list of must haves as well. Your learing curve will definitely be shortened if you have a chance to sight fish or watch the fish on camera.

[BoxMN]

I had switched to Gulp maggots 100% for my "maggot/waxie" use two years ago, but still used minnow heads. I still will to test it out. But I gotta say, I have been having really good luck with the Gulp minnow heads this year. I caught 2 on a minnow and hook and bobber, and thought, well, live is working better than fake today... but then I started hammering the crapps on the Gulp minnow head and nothing more on the live minnow.

I will still use some minnows, but only if someone else brings them and I just want to test them. It is just too easy to pull a jar out of your pocket and for me they have been working, but you do have to figure out how the fish like them to be jigged that day.

So, that is my layman guesstimate on how well they work. I love then. BTW - I am almost full Gulp user in summer these daysd too, except for walleyes.

[gogophers]

Bought a jar of the fish fry two weeks ago before a panny day with my dad and brother. Fished it exclusively that afternoon while the two of them used waxies. that particular day , I would say the plastic outfished the real 2 to 1, but maybe I'm just a better fisherman than they are : )

[magic_minnow]

I love the berkley power wigglers. Its all in how you rig them and fish them. I completely hammered the crappies on a chisago cty lake. 10 crappies in 15 minutes. largest at 10"

[Borch]

I haven't bought more than 3 little plastic tubs of eurolarvae or waxies in the past 4 years. For panfish I'm almost exclusively plastics or gulp. I will use minnows on a second rod if I'm not hole hopping. There is a learning curve and electronics are a must for working fish the way they like it.

Once you figure it out and gain confidence there's rarely a reason to go back.

[tsande00]

For crappies I made the switch to Gulp Alive Fish Fry this year. I'll probably never go back. For walleyes though I'd be struggling to put on an artificial.

[Fred_Bear]

I decided to try out plastics 3 years ago. I tried various colors of Ratsos, Gulp maggots, some little atom plastics, and something that looked like a miniature fluke.

After a little experimenting, I got rid of the Gulp, little atom plastics, and mini flukes and practically bought up stock in CJ&S Plastics. I haven't used crappie minnows since (hardly used them before plastics) but still use euro larvae for sunfish.

From my experience ratsos are dynamite on crappies and decent on sunfish. The reason for this is I usually target eater sunfish, 7-8 inches. I'd catch more big gills with plastics but FAR less eaters and they were noticably less aggressive than when using euros.

My panfish box now has nothing but size 6 red and white glow ratsos for crappies and size 8 and 10 fatboys and diamond jigs tipped with euros for sunfish.

[wbliceman]

Plastics are so nice!! not having to buy bait and have to worry about it is reall nice. A lot of the time i out fish the people who are using live bait