Used plastics for the first time this weekend..

[The Yeti]

I bought something called a YZ Jig. Kind of like the Shrimpos and Ratsos but with a different shaped body.. Worked very well!! I'll be buying more. This was the first time I used plastics and I liked the fact that they seem to work, without any bait!

The other thing, is that I was impressed that the body stayed in tact. Caught quite a few fish on it.

Does anyone here see that the tails/attractor, on the plastics, get bit off or anything?

[Borch]

The plastics usually hold up very well. They do eventually wear out. Sometimes finky fish just hit the tails. You'll go through them faster then.

[PerchPounder]

Congrats on the success. I'm not familiar with the YZ but I use alot of ratsos and shrimpos and they are often the first thing that I will try. They hold up very well and can be a key if you can catch several fish from one hole without having to mess with live bait. They will eventually wear out but the number of fish on one tail makes it very cost effective.

From my experience plastics will out produce live bait more often than not. and i have learned that you can put tails on jigs that dont come with them and they will also be more productive. just my $.02.

[The Yeti]

What is it with the plastics that make them so affective? I'm assuming it's the tail..

I wonder if small tube jigs, like the Betts, would work as well?

[PierBridge]

The tail is big but a lot of it is the downsizing of the presentation sometimes they don't want meat or anything big.

I like the plastics but have been doing equally well this year on 1/100 of an ounce hair jigs and flu flu's with no meat.

[Big Dave2]

Do you guys put any kind of scent or attractor on your plastics? I would assume that the key is to keep them moving so the fish can't figure out that it ain't food.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Here is the thing with plastics folks... Bait gives off scent... but plastics give off a better color, and a better vibration. Often times, color and vibration can trump scent... Sometimes it cant.. if you can get away with plastics, often times you will catch bigger fish and save yourself a little moolah at the same time.

Try this.. in a clear lake.. take a jig like a marmooska or diamond jig, some heavy jig.. and put some bait on it.. and look how it reacts when you jig it.. then put plastic on it.. its night and day.. the plastic will make it dance around the hole like a jigging rapala..

[irishwalleye]

I started using plastic for the first time this year during open water. Simply outfished every person in my boat that was using live bait. Started thru the ice and switch back and forth depending on the mood of the fish and I found using the plastics makes it easier to weed out the small ones and get the big ones interested.

[zamboni]

Wouldn't something like a minnow head chopped off and put on the hook give it the scent needed to attract?