Plastics (revisited)

[tacklejunkie]

Gonna start carrying fewer plastics from now on.
Too heavy in my backpacks and makes a mess of my worm binders when they get soaked in the kayak. Plus I do pretty fair on artificial hard reaction lures as it is.
Don't get me wrong, I'll still carry a few producers like oxblood and kanimi flash moss, as those will work anywhere guaranteed. Maybe some trailers and jjighead baits too, but much much less.

This is getting ridiculous and too hard to clean every time I soak the worm binder. If I don't stuff gets moldy and starts changing colors :EyePop:
Don't look like much but that's a crapload of heavy plastic. (and it all ends up in our lakes if YOU dont' pick it up)
The tackle market has us believing we need every type of plastic out there.
Used to carry ALL of these plastics EVERY TIME I went to fish bass. All that is going to change.
http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac106/reptilemantis/plastics001.jpg

http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac106/reptilemantis/plastics002.jpg

http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac106/reptilemantis/plastics003.jpg

[tacklejunkie]

Here's two examples of worms that were "Modified" by my worm binder being soaked in water. This can go either way and be good or bad.

For example: The worm on top used to be Margarita Mutilator. It used to be purple and brown. It is now what I call "Azure Mutilator" and has changed into blue and brown with a holographic like effect. The fish at DVL ate this worm color up, and I can't go buy it again! :LOL: It has to be made with water and a soggy worm binder under pressure of tons of worms.

You'll notice that even though I'm changine worm colors, the worm ruber or salts have not degraded at all.

Note, each worm is paired with a like worm, shown from the side and top.

The worm on the bottom has a negative effect after it's "modification".
It went from an MMIII FX robo to an Orange PumpkinMMIII FX robo. I'm now having very slightly more trouble hooking bass on an orange worm at my usual bass hole, as this used to be a killer worm when it was brown.

Just some observations that may or may not come in handy to somebody.
http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac106/reptilemantis/modifiedworms.jpg

[mirage2887]

would you still carry all that plastic if you where on a boat vs kayak

[tacklejunkie]

It depends.
Fishing has so many variables.

If it was my bass boat and I did not know the water I was about to fish, I would take all these plastics because they wouldn't get wet/ruined and I may need a variety to find out what they are biting if I had no prior hints. If I was heading to a lake I know on a bass boat, I wouldn't need half of it. Not even a quarter probably. I would select what I know I would need.

The truth is, Oxblood will work at every lake. I go with 6" or 7" fat straight tail.
Maybe some better than others, but that's my bottom line.
Hologram shad will do it too. Bringing both is better. For holo shad, I prefer the 4.5" curl tail.
The beefy profile of a senko can only increase your worm odds. Watermellon, green pumpkin or a combo of both.
The rest is rigging tricks and tackle etc.

From now on, if I feel like fishing worms and it is a lake I have fished before, I will only need a few bags. Two or three bags of worms that day max. I don't need to be lugging 5-10lbs of plastics around on shore and in the kayak. I can save those spaces for lots of hardbaits that matter not if they are wet. Seems like if I bring a plano or two full of hardbaits it's still lighter than 5-10lbs of plastic in a backpack.

Also, when I Was tubing I would carry all that in the left pocket of my tube. It weighed me down and would usually end up soaked too causing same problems as kayaking with 5-10lbs of worms.

When you carry around this much plastic, you get confused on what you should be using too. Being confused on the water when you are fishing is your worst enemy. Focus on finding the fish and keeping them on the line. Worry more about what you think the fish are eating and where. Then stick to the basics.

[bman90278]

Those Yamamoto Ika's are junk. You should send them to me. :)

Brian

[bassguy]

I feel your pain, I just went through all my plastics. Betweem Yamamoto, Robo, Jackall, Reaction Innovation, and various others, I have over 40 unopened bags, and another 60 + bags with various amounts. It's an addiction, I can't seem to pass on a TW 15% off sale.

I did fish Puddingstone a couple weeks ago, colors that work at Perris and Castaic didn't work there. Luckily I took a couple colors I wouldn't normally use, that landed a few fish.

[tacklejunkie]

Those Yamamoto Ika's are junk. You should send them to me. :)

Haha, You got me there. Or rather, misunderstood me.
Yamamoto makes amazing baits. I really love the all versatile flappin' hawg.

I think what I mean was I am only going to take one or two bags of plastics with me each trip out. As far as worms, if not some colors I know work at a given lake, just the basics like listed above. So many people catch double digits on shad and live worms. Next best thing is a curl tail hologram shad and a oxblood robo.

Hey there welcome back again Bassguy, we missed you!
Wait until you see tonights DVL report from me. :Twisted:

[dockboy]

The main issue with limiting yourself to one or two colors in couple different styles is it can hamper you on a tough bite. Can't tell you how many times I've been outfished in club tournaments or just out for fun by guys throwing something outside of the standard bait. Yeah the oxblood Robo catches fish everywhere, no doubt. But when you go to a place like Perris or Castaic or Casitas, or in my case somewhere like Don Pedro, 4.5" oxblood red flake and curl tail hologram shad is old news. I too used to be a big believer that a fish won't go for a Prizm Shad colored bait over Hologram Shad, Green Weenie over A's Magic, etc. Yet I can make at least 3 cases this year where I either outfished buddies/competitors using a minute color difference or was outfished by someone using a bait with the same profile, size, and presentation but a different color. At Pine Flat my team partner outfished me 3 to 1 fishing Prizm Shad over Hologram Shad, side by side, 3 days in a row. I want to believe that fish will always eat a 6" Robo in oxblood, but after having far too many times where I could have caught far more based solely on color, I just can't.

[tacklejunkie]

The one thing I'd like to emphasize is I won't sit and fish a worm all day.
I'll find a few fish biting with the worms and switch to something more interesting.
One thing you will find in common with most of my reports, is that I will totally stop with the worms and switch to something completely different for no reason, and it will work! I's usually cause I'm sitting on fish I foudn with a worm rod and proceeded to pick off the other fish who needn't be finessed, too.

If I was competing, I might bring all my plastics. Hopefully I wouldn't be competing from a tube or kayak to soak my stuff lol.
But I can find the fish with oxblood or hologram shad and go from there if I didnt' know the lake.
If I knew the lake, I would bring one or two bags of colors more tailored to those lakes.

I agree, oxblood and hologram shad aren't going to be the best producers to outfish your buddies.
They do stick double digits though and look exactly like natural forage. Can't go wrong if you chose three packs of worms and wasn't given the name of lake you were going to fish, choosing those colors.

[dockboy]

Understood. I'd rather not fish plastics all day, I'm better with a jig than a dropshot. Sitting around deadsticking a friggin' worm is the epitome of boring for me, yet i know people who kill doing just that a lot of their fishing time. I'll gladly go and fish a jig all day in hopes of getting a better bite, yet it seems from time to time they just want that plastic over anything else. And all things be told, I'd rather rip up some fish or throw other reaction baits over slow fishing a worm or jig, even though a jig is more engaging.
I do agree that oxblood and holo. shad will cover 90% of your needs. Without a doubt, they cover the two most common forage items for bass anywhere. I just (personally) can't ever feel like I know the fish enough, even in lakes I fish regularly. I have certain baits I feel can always get bit, but rarely can I set my self with 1 bait and go looking for fish with that one bait (and then switch up). I'll always have several baits rigged to "search" out the fish, but then again, I don't have the confidence in worms to always fish them in search of the first few bites.

[tacklejunkie]

I know a lot of people who can do really good with worms. If that is someone's preferred way of fishing, I in no way intend to discourage them from doing so. Some people might like fishing worms exclusively, and I don't condone so. These folks know or will eventually know how to increase size and strikes with worms. It also takes a bit of skill and determination to shoot for those bigger bites as I have been told before.

Never underestimate the power of the worm. But learning it's limits, advantages and shortcomings and how to use them is seemingly infinite, and there is many advantages to try and narrow it down while still remaining somewhat effective.

[ThatKidCASH]

I know exactly how you feel OP. I used to carry all of this in my backpack... http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/stevenoce/Fishing/2011-01-04162322.jpg
and I realized I only use a handful of plastics. So I took all that crap out and made this... http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/stevenoce/Fishing/2011-01-11203512.jpg
That was still a lot of unused plastic, so I scaled it down to the essentials and separated each type of bait (worm types included) into it's own 3600. This also helped me focus on one technique at a time.Taking only one or two boxes with me and keeping the rest in the truck helped with sticking to the "game plan". Should my plan be exhausted, I could go back to the truck and swap out the boxes and work on my next technique. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/stevenoce/Fishing/2011-03-17220259.jpg

I apologize for the size of the pictures.

[Swank909]

I know exactly how you feel OP. I used to carry all of this in my backpack... http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/stevenoce/Fishing/2011-01-04162322.jpg
and I realized I only use a handful of plastics. So I took all that crap out and made this...
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/stevenoce/Fishing/2011-01-11203512.jpg
That was still a lot of unused plastic, so I scaled it down to the essentials and separated each type of bait (worm types included) into it's own 3600. This also helped me focus on one technique at a time.Taking only one or two boxes with me and keeping the rest in the truck helped with sticking to the "game plan". Should my plan be exhausted, I could go back to the truck and swap out the boxes and work on my next technique. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/stevenoce/Fishing/2011-03-17220259.jpg

I apologize for the size of the pictures.

I've got you beat Cash <3

[bman90278]

Haha, You got me there. Or rather, misunderstood me.
Yamamoto makes amazing baits. I really love the all versatile flappin' hawg.

. :Twisted:

I was just having fun with u and hoping u didn't like those Ika's anymore! lol

Interesting thread and comments..nice change of pace!

brian

[tacklejunkie]

I have also started to adopt a multiple plano system.
I only take the planos containing baits I would like to fish that day.
It does suck when you leave a particular plano at home, that you may have used that day though.
I guess it does help you to become more resourcefull too.

I'll have to adopt your strategy of leaving the bin box in the car and running back to the car if I do need a different bin! Not a bad idea there. Perhaps I'll grab some planos for the worms? Hmm, so hard to organize all this.

You'll see I started to do the planos with some of my more expensive plastics. (Yes I had more plastics that weren't in the photos haha)

I have also added the bullfrog no rust strips to each box in small cut up pieces to prevent all these little high end pieces of equipment from becoming rusted. I'm not sure if I want to store my plastics in this way. Perhaps I can have a plano containing plastics for each different lake. Plastics are fairly inexpensive enough, unlike lures, to do so.

Also these little planos are great with holding hooks and fit squarely at the bottom of a backpack. They're only $2.50 each at squallmart.

http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac106/reptilemantis/tackle002.jpg

http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac106/reptilemantis/tackle001.jpg

http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac106/reptilemantis/tackle003.jpg

[tacklejunkie]

Next I am gonna need a good swimbait box that doesn't melt from plastic fumes, but that's another story.
(Titled: "Backpack full of big mean hooks")

[ThatKidCASH]

That's a good little setup. The plano boxes are good for plastics too. For the longest time I kept them in snack size ziploc bags and then in the boxes. Now I have some set go-to baits that I keep outside of the bags, everything else though remains the same. I used to keep my swimbaits in a 3630, but then realized they fit nicely into a 3750. The 3750 has a slimmer profile which makes it fit into the tackle locker system in my boat and more comfortable to keep in a backpack. I haven't had a problem with plastic fumes, but then again, I try not to bake any of my boxes. Can provide pictures of any of my tackle storage setups. Along with collecting gratuitous amounts of plastics I don't use. I'm almost always rearranging my tackle storage to see what's more practical.

[dockboy]

Yeah the little Planos are great boxes. I use the little 6 slot boxes for my small 3"-4" plastics, and am starting to create a 2 way system with Robos using the new CDS system they make. With the CDS system I can carry 5 colors of each type of worm in 4" and 6", and then further break this down into different color schemes (Greens, Browns, Baitfish, and Bright/Dark).
For my backpack I'm using my current system, which are thin 1 section boxes (I got them at a craft store) in which I store 1 bag of every color. The single section boxes allow me to cram a bunch of different colors, and weigh nothing really. I use them for shore fishing because the worms won't fall over and get bent up like they do in a regular box when I store the box vertically.
For that exact reason, I'm starting to make my "boat" boxes in the Plano CDS, mostly because it allows quicker access and better ogranization, and because I have the ability to bring separate bags for plastics and hard baits. When storing on a boat I don't have typically have to worry about putting the boxes vertically, so having the separate boxes for each color scheme makes sense.