By James
Ramirez
Article Posted: February 27, 2007
5:28PM, CST
Ever
since I have taken up the sport of fishing,
plastic baits have been a favorite of mine.
With limitless style and color variations,
there are many ways to rig plastic baits.
From open water to heavy slop, the
possibilities of fishing plastics are
endless. Along with that, some of my biggest
Bass have come from plastics.
About five years ago the plastics innovation
reached new heights with the introduction of
the Yamamoto Senko, a soft plastic stickbait
that held its shape on the downfall and was
packed with salt. Since then, there have
been countless imitations and today, the
soft stick bait is still in demand. Ever
since the introduction of these plastic
stick baits, creativity has been sparked for
lure-makers. They have come up with all
kinds of ideas from a soft plastic frog that
has a buzzbait-like action to interesting
looking creature baits. With thousands of
colors to choose from, the world of soft
plastics is enormous.
Now lets take a look at some of my personal
favorite soft plastic rigs:
Texas Rig.
The Texas rig
revolutionized soft plastics. Invented in
Texas, the Texas rig was considered so
deadly that it was outlawed for a short
period simply because that it was able to
slide through the thickest junk on the lake
where anglers didn't even dare to throw
their lures. This rig can be used on any
soft plastic lure and is one of the most
popular rigs today. It can be rigged with a
weight or can be left weightless.
Do not be
afraid to throw this rig ANYWHERE!
Weedless Jig
Rig.
This is the rig that
my personal best bass of 6.5 pounds fell on.
The weedless jig rig is good for punching
through matted weeds and can be rigged with
any plastic bait. However, I prefer to rig
up a bulky grub or creature bait to coax big
fish out of cover. This can be jigged in and
out of cover and works well when the angler
swims the bait through the water. This is
the perfect plastic rig for flippin' and
pitchin' thick cover.
The Wacky Rig.
When I first read
about the wacky rig I was in awe. It
appeared as if a four year-old had just
hooked a plastic bait. The wacky rig is what
it sounds like, "rigged wacky." This is a
rig that works well with any worm shaped
plastic. The wacky rig has an action of a
straight worm while on the downfall, but
when twitched, the middle hooked part of the
worm shoots forward leaving the sides to lag
behind as shown in the picture. At first I
was a little skeptical about this rig.
However, in the end, it gets the job done
well.
Shakey Head
Rig.
The shaky head rig
was popularized when Kevin VanDam caught a
twelve pound monster bass from a 2005
B.A.S.S tournament from Lake Louisville,
Texas. The shaky head is rigged almost
texas style, but on a jighead. When in the
water, the tail of the worm stands up as
pictured above. The shaky head rig is great
under tough conditions. The presentation is
easy as you cast it out and twitch it on the
bottom - hence the name shaky head. The
shaky head is best paired up with a worm
shaped bait. This rig is also weedless.
So when you are fishing and the bass have
not been falling victim to the usual
spinnerbait or crankbait, give these soft
plastic riggings a try. It will pay off!
*
James Ramirez is our resident tackle review
editor and staff member.
More of his
publications can be viewed at our
on-line discussion forums.
