5 Reasons To Start Fishing With Soft Plastic Bait - Catch Bigger Fish

For many years I had an unreasonable aversion to using soft baits to catch fish. However once I did give in and try soft bait at the persistence of my grandson, I am now firmly a big fan and do not fish with other kinds of bait any more.

Today the popularity of soft baits has been explosive mainly because of a big advance in tackle and techniques. Here are four reasons why you to should give it a try.

1) Effectiveness

The soft plastics of today work incredibly well and I think are a better way to catch fish. Because they have only been available for a relatively short time anglers are still discovering their huge potential. For me fishing with them has helped to raise the fun factor up another notch.

I enjoy trying out new things and soft bait helps bring out a new element of skill when casting, retrieving and reading the water. As the versatility and available variety of these lures increases so will your fishing results.

2) No Mess

I love the fact that the soft baits are clean to use, so no more smelly and slippery hands for me. After using stinky bait it would sometimes take hours to get rid of the smell, even after vigorous scrubbing.

Washing down the boat has also become a lot easier since there are no more bits of hard dried up bait to find and scrape off.

3) More Control.

Soft baits unique action which is the result of their material composition as well as the angler’s controlled retrieving action is highly effective for many fish. While I find that fishing with these plastics baits does need a bit of finesse, it is not difficult to learn. By having to rely on the way I am presenting the lure to the fish, I am always is in complete control.

Since lures should move with subtle movements your casting technique, retrieve rate and lure weight does need constant adjustment according to wind, current, and fish you are aiming to catch. If fishing from a boat your speed must also be taken into account.

4) Lightweight Tackle

Once the soft bait bug has bitten you will want to buy yourself some specialist lightweight soft bait plastic fishing rods, reels, lines, hooks, jig heads and baits which need not be very expensive. Also the bait which may seem a little costly at first lasts for a couple of fish. You will seldom lose a jig head unless you are casting into rocks. After gaining a little soft bait fishing experience it became apparent to me that it is the cheaper way to fish.

I always try to fish using the lightest tackle possible because for me it's all about the challenge of enticing the fish to take the bait and then testing my ability to land it. This lightweight fishing style is what captures many my imagination either trolling from a boat or fishing from the shore.

5) Variety

Thanks to the huge range of special scented actions and colors available today these twenty-first century soft plastics are deadly on fish. Anglers are spoilt for choice with offerings from many manufacturers. Available for fresh or salt water are worms, grubs or curly tails, the popular tube bait used mainly for fresh water fishing, swim baits, shrimp, crabs, stick and jerk baits.

The different colors available are numerous but my favourite is white with a silver fleck. Luminescent white, pink or green used when fishing in deeper water or if the light is bad are guaranteed to get you great results.

If you are looking to spice up you fishing adventures then step into the world of soft plastic baits.