Plastic baits - love them or loath them ?

Philip · Feb 6, 2017

I always carry a few rubber or plastic baits around with me...artificial corn, maggots and bread to name but three.

However I am beginning to wonder why I bother. The other day I was catching fish in quick succsession on bread and put on a bit of the rubber stuff and bites ceased immediatley. Changed back to real bread and caught again from the off. Same thing has happened with rubber maggots as well a few times.

I am not saying they dont work ...but I literally have no confidence in them as stand alone baits.

Am I being unfair or missing something here ?

tigger · Feb 6, 2017

I'm no fan of 'em either.

associatedmatt · Feb 6, 2017

caught plenty of plastic corn but that been on commies where fish are perhaps not as wised up as older fish .

barbelboi · Feb 6, 2017

As I’ve posted before, I have every confidence in artificial baits and have been using them, mainly on gravel pits, for many years now. I have also found that unflavored fake baits work at night – although I’m not entirely sure why. Possibly the smell of 'plastic' attracts or maybe they give off a small electro-magnetic field or static build up................

associatedmatt · Feb 7, 2017

I know the Korda plastic baits are infused with flavours out of the packet

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

mikench · Feb 7, 2017

What success I have had has not been on plastic baits!

I have a good selection , as you can imagine but rarely use them. I have tried plastic maggot and caster but never caught with them! Mind you i could say the same about the real thing

binka · Feb 7, 2017

I've used rubber maggots, casters and fake sweetcorn but only as a last resort to solve a particular issue such as small fish nuisance when targeting bigger fish.

Hats off to those who actively go out and fish them from the off to great success, I don't really have the confidence to use an artificial where I could use a 'real' bait.

I'm certainly not knocking it and I just can't put my finger on exactly why but there's just something I don't like about rubber and plastic baits.

carpinbob · Feb 7, 2017

Used them quite a few times over the years but without any joy, so now don't touch them.
Prefer the real things.

steve2 · Feb 7, 2017

I suppose it’s how do you view the real thing in fishing when it comes to bait.
Are boilies real, is bread, cheese, luncheon meat real. None of them are natural to the fish but they accept them as food.
A lot of the lures I use don’t resemble anything but fish still take them.
It’s having confidence in what you use that counts.

rayner · Feb 7, 2017

I have used rubber maggots and caught, only when the roach are up in the water though. When roach are intercepting falling baits they will grab at anything. If the hook bait is static and they have time to inspect it it's easier to ignore.
Carp are puddled they eat foam baits with abandon.

greenie62 · Feb 7, 2017

I have found that plastic floating corn can be useful as a tip bait in association with real corn, to slow its descent and keep it just above the silt on some stillwaters - seems to work well for Tench on local waters.

barbelboi · Feb 7, 2017

steve2 said:
Are boilies real, is bread, cheese, luncheon meat real. None of them are natural to the fish but they accept them as food.

Very true, if a fish wants to know if something is edible it puts it in it's mouth and if it likes it the pharyngeal teeth generally take over. A feeding carp 'hoovers' up just about anything and then rejects something like 98% through it's gills (or mouth for larger items of gravel, etc) - it's just that when it tries to spit out a 'plastic' bait there's a hook attached to the hair..............

flightliner · Feb 7, 2017

Love em!. I use red plastic maggs at times trotting for barbel on the trent, one floater and two sinkers on a ten saves time rebaiting when the fish are feeding with gusto.
I also use them on a stillwater for tench and bream. Put a natural on and they are covered in very tiny micro like leeches which suck the bait dry of nutrients, popped up they are deadly on the day as are plastic casters and corn.

john step · Feb 7, 2017

I have caught on them but feel happiest when used for a particular purpose.
For instance to counter balance an edible bait.
I know some use them(maggots) barbelling on the Trent when there are naturals and hemp in the feeder.
I have never pulled in a reggie on the Trent but I suspect something unpicks the boilie stop and swipes the bait.
I got round this by using one of those Avid corn stops with a hook on the back which I pull into the bait.
I colour them to suit the boilie or pellet. Nerdy I know.

iain t · Feb 7, 2017

I've tried plastic corn, maggots, casters, bread, worms, nuts, meat etc and never caught a sausage on them. I regularly Sausage fish, Perhaps that's where am going wrong. Can't beat the real stuff.

robtherake · Feb 7, 2017

I find rubber maggots useful as worm stops, and buoyant plaggy baits for balancing/popping up; also as the "stopper" on the end of a corn/ maize stack.

Rubber casters can be useful at times to get past the bits, fished alone or in conjunction with the real thing. Fake corn can be as good as a real bait on the method.

psmith · Feb 7, 2017

rayner said:
I have used rubber maggots and caught, only when the roach are up in the water though. When roach are intercepting falling baits they will grab at anything. If the hook bait is static and they have time to inspect it it's easier to ignore.
Carp are puddled they eat foam baits with abandon.

Demolishes the hnv theory :wh;bp

mg:;bp:wh

Tee-Cee · Feb 7, 2017

TBH I don't think I have given them a real chance to work (I'm talking mainly caster and hemp) so little wonder I've never caught a sausage on either. Like others I've suddenly used the plastic jobbies of both during a roach feeding spell with fish coming regularly on the real stuff, but immediately the bites have stopped, yet started again on the real....

I know Jerry has mentioned his success with them before - possibly on moving water rather than still? I can't remember, but perhaps running water applications work better??

I suppose I'm happy with the real stuff at the end of the day......................I've even soaked imitation hemp in hemp water overnight - with ziltch results!

The things we do................

Keith M · Feb 7, 2017

I have fake corn of different sizes which are kept in a tiny bottle full of flavouring, I also have various other articial baits like bread, maggots, hemp and chum mixers all kept in a small box but I've never used them in preference to a real bait. I just don't have enough confidence to use them.

I know a couple of good anglers that do very well using artificial baits especially where there are crayfish problems or where they have got fish fighting to get at their loose feed but I just can't bring myself to use an artificial bait especially on its own.

Keith.

ken more · Feb 7, 2017

I remember fishing Sanwath? at Church Fenton with a mate. We came across about half a dozen Carp down in the right hand corner as you enter the car park. They were virtually taking bread out of your hand, and my mate tried artificial (plastic) bread no the hook, with real bread loose fed. They slurped up all the real bread and never gave the artificial stuff a second glance

Fascinating stuff.

Plastic baits - love them or loath them ?

Well-known member

Banned

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

binka

Guest

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Senior Member

Well-known member

Well-known member