new to plastics

[MitchMeyers92]

so i am just getting into the world of plastics and i have a few ranging from shrimpos and ratsos to wedgees and nugies. i fished them this morning when the bite was slow thinking that i might be able to do better with the artificials, it helped but not a ton. is there a certain "triggering" movement to the plastics that i need to use? i had a ton of lookers but it was tough to get them to hit it. this could have been due to the slow bite, but im curious. any help is appreciated

[HVFD14]

Change it all up until something works.  Try the slow twitch and rise and drop it back down in front of them (assuming you have electronics).  The best thing for me so far this year has just been the subtle flutter.  Maybe twitching the jig 1/4/-1/2 inch up and down.  What species are you after also?

[scunningham63]

I first started using plastics a 3 years ago. The first year I only tried them when the fishing was slow. I had no confidence in them. The second year I hit a day when I was slamming crappies on waxies and minnows, I decided to try a plastic when I knew they were hitting and ended up taking all my baited rods out and just fished the plastics, they did that well. Other than a dead stick minnow I rarely use bait. My main fishing buddy still puts out 5 rods with minnows and waxies and I always end up doing better than him. He is slow to switch:) . The main thing is you need to use a flasher( every brand works ) then read the mood of the fish. Some times they will fly up to your bait and hit, other times they will be finicky and you have to hold your plastic perfectly still. I try to get them to come up to the bait. I have experimented with using different colors and IMHO think colors makes no difference. If I am not doing well with plastics my fishing buddies are not usually doing well with bait.

[icejunky]

When fishing with plastics like the ones you listed you can adjust the rigging depending on the bite and the aggression level of the fish.

For an example I use plastic waxies and maggots.. I will rotate the rigging from standard (maggots hanging down off the hook) to a more aggressive approach (horizontal with the tail pointing towards the fish) and then just to mix things up I will also try horizontal across the hook (so it forms a "t")

Movement is also key, I very rarely stop my rod tip, im not talking about jigging, just shaking the wrist to keep it pulsing in the water.

Like anything else plastic size and color can play a role so dont be afraid to switch it up.