# Soft plastics better than live bait?



## DE82 (Nov 28, 2007)

Hey all, I was wondering who's done well with soft plastics ice fishing either better than live bait or as good? What types/colors do you like to use?

I'm mostly looking for bait alternatives to try with my ficious jigs. Tank tested berkley honey worms on the jigs and not a lot of moment with them, less than live bait. I'm one who believes moment is key. So what's everybody's thoughts?


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## headbanger421 (Jul 1, 2005)

I personally like the "Bro series" plastics from Northland. The scud bug can imitate a freshwater shrimp or mayfly larvae depending on if you fish it horizontal or vertical. Custom jigs and spins makes the ratso and shrimpo which have very nice action and it's the same soft plastic just on different jigs.


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## jacktownhooker (Apr 7, 2007)

interesting ... im thinking of trying some gulp minnow products this winter the ones in the package as they slowly erode and get slimy and leave a trail of scent too !
try drop shotting it using a jig on bottom and palomar knot a plain hook above it with another minnow .... i think it might be an alternative too perch minnows that can run small and give a bigger option for bigger perch - crappie- bass- walleye - and probably pike so they strike that while the other 2 rods have smaller minnows and keep pike from destroying the smaller rigs ... hmmmm

also the best ice tourny guys (ice men show) that win quite a bit of money every year for past 8-10 years use for crappie that 4 mm fiskas and those wedgies mostly glow in different colors
cant beat a half minnow on a glow jig for crappies !wont believe it till you try it ... mostly at dark as they dont have to try to suck in the whole minnow and easier hooking and i catch lots of cats also this way 
always out fishing my live next to the hole every time! and i like a real swimming minnow to keep on top of the school that comes in
ficiouse glow jigs should work great too


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## jjc155 (Oct 16, 2005)

they sure do like them on In Fisherman Ice Fishing show. They seem to work too. I'm gonna try some this year. 

J-


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## gaustin (Jan 14, 2009)

_Little Atom Plastics_ are great alternative to livebait.I like to have a dead stick minnow rod going above where Im working the fish. If they come in your plastics but dont offer at it see if you can work them up to the minnow and lots of times that bouncing minnow is too much to take and then its fish on  Experiment with different plastics it always good to have options out on the ice to save the day.


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## flipp1958 (Jan 9, 2009)

plastics have there time and place..but when i look on my tv screen (aqau view) nothing better than a live shiner now sometimes i do better on my lake when i nip off the tail with some gutts hangin out and i am offering in my thread fishing on a private lake .......nothing better than gills and crappie in the winter fishing with a great group ,heck we had 20 guys at a time catchin everything,,pike to...one guy has a small tourny just for braggin rights,,and if good ice i will hold a day on the lake,,it's so hard to park out here and get on the ice,,i thought offering a spot to park for good ol fisherman would be a good thing,,kind of like a carma thing,,as earl would say !!!!


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## Lerxst (Feb 2, 2008)

DE82 said:


> Hey all, I was wondering who's done well with soft plastics ice fishing either better than live bait or as good? What types/colors do you like to use?
> 
> I'm mostly looking for bait alternatives to try with my ficious jigs. Tank tested berkley honey worms on the jigs and not a lot of moment with them, less than live bait. I'm one who believes moment is key. So what's everybody's thoughts?


Hey Bryon I am also in the experimenting stage with plastics thru the ice. What I have noticed with the plastics like the ratso, wedgee, bloodworm, and slug bug is that they are for horizontal presentations and of course the ficious jigs are for vertical presentations. Might have to go with a different jig head for those. The scud bug and shrimpo may work with a ficious jig since those are vertical presentations. I am going to get some of each type (horizontal and vertical plastics) and try the vertical plastics on a ficious fry or lil' minnie.....Scott


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## jacktownhooker (Apr 7, 2007)

heres food for thought .... what about no bait and no plastic ?

this spring i caught a BUNCH of gills and some crappie on [email protected] or [email protected] green glow spider ants without bait (lead body and hackle)and we all know that sponge spider catches them too 

for crappie i have a jig head that is custom tied like a fly called a shrimp and also tied with reflective material to look like a minnow by a old friend of dave genz ... huey swagger and he makes a lady bug with hackle and glow and both baits always has a custom made dry fly black- orange and or red or two attached above huey never uses bait !!! 
he recommended bait for those who dont have confidence in his baits yet on the lead jigs .... hows that food for thought ? 

ask dave genz next time ya see him or anyone at knutsons or the owner of knutsons in brooklyn or most any 4-6 professional ice man that live in irish hills that have been leading the world in top competition for last ten years !
they will tell you


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## gaustin (Jan 14, 2009)

Ice Flies for sure are sure fire way to get bit .....Plenty of patterns that work for trout are outstanding through the ice. It's all about having options and that edge to make a tough day into a sweeeeeet day and a bucket full of fish to take home :coolgleam.....The day that the plastics don't due the trick and the live bait is keeping the little ones coming up the hole and then the bust out something else to save the day......Each and every presentation has a time and a place but remember it's all about being able to change on the fly to have a successful outing.......


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## DE82 (Nov 28, 2007)

Lerxst said:


> Hey Bryon I am also in the experimenting stage with plastics thru the ice. What I have noticed with the plastics like the ratso, wedgee, bloodworm, and slug bug is that they are for horizontal presentations and of course the ficious jigs are for vertical presentations. Might have to go with a different jig head for those. The scud bug and shrimpo may work with a ficious jig since those are vertical presentations. I am going to get some of each type (horizontal and vertical plastics) and try the vertical plastics on a ficious fry or lil' minnie.....Scott


I agree, I've looked at different ways too hook up a plastic on a ficious and wacky worm style seems to work best. I believe I could make something like "The whip" work on a ficious jig too, figured out a way to rig it. 

Keep the comments coming guys, great discussion -Bryon


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

I can probably save you guys some time and money,,, I've tried EVERYTHING you guys have mentioned so far. NONE of them out-fish live bait. This has been almost exclusively on LSC. You can get 'em to go on the beads every so often, but the bite has to be REALLY hot.


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## Robert Hoover (May 8, 2005)

all the fish i ever post are always on plastic or a bead i dont like minnows but will tell you that a minnow will have its days just as well as a rapala or spoon.but once you get good enough with artificial youll never go back ...so far i have converted and save about 4 fisherman hundreds of dollars in live bait expense a year.It maybe fustrating at first but hang in their and remember everytime that guy puts on a minnow he is freezing his hands off, while in the mean time all you have to do is bounce the fish off the barbless hook of a spoon:evil:.see ya'll on the hard water.


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## ficious (Aug 28, 2002)

My opinion is LSC based too and I have to agree, live bait over anything, 4mm dark red bead second.

Harry


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## DE82 (Nov 28, 2007)

ficious said:


> My opinion is LSC based too and I have to agree, live bait over anything, 4mm dark red bead second.
> 
> Harry


I've caught very few through the ice with anything other than live bait so I agree with you Harry. I'm more looking along the lines when the bite is on so I can save some money if possible.

Just found 1inch gulp alive minnows on bass pro's site. I'll be picking some of these up, if nothing else they should be great for stream trout.

Also think I might pick up power bait spikes, looks like to me they'll have a fair amount of action to them.


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## naterade (Nov 30, 2008)

ficious said:


> My opinion is LSC based too and I have to agree, live bait over anything, 4mm dark red bead second.
> 
> Harry


I might give the perch eye a run for the red bead on second


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## ficious (Aug 28, 2002)

DE82 said:


> I've caught very few through the ice with anything other than live bait so I agree with you Harry. I'm more looking along the lines when the bite is on so I can save some money if possible.
> 
> Just found 1inch gulp alive minnows on bass pro's site. I'll be picking some of these up, if nothing else they should be great for stream trout.
> 
> Also think I might pick up power bait spikes, looks like to me they'll have a fair amount of action to them.



If the bite was on, I'd have to give chicken skin my second vote. Since you have to throw it(and container)out after each trip, beads are more practical, but MUCH less action.

Harry


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## Lerxst (Feb 2, 2008)

DE82 said:


> Just found 1inch gulp alive minnows on bass pro's site. I'll be picking some of these up, if nothing else they should be great for stream trout.
> 
> Also think I might pick up power bait spikes, looks like to me they'll have a fair amount of action to them.


I picked up the 1" gulp minnows, gulp maggots and the powerbait wigglers last week. I also picked up some glow ratso's and shrimpo's tonight at Gander (same body different jig head) the plastics for these should work on the fry and lil minnies too. Go to Gander Mountain for the extra bodies. Time to experiment.


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## DE82 (Nov 28, 2007)

Lerxst said:


> I picked up the 1" gulp minnows, gulp maggots and the powerbait wigglers last week. I also picked up some glow ratso's and shrimpo's tonight at Gander (same body different jig head) the plastics for these should work on the fry and lil minnies too. Go to Gander Mountain for the extra bodies. Time to experiment.


How do the gulp minnow's look at only an inch long?


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## Lerxst (Feb 2, 2008)

DE82 said:


> How do the gulp minnow's look at only an inch long?


like little minnows . Sorry. I think they are perfect size for ice fishing they also had 1-1/2" minnows too. More importantly they have good action on them little guys. I got em in chartreuse shad ....love the chartreuse.


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## DE82 (Nov 28, 2007)

Lerxst said:


> like little minnows . Sorry. I think they are perfect size for ice fishing they also had 1-1/2" minnows too. More importantly they have good action on them little guys. I got em in chartreuse shad ....love the chartreuse.


Do they have a forked tail?


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## DE82 (Nov 28, 2007)

http://www.icefishingtime.com/index.html

http://www.icefishingtime.com/faq.html#4

This looks good for ice fishing, and you can use them with ficious jigs. I have some I got last year but haven't used and they have good action to them in a tank


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## RyGuy525 (Mar 17, 2005)

i just ordered some of the "whips" 10 bucks for a 100 of them shipped to my house... not a bad deal.


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## Lerxst (Feb 2, 2008)

DE82 said:


> http://www.icefishingtime.com/index.html
> 
> http://www.icefishingtime.com/faq.html#4
> 
> This looks good for ice fishing, and you can use them with ficious jigs. I have some I got last year but haven't used and they have good action to them in a tank


 
Just bought the 100 pack......I'm itching to try em out c'mon ice.


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

Anybody with any ideas of some kind of plastic bait that would work on a slammer tip up for eyes????? I know live is best but trying to think out of the box on this....


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## Lerxst (Feb 2, 2008)

wally-eye said:


> Anybody with any ideas of some kind of plastic bait that would work on a slammer tip up for eyes????? I know live is best but trying to think out of the box on this....


 
With any kind of plastic you will have to give it the action it needs to look alive not sure how you would do that on a dead stick. You almost have to go live unless there is enough current to help give it movement.


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## DE82 (Nov 28, 2007)

RyGuy525 said:


> i just ordered some of the "whips" 10 bucks for a 100 of them shipped to my house... not a bad deal.





Lerxst said:


> Just bought the 100 pack......I'm itching to try em out c'mon ice.


I forgot I even got some last year but I rigged them on a glow shiner ficious jig and tested them in my tank and there's a lot of action to them. I went a head and put the black and the red in my jig box. When the bites on, I'll give them a try.


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## gaustin (Jan 14, 2009)

My buddy is running a special on some Custom Micro Plastics for ice fishing....Nice way to get your feet wet having a variety of styles to try...

50 assorted pieces in a water tight plano box for 24.95 and 75 assorted pieces for 32.95.....PM for the link and more info


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