Winter fishermen almost always stop at the bait shop. Minnows, waxies, maggots, mousies, wigglers—whatever, as long as it’s alive and squirming. But what about soft plastics? Might we be guilty of not searching deep enough into the aisles at the bait shop?

Does it have to be alive to tempt fish? Well, it doesn’t hurt. The objective with plastics, obviously, is to make it fish better than the real thing by making it appear to be alive. Working plastics right is especially important in clear, shallow water.

“I’ve seen days when fish won’t hit a livebait, but you’ll catch ‘em on plastics,” says Pat Sabota, a talented panfisherman from Independence, Wisconsin. He’s talking about bluegills. Ditto for crappies. Like most of us, he’s not ready to give up livebait altogether. On the other hand, he says we’re missing out if we refuse to work with plastics.

Pat Smith, a seasoned ice angler and rod designer at Thorne Brothers (763/572-3782), says the same thing. “Plastics are at their best when fish are aggressive, especially on days when they’re committing suicide. Plastics outperform livebait because you get it back down the hole quicker. You don’t have to rebait as often, so you’re fishing more efficiently.”

Plastics have other advantages over livebait. Livebait, especially lively livebait, can have a mind of its own. With plastics, you have control over the action.

“On some days, for whatever reason, the fish might not be eating livebait,” Smith says. “With plastics, you can trigger an instinct bite, just by the way the bait falls. I rig plastics on a plain hook or on a hook with just a bit of lead wire wrapped on it. Some days, fish seem to shy away from a heavier jig. But float a plastic down there and make it look alive, and they open up for that.”

Dave Genz also sees the effectiveness of properly presented plastics. “They can be made to look alive,” he says. “Make it look like it’s swimming, like it’s trying to get away, and the fish will suck it in.”

“The days of realistic designs are here,” Smith observes. “As little as five or six years ago, most designs where just triangular tapers. That’s one good option. Now, though, we also have computer-generated molds that look real—freshwater shrimp, mayfly larvae, and baitfish.”

What Makes Good Plastic?

What makes a good ice fishing plastic? For one thing, according to Smith, it needs to be incredibly soft. “It’s not right if it’s not soft enough,” he says. “If the plastic’s too hard, you get bites and may not put a hook into the fish. That’s why a lot of guys get frustrated and go back to livebait.”

One trick is to put plastics in the microwave to break down the integrity. They fish better in cold water, but last only a day or two before getting too gummy to work with, according to Smith. But if they catch more fish?

Beyond that, shape and size are important. For panfish, something amazingly thin and flexible is hard to beat. “When you clean winter panfish,” Smith offers, “you always find little bitty leeches. That’s the right shape.”

Finesse Plastic from Custom Jigs & Spins (319/645-2247), the latest incarnation of the “Purple Herman” is one that’s easy to get. Also, float-fishing guru Mick Thill sells a variety of such tails in an array of colors on his website, www.mickthill.com. Or pinch off the legs of a tube jig and fish with that. Another good line of products is the Plankton Series from Innovative Sport Group (715/235-2233).

Sabota, like Smith, really likes the Ratso and Fatso from Custom Jigs & Spins. These are jigs that come with plastic bodies that can be replaced when they get too chewed up. Curlytails, in appropriate sizes, also are effective through the ice depending on what you’re after.

“You get good tail movement with them,” Smith says, “but no forward swimming motion. The tails spin, but they curl up the line as they drop and hang down below the hook when you jig up. Depending on when the fish takes it, your hook is in the wrong position some of the time.”

Some jig styles, like the Flyer from Lindy-Little Joe (218/829-1714), allow a horizontal swimming motion. These baits can be effective with a variety of plastics, including curlytails.

For pike and lake trout, Smith likes minnow shapes. “I call ‘em soft thump tails,” he says. “The end of the tail is bigger and heavier than the rest of the tail, so it produces a heavy vibration. Fish feel it and see it.”

Rick Wood, another lake trout addict, catches lakers from clear shallow water with a Mann’s Jelly Hoo, a minnow-shaped plastic, fished as a dying baitfish. “I don’t use much weight,” he says. “Just enough to get it to sink. I want it to glide and look like it can’t swim well. If it’s too heavy, it doesn’t look alive. Get the motion just right and it can make you believe it’s real. Those fish hit it with no hesitation.”

Scent impregnation is important these days. “Garlic, salt, fish scent, whatever,” according to Smith. “They hold onto it longer than plain plastic.” Berkley (877/777-3850), for example, makes a variety of scented Power Baits. Storm (952/933-7060) also has a new line of scented plastics with ice-fishing potential.

For predators like walleyes and pike, Smith favors plastics over livebait in many instances when he’s jigging. “For one thing,” he says, “it lasts longer. I can get more aggressive with plastic, too, and it won’t fall off.”

Meanwhile, In-Fisherman Editor In Chief Doug Stange and In-Fisherman Founder Al Lindner have long relied on a plastic tube coupled with a jighead for lake trout and pike. They slide the jighead inside the tube and work the bait by lifting and letting it fall, then jigging the bait to make it look and act alive. Pump the bait up and down consistently, and it swims and darts in a circle around the hole. The boys have caught hundreds of fish with this bait and often rely on nothing else.

Stange: “Noteworthy, though, is that we really rarely catch that many walleyes with these baits. The traditional flash lures and swimming lures do a better job of triggering walleyes.”

How to Work Plastics

In general, Smith says “I’m looking for that same tail kick I get out of my maggots, as I work a piece of plastic.” Because plastics are so visual, we believe they often are at their best during the day, in clear water.

Sabota, who uses plastics mainly for crappies and bluegills, says he always starts with a jig or hook that allows him to keep the whole package in a horizontal attitude as he fishes it. Genz often talks about the importance of a horizontal presentation, especially when the fish can clearly see the bait.

The key, according to Sabota, is to “keep that little tail sticking out away from the jig. Then, just the slightest movement of the rod gets that thing quivering. I think it imitates a small swimming minnow. Actually, I don’t care what they think it is, as long as they eat it. I vibrate my wrist, but it’s not as rapid as the pounding maneuver Genz likes. Get it to kick; that’s the key. That jig has to kick, so the plastic quivers.”

If Sabota gets a bite but doesn’t hook the fish, he immediately reels up to check the plastic. “If that little tail gets stuck to the hook or the body,” he says, “it won’t hang out there and quiver. When it’s like that, the fish won’t take it.” Plastics have been so good to Sabota that he rarely uses livebait for crappies.

Finally, this trick from “Iowa Mike” Salzman, who puts Berkley Power Bait Nibbles in his waxworm container, closes the top, and lets the scent of the Nibbles permeate his waxies. “It works,” Smith attests. “It just gives livebait a little more aroma.”

*Mark Strand, a freelance writer from Woodbury, Minnesota, is an excellent winter angler and long-time contributor to In-Fisherman Ice Guides.