PLASTIC PERFECTION

Aside from an unfortunate habit of autodigestion, plastic lures suit me just fine. Worms, grubs, salamanders, small fish and other oddments for fresh and saltwater do the job. Tiny fish like perch or trout hit mini jigs. Monsters such as tarpon hit fake shrimp. Bluewater types tow plastics. Bass anglers would rather give up their boats than their plastics. Best of all, plastics are cheap. So you can toss them into places you'd never flip a $6 spoon!

While it's possible to simply thread a hook through a plastic worm and flip the worm out and catch fish, you generally need some sort of weight. This can be a jig head, split shot crimped to the line, or even a sinker ahead of the plastic.

As a rule, the less weight you can use, the better the result. This is a reason to go with light lines and, if sharp teeth, rocks or even coral require, add a shock-tipped of heavier monofiliment or even wire. Do try to avoid swivels - see the Swivel Drivel posting.

Smaller is better works for hooks too, and this extends both to weight and size. Lighter wire hooks and, in particular, barbless hooks set in tough piscatorial jaws better than heavy wire or big bards. Don't be afraid of light wire hooks - I like dry fly hooks and the like - as the lightest hook will still be stronger than any line or leader you can use.

Hook size depends on the size of the plastic lure used and that should relate to the size of the mouth of the fish you expect. Tiny jig tails or skirts on 1/32- or 1/16-ounce jigs suit trout and such. You might have to go to a six- or eight-inch long plastic on a six- to eight-ounce jig for big saltwater species dredged up for deep water or fast currents.

Most plastics include rigging directions and it's always wise to check in the shop for special local rigs such as the system used for hollow tube jig tails such as Gitzits. If you look at these you'd expect to add a jig big enough so the lead head would be in the tip of the tube and the bend of the hook back at the skirt. This can work. However, a much smaller jig set so the lead is about half-way down the jig works better. Just punch the jig hook's eye through the plastic.

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