Fishing with plastics, Harm to fish

Like many others, I like to use Senko worms and other plastics to fish for bass. When I gutted a small bass yesterday there was a chunk of my Senko in its gut. Judging from the size of the plastic compared to the size of the fish it seems doubtful that it would pass it. I normally use either an O ring or a short length of heat shrink tube to attach the hook, which seems to make them less prone to breaking than if I pass the hook thru the Senko.

How much damage am I, or we, doing to the fish and the environment by using plastics? How can the loss of the baits, or pieces of them, be reduced? Some plastics such as Flukes seem a bit sturdier than Senkos but many, incl Ned rigs, seem to be just as fragile.

Comments? Suggestions?
TIA

I opened up a Pike last week and it had a half of a Senko in its belly......I think Senkos may be lethal to fish. I was shocked to find it there.....a first for me and I open every stomach to see what they are eating.

Arnie

I am guilty of using plastic baits. You are right, there is a danger to fish from plastic baits. A friend of mine only uses live bait or hard lures when he is fishing. He always calls me cruel when I use plastics baits in about 40% of my fishing. Roughly 10% live bait the other 50% in crankbaits and a few jerkbaits. I use 10 inch Zoom worms for bass, and maybe throw the odd Yamamoto 7 inch senko. The zoom worms have never ripped, but I did lose a Senko (green) to a muskie years ago. Not sure if it fell off in the fight, or it went in the fish. For walleye and crappie I use Mr. Crappie Jokers as many of you have seen in my photos, again about 40% of the time. They are a very durable bait, but every once in a while a piece does get bit off. Do I think it is cruel to use soft plastic baits? No, I do not. For an angler like myself that does say protect the fish and the fishery a lot, a lot, a lot. It does sound contradictory for me to be using plastic baits. Maybe I should not be using them at all, but I do. Everyone has to make their own decisions. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, like I said, my friend thinks it's cruel.

Some plastics certainly seem more fragile than others. I too use o-rings to try and save my bait as much as possible, and switch them out as soon as they start to wear.

I have found some baits such as the Zman plastics seem almost indestructible. I've caught countless bass on one craw on a ned rig, and never lost the bait, or a claw for that matter.

The challenge with senkos (specifically wacky rigged) is there seems to be more fish that are gut hooked. (from what I've seen) The fish will sometimes inhale the worm so quickly that it's down their gullet before you can even set the hook. I'm sure the hook dissolves with the acids, but the plastic certainly lingers.

I always try to stay on my toes when senko fishing to minimize deep hooks... and hope for the best!

Here boys
https://cleancatch.ca/

I use a lot more plastics than I used to and try not to lose them of course.

The bio baits look good but at $1.50 each compared to $.50 the price will need to come down I would think before everyone would start to purchase them.

Harold, I swithed to the z man stuff years ago. if you haven't give them a go

as mentioned 1 of these is generally good for 25 fish plus. another bonus is the few times I have been bitten off , the bass often spit them out and they float back to the surface

I just rig mine with a gamu hook and split shot so the float back off the bottom


as an example...the week I was at the cottage, I caught way past 160 bass. I lost 2 baits during that time

This poor bugger engulfed the tube, gut hooked.

So I removed the plastic and cut the line. Hopefully the hook will dissolve in time.

Thx for your comments, folks

LS--I have a few of those but have not used them much at all. I'll give them another try.

Thx for your comments, folks

LS--I have a few of those but have not used them much at all. I'll give them another try.

Just an FYI with the Z-man baits. The oil or plastic they use will eat other plastic baits - don't mix them together, or you'll get a big clump.

I prefer Z-Man baits, they're eco friendly and dissolve over time. No the same as plastisol baits.