Is it worth it anymore to hunt down, pay for,and keep alive,fresh shrimp for specks,flounder,Spanish Mackerel,etc.in the bays ??? Soft plastics have really come a long way now, with their appearance,their scents,their convenience,etc,But what about their performance? What are most folks using now? Any opinions and/or arguments on this much appreciated!

It's been a long time since anyone's convinced me I can't catch more/better with plastic.

Norton sand eel in clearer water.
Hogie super minnow when it's colored.

Your mileage may vary, it's whatever you've got confidence in that works best.

Berkeley's Gulp Shrimp have put a lot of bait shops out of business. I personally stopped buying shrimp unless kids are along. Live shrimp keeps them interested for awhile at least when things are slow.

Live shrimp is good for quantity. But for quality I like my corky and topwaters. But the true beast want big bait plastic or live.

A lot more trash fish caught on the real shrimp than the artificial ones.

X2, but when i have company come down to fish, unless they are experienced fisherpersons, i get a quart of shrimp for the trip.

So,There are valid points to both choices.I probably fall into the "Not-so-experienced-with -lures" category,But would really like to get better with plastics. Do yall use the carolina rig with your plastics, or do you prefer weighted jig heads for that? And how about bobbers or popping corks,or not?

I have gotten to where I prefer the plastics or spoons. I use shrimp when out with the wife, kids, or others who want to use it. The shrimp sometimes can turn a non productive day into a drum and sheephead fishing tournament with the kids. My youngest kids are sixteen now and still talk about the time they beat their cousins catching the biggest sheephead. They like catching the reds, specks, and flatties, but really just want to catch fish.

I was taught to use jigs under slip corks, so that is what I prefer. Will do some casting early in the morning or late in the day in spring. The main thing with artificials is find the bait fish. Like was said above, once you find a system that works for you, that you have confidence in, you will catch more quality fish with the plastics.

typically weighted jig heads. 1/16th for 0-2ft. 1/8th for 2-6ft. Usually use 1/8th more times than not or if I'm out of 1/6th.

Adding a 'click cork' 18" up the line is an option and sometimes suspending the lure like that will get more strikes than just the jig head. Can catch fish both with and without the cork above it, it's just another tool to use. Small popping corks are great for redfish. Rig a gulp shrimp or swimming mullet on an 1/16th oz head and put it 12 to 18inches under a small popping cork and it's a great set up for redfish in the marsh or over oyster. You'll have more trouble using that rig in the grass flats, but when there isn't a lot of floating grass its doable.

I too will use the saltwater crickets (aka shrmip) when I bring along someone totally new. Smooth and 340 are right on. But if you want to learn, just go for it and use only plastics a while (with and without several different corks. Sid Walsh is a guide out of flour bluff that makes several different models... I still like his best. Sid walsh guide and tackle... find his phone on google he'll even tell you how to use and which ones to use where. Good guy.

for plastics I'm really liking Kelly Wigglers, they are tough and the fish like them. Bass Assasins and TTF trout killers also have their place as well as Norton. All good.

One thing to note though. If you focus more on learning to find the fish, and make sure your casting into schools of fish and reading the water, then your going to learn and get your confidence up faster than just blind casting with lures.

Tobin