First off let me say soft plastics are not my go to bait, I know they catch fish and lots of them...I have no confidence in them. With that said it is no confidence in my use of them not that they dont work. I have started to fish them more, only way to gain confidence right? Well I have been dragging them across the bottom with a little hop every now and then. Every one that I have caught has been hooked in gill plate or outside the mouth somewhere. Why? any help or suggestions on what I am doing wrong would be great.

What kind of soft plastics are you using? How are you rigging it?

Texas rigged plastics, with a 1/0 wide gap hook 3/8 ounce weight. The plastics are in the 3-5 inch range.

I have the most confidence in soft plastics. They simply catchmore fish. I like Texas rigged with a 2/0 or 3/0 hook. I always palm the reel with my index finger under the line and feel for those "thumps" then set the hook as hard as you can

Got get some YUM wooly bugs or Zoom brush hogs...3-5 inch plastics is a bit small IMO. I dont fish a worm thats under 7"..usually 10" worms..red shad, motor oil, tequila sunrise...some of the colors I favor in the summer time

Yeah right on. I have some brushhogs, full sized and baby. Thanks

I like my brush hogs Texas rigged with a 5/0 hook....

Try pearl ZOOM grubs and ZOOM tubes in pearl.

I hit the 'Vine this morning and tried most of the things ya'll suggested....same results. It has to be some thing I am doing upon getting a strike. Out of the three I managed to land (hooked 3 more and completly missed a few others) two were hooked outside the mouth again. I am guessing if I had landed the others that I hooked I would have had the same results. So what could it be? Is it my timeing? Could I be sweeping the hook set? Should I be setting the hook straight back,to the side? PLEASE help, I really want to use soft plastics more, maybe this why I have never had much luck/confidence in them.

Are you reeling in the slack before you set the hook? When you set it try to have at least some upward motion (even if it's to the side). What type of line are you using? Sometimes you might want to try them weightless and try to catch fish with the slow fall of the bait. Especially if you feel the fish might be suspening in the middle of the water column.

berkley tri 12# mono for line. Also using 1/4 to 3/8 ounce weight so maybe weightless would be the way to go.

Sounds like maybe you're retrieving a little too fast? That was my problem when I first started using plastics and after I slowed it down, my hook up rate improved a lot. Rule I go by is to use the lightest weight I can get away with and fish it slower than you would think you needed to.

i always read that you should wait a couple of seconds when worm fishing to let the fish take it in . but i have always just set the hook as soon as i felt the tap and have done better than most guys that fish around me . maybe your waiting too long .the fish may be coughing it back out by the time you set the hook and your more or less snagging it ?... the only other thing wold be a fish guarding a nest and just trying to push the worm away from nest ,they will sometimes just nudge baits away with their nose

Wait, you are complaining because you are catching fish?

As to why they are on the outside, I've been told that the fish trying to disable what they perceive to be food.

WELL STIN HERE IS MY 2 CENTS...using baby brush hogs go to a 2/0..first of all..sounds like to me when you hook them on the outside of the mouth, either they are just bumping it which I usually change collors cause they only have the tail end in their mouth and swimming away, therefore the hook is outside their mouth....or here comes the big one ...your being to slow on the hook set.....when I feel that tell tell bump I crank down on em get my line tight and wait for the first different feeling. Then BAAM, usually works, well it works alot...converted alot of "lure" fishing people to plastics..we will just have to meet up and I can see what ur doing..I'm not a fishing "god" by any means but I do have a track record hahahahh