Hey guys i really havent fished a lot of plastics , sure ive thrown trailers with Spinnerbaits and fished a craw on a jig(very little) but not really fished plastics like worms, flukes, senkos, ect. , and lets face it plastics catch alot of fish. im looking for some suggestions on what i should buy fist and try. plus how should i rig it, are certain rigs more beginner friendly? ( i fish mostly small lakes and small rivers, mostly stained water, for small and largemouth bass) 

Mike, this has been my first year consistently throwing soft plastics as well and I have had better luck then in past since (wish I had jumped on it sooner). If you check the post on wacky fishing, I'm raved about how much success I had with Yum 4" dingers fished wacky style a few weeks ago. I would suggest get dingers or senkos and try wacky off the top. It's a fairly easy style to get accustomed to, and can be very productive. Beyond 4"-5" wacky style worms. Big worms, 7"-10" ribbon tails worms (i.e. PowerBait Power Worms) with bullet weight in front jumping off the bottom have worked well. And finally the dead of summer frogs near grass mats have been also a successful trend for me.

Best of luck.

Dear mike, i almost exclusively fish plastics, and your right, they catch fish. First i would say try not to get overwhelmed with the profusion of bates out there. I have a closet full of stuff i bought and never use because I've discovered what works and i generally stick to it. I'd say that zoom baits in general are hard to beat. Plastic worms and swim-baits will probably end up as the core of your arsenal. The Texas rigged Zoom U tail worm in junebug in stained water is a very good producer. Rigging instructions are readily available on line in a number of places. Just google plastic bait rigging. And as a rule of thumb use the smallest bullet weight you can, if your going to use a weight at all. I also like the Gamakatsu Offset Shank Worm Hook, Skip Gap. Plastic worms do not slip on this hook and you can't get a sharper stronger hook anywhere. The wacky rigged senco is another great producer. Again Gamakatsu's Finesse Wide Gap, or Finesse Wide Gap, Weedless, or Wicked Wacky hooks will serve you as good as you can buy. The Robo worms are great as well. The plastic swim baits are good to. Zooms Super Fluke produces big bass, period. Texas rigged weightless if possible. I like bright colors on overcast days and dark colors at night. But don't be afraid to mix that up. I also like to put a sent on my unscented plastics. Not so much to attract fish but to neutralize any unwanted smells from sitting around in the bag or after a fish hits it. The old 3 to 4 inch grub on a jig head swimming through the water is not to be dismissed ether. Now in terms of jigs for plastics there is a lot to consider. I'll just list a few of my favorites. 1) Spider Slider Head, A weedless hook that allows quick Texas-style rigging 2) Charlie Brewer's Crappie Slider Heads 3) Tru-Tungsten Iaconelli Ikey Head Weed Wacker 4) Tru-Tungsten Iaconelli Ikey Head Ike's Spike. The pond i fish most is not good for drop shot or shaky head presentations so I can't tell you much about those. I personaly have not had much success with the fresh water gulp products. Salt water gulp is an entirely different story. Hope this was helpful.

Texas rigged worms are always good starting points when fishing starting to fish plastics.

Thanks guys for the replies, they have been helpful, i think am going to buy a few different plastic baits and try different rigs until i find one that works best for me. Also which would be best for summer time??

Zoom baits Flukes trick worms,

thanks jaysun7776, ill check em out

Try the new Yum F2 Mighty Bugs. I've been killin' 'em with these!

zoom flukes and any kind of plastic worms work great

Try out Berkley Havoc, Start off with the Devil Spear designed by Mike Iaconelli, Texas rig it with a 5/0 hook and 1/2-1 ounce tungsten or lead weight. Fish it around Cover. Next try the Berkley Havoc Pit Boss designed by Skeet Reese, texas rig it on a 4/0 hook and a 1/2 ounce weight, this bait was designed for fliping but awsome for much more, the legs on the Pit Boss go crazy. Try out Berkley Havoc.

http://berkley-fishing.com/products...bait/havoc

Try out Berkley Havoc, Start off with the Devil Spear designed by Mike Iaconelli, Texas rig it with a 5/0 hook and 1/2-1 ounce tungsten or lead weight. Fish it around Cover. Next try the Berkley Havoc Pit Boss designed by Skeet Reese, texas rig it on a 4/0 hook and a 1/2 ounce weight, this bait was designed for fliping but awsome for much more, the legs on the Pit Boss go crazy. Try out Berkley Havoc.

http://berkley-fishing.com/products...bait/havoc

i've been killen bass on shakey heads as of late

If you're fishing for smallies don't overlook tubes, Texas rigged or weightless. You'll find there are tons of plastics options, and while most are great, you'll find your favorite for your style and fishing conditions. Different seasons will also play a part in which soft plastic you will choose.
Just experiment with all the great ideas you've been given and then over buy with stacks of plastics and you'll be set!

zoom super flukes have been most successful for me also topwater frogs. rig the super flukes weightless with a widegap 3/0 worm hook

PS I've been having some good luck with a bait from Maniac Lures called a Cut'r Bug in the 3.5 black. All the sizes will catch fish and a wide variety of fish. I even got a catfish on one.
http://maniaccustomlures.com/zen/in...Path=65_76

Plastics are pretty varied. Instead of thinking of them as a group called "soft plastics" think:

Worming
Flipping
Swimming
Waking
Drop Shotting
Split Shotting / Carolina Rigging
Jerking
Dead Sticking

There are soft plastics and soft plastic techniques to fill almost every niche for bass fishing.

Mike if you want some really good soft baits I suggest chaecking out fishcandybaitcompany.com. He makes bait for all types of applications. My favorite is the beave bug. Tell him Harry sent ya.

In the rivers or creeks smallies go crazy for a wachy rigged dinger, 4 or 5" seems to work best, as long as your current is slow enough that you can fish weightless and still get to the bottom pretty quickly. When it's faster I like to use a yum craw bug texas rigged with a small bullet sinker. On lakes and ponds flukes are great for above and in between weeds, and in the summer when the bass are really layin low I like to pull power worms through the weeds. Usually use watermelon seed, motor oil and other natural colors, also can't go wrong with a 10" black power worm slithered down out of the weeds on the bank.