Fishing the Plug:   The question often arises, so just how do you retrieve these big plugs? Well the answer is pretty simple. Steadily.......
To elaborate, I basically use one of two retrieves. Slow and steady across the surface allowing the tail of the plug to cut back and forth making a small wake and slow and steady under water. I like to keep the plug about 2 to 4 feet down, not much deeper and just cruise it along. You will get a feel for the right speed once you catch some fish. Basically think to yourself ... I am a stupid trout, I am a stupid trout, I am a stupid trout. And repeat. Stupid trout don't jerk around and stop swimming. Trout almost never stop swimming when there is no current. They just cruise along slowly. That's what the bass are looking for.

Followers:  Probably the most insanely frustrating thing about throwing big plugs is that inevitably you will get follow ups from fish that won't eat your bait. I have had days where I have had over 50 fish follow up in a single day. This can be very very frustrating and sometimes there is nothing you can do. What you can do though is mix things up on the days where the fish are following the lure a lot. Sometimes a very fast retrieve will get them. Sometimes if you see a fish come up on the bait and you start ripping and jerking the bait, you can trigger a strike. Sometimes the fish will follow to within a few feet of the boat. If you have to stop the lure, stop it and you may get lucky, but remember, trout getting chased by bass don't stop, they GO! If you really can't get them to bite just remember where each fish was that followed your bait was, and give them a try on another day. When the fish want to bite, they will bite. On the days when they just want to follow, they may just not be catchable on that day.

Hookset:  I use a sweeping hookset usually to the side but occasionally at sort of a 45 degree angle from straight up and down. You usually don't need to really slam the fish, just hit back when you feel them, kind of like setting the hook with a spinnerbait. The one time when I will hit the fish hard is if I'm fishing subsurface and I lose contact with the bait because a fish has grabbed it and swam towards me or to the side. If you ever feel that, nail the fish hard and fast.

Conclusion:There are a lot of aspects to big plug fishing that can't be taught or learned in a day, a week, or even a year. Like every technique time on the water will tell you what is right and what is wrong. The long days of catching nothing can get frustrating, but if you keep with it and keep casting and casting and casting, one day the big one will bite.