Choosing Fishing Lures

Choosing the right fishing lures to use in your local water can be challenging. Each situation can call for different baits to be effective, so you need to learn as much about the specific conditions of your fishing spot as possible.

For example, if you’re looking to catch largemouth bass in your backyard pond, you’ll want to use a different strategy than you would in a river or lake. The type of fish, the clarity and temperature of the water, the amount of vegetation or cover in the area, and the time of year all play a role in what kind of lures will work there.

One of the most important things to remember is that there is no one-size-fits-all artificial lure, so you’ll need to experiment with a few different styles and sizes until you find the ones that work best in your area. There’s no need to invest a lot of money into lures until you find the ones that are the most effective for you.

A basic, yet effective fishing lure is the bucktail, which is basically a long chunk of lead attached to a hook. These old-school designs are among the most versatile on the planet, able to be twitched quickly at the surface to mimic fleeing baitfish or cranked steadily to dive and wobble enticingly as it sinks. Its simple construction also allows it to be tipped with almost any kind of bait to match the diet of the target species. Small versions are effective on everything from peacock bass to perch, while the larger models are ideal for cobia and other saltwater predators.

Another common and highly effective lure is the tube. Made from a durable, buoyant plastic such as balsa, these hard-bodied baits are shaped like a kitchen spoon or even a toy car to produce erratic actions when retrieved. They can be fished as-is to snag fish on the bottom or tipped with anything from a pork strip to a piece of squid to ramp up flutter and scent.

Soft plastics are a highly versatile class of lures, with countless combinations of style and size available to imitate a wide variety of insects, fish, crustaceans and more. These baits come in a seemingly endless assortment of colors and are ideal for nearly all freshwater and many saltwater predatory fish species.

A spinnerbait is a topwater lure that’s very effective on bass pre-spawn and post spawn in shallow water. It’s also a great choice when the fish are concentrated around brush and ledges deeper in the water column, such as during the winter or after the spawn.