If you had to pick ONE bait

[detroit1]

I'm getting a headache. I would say worm or jig, but really i think a d/s rig. A d/s rig is used (at least) 90% of my outings. No other lure type comes close. (maybe a spinnerbait) 

[Luke Barnes]

16 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

String it on, bait-keeper of lure in the belly, hook exposed...both those have weed-guards.

Vertical like a fish or horizontal?

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, Luke Barnes said:

Vertical like a fish or horizontal?

Horizontal.

[WRB]

Same pig & hair jig “anytime anywhere” I have fished the past 50 years.

Tom

[Spy]

For me the answer is simple, a wire tied Siebert Fogy, 3/8ths with the bubble blade option in Disco Shad, tied on 365 and goes with every single time. Other than changing trailer style or color to suit my whims it is and has been doing just what the OP asked for a number of years now and will continue to do so as it flat out works.

[BayouSlide]

T-rigged plastic worm is a given, sure thing, but how about an honorable mention: I always seem to have a rod with a small Countdown Rapala in gold shiner handy...saved me from the skunk on many a day and has caught keepers as well as dinks.

[T-Billy]

2 hours ago, EWREX said:

who makes this?

I do. Ultra Molds 3.5" Sweet Craw mold. 

 

[bowhunter63]

Swim jig with a swim bait trailer 

[LonnieP]

3/8 peanut butter and jelly Dirty jig with Green pumpkin Rage craw trailer 

[rgasr63]

Zoom super speed craw would be my choice Texas rigged.

[scbassin]

This is easy for me. I would fish with a weightless 5" watermelon red senko. Rigged on a Dobyns Champion Extreme HP DX 743C FH with a Shimano 21 Scorpion DC XG. Line would be 16 lb test Daiwa J Fluoro Samurai Hidden Concept with a 4/0 Trokar EWG Hook.

 

This is a excellent combination. It would be very easy to fish with it all day.

[PressuredFishing]

21 hours ago, bigspirit said:

For all of 2022, what would it be?

 

One bait only. Just for kicks, hypothetically it is something you would keep on your rod the whole year. Only reason to retie is you broke it off. Not to change weight size or anything. 
 

 

Trick worm, works in almost all water clarity, can be fished top to bottom, slow or fast, senko is also a good choice but I prefer a trick worm just because I like em.

[Peddiesake]

I fish two lakes primarily that are different from each other. 
one would be a 4” stick bait in sprayed grass the other would be a lewis trap in diamond dust. I mainly bank fish from the bank.

[Cody28]

5 inch caffeine Shad on a 5/0 heavy wire EWG hook. Extremely weedless. Heavy hook and bait gives it just enough weight to sling it. Has the perfect wiggle on the fall just like a weightless senko. Still a great reaction lure when fished traditionally. This lure never leaves its assigned rod. 

[SpinLight]

1/8 oz. Decoy Nail Bomb, No. 1 EWG hook, 4.5 inch Roboworm in Morning Dawn purple (although I would not call it an EWG hook, but more a WG hook).

I am a light and ultralight spinning guy. I also fish for other species occasionally. Wanted to say 3" Easy Shiner, but sometimes it is just not going to find the spotted bass here in East Central Alabama.

[Aaron_H]

I'd have to go with a 1/2 oz gold Red-Eyed Shad, or a bluegill Rattlin' Rapala. It would make some of my favorite spots off limits, but that just gives me more time to focus on other favorite spots, I guess. If I wanted one lure I could be successful with anywhere I fish, it would be a watermelon/red Stik-O.

[flyfisher]

https://player.vimeo.com/video/631302256?autoplay=0&title=0&byline=0&portrait=0