What was you're best lure and set up this year?

[Bartableman7]

I fished something completely different this year with excellent results.  (I'm a heavy equipment jig pitcher so this was way out of my comfort zone.) 15 lb braid on a 7 foot medium spinning rod.  1/2 oz egg sinker in front of a swivel and a 3 foot 6 lb test fluoro carbon leader tied with a #3 silver Mepps.  I fished rock piles in 20 feet all year long.  Caught tons of bass letting it sink, then giving it a quick snap to get the blade going then a slow steady retrieve.  I lost a bunch of baits but caught enough to make it worth it.  Catfish and drum pounded it too.  Carolina spinner set up.  Fun!

[T-Billy]

That Carolina spinner rig is interesting. I could certainly see it being productive. I've considered doing something similar with an original floating Rapala, but never got around to it. I should probably give it a go one of these days.

 Same as last year, a Sweet Craw on a flippin rig is king, with a green pumpkin chatterbait coming in second.

Honorable mention goes to the Yumbrella rig. I've been hammering the muskie with it lately, and catching a few bass on it as well. Still learning this one. It's gonna take awhile to really realize it's full potential for me, but it's a cold water must have rig for sure.

[PourMyOwn]

I got into tying jigs rather than using rubber collars. I threw a lot of brown living rubber jigs and (especially in cold water) they outfished the silicone skirted jigs my partners used.

[gim]

Last year I said a black spinnerbait was my best strategy.  This year, I would probably say it was my second best.  I had a fantastic final month of the season, and most of this was attributed to a black spinnerbait, but towards the very end when the water cooled, they wanted a slower presentation so I switched to a chatterbait and that worked better.

 

My best presentation was probably a neon colored wacky rigged stick bait.  When the dock bite was going in midsummer, I caught so many fish using that presentation around docks.  If there was shade, and I got it there, it was almost an expectation every time that a bass would bite.  Nothing really big doing this but a lot of fish in the 17-18 inch range, which is much bigger than the average sized bass this far north.

[WRB]

Didn’t fish much this year and when I did it was from the back seat. I use a presentation compatible to what  the boater is using and it’s been 90% finesse spinning.

5” weightless Senko, Drop Shot Robo and Flick Shake worms,  Slip Shot Robo worms all soft plastics. I always have my jig rod along to use and wooden Sammie.

Tom

 

[scaleface]

Texas rigged Dingers on 17 lb test xl fished on a 7 foot hvy action baitcasting  rod . Bama Bug may have been the top color . 

[TnRiver46]

1/16 oz marabou jig was good, live bait was good, plastic worm and tube on a jig head was good, jerkbait was good. 

[BayouSlide]

This year an Owner underspin with Suicide Shad probably accounted for the most fish, followed by chatterbait and crankbait in that order.

 

Of course, those are the primary rigs I fished nearly every outing, which skews the results. ?

[BassinCNY]

What I went to most this year was a drop shotted wacky rigged green pumpkin finesse worm.

[gim]

44 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

plastic worm

Any color will work.  As long as its purple.

[FishTank]

Best lure was the Megabass Baby Popmax. I used a Dobyn's Seria BFS rod with a Shimano Aldebaran BFS and 6lb Sunline Sniper Invisible.  I tried mono on this setup and hated it.  Missed a few fish and overall it was just a bad idea. The FC was amazing. 

 

I have caught well over 500 fish on this setup this year, including Largemouth, Smallmouth,  Whitebass/Wipers, Crappie,  Bluegill,  Drums, Catfish, 1 big Carp, Walleye and Sauger. 

 

Honorable mention.... Bellows Gill on a Megabass Evoluzion with a Daiwa Zillion and 14lb Sunline BMS FC.

[softwateronly]

This was my first spring with the nishine eerie darter 115MD. The nose down, slow sink was a huge winner. Many 20+ pre spawn days. Also my first spring with dht punisher jig. Coupled with a beaver it was a great 1-2 punch in the cold water. 
 

The only truly new bait for me was a 3/4oz Uoze w/ a 6.5” gambler GZ.  The extra large swim jig profile was my best night bite from post spawn thru summer. 
 

scott

[warefisher]

Many Canadian smallmouth loved the look of a ned rig.  Also enjoyed by the walleyes and a few northern pike.  Tubes were also consumed by all.  Stay along the bottom, crawl and slow hop.

[Mike L]

For a few years now a Magnum or standard size UV Speed Worm (depending on conditions) has been my go to with a Rage Cut R a close second. 
When neither one is producing like I think it should a Big EZ or Skinny Dipper (again depending on conditions) comes out. 
 

90% of my outings has been as a co angler in tournaments. 
Those plastics kinda level the playing field for me regardless of what my boater’s throwing. 
 

When flipping or pitching a Rage Bug almost always is my first choice but in water deeper than say 4 ft, a standard size Cut R can save the day. 
 

On top in scattered vegetation and flat water a modified prop bait is first. 
In heavy stuff the original Scum Frog is my choice. 
 

 

 

Mike

[PaulVE64]

Last year was whopper p. , tube & black maribou jig.

This year I was determined to use other techniques and it was spook, yum d. & a wilderdilch.

https://images.app.goo.gl/juy4ZMZajuSrvCoQ8

Gear was,

6' fenwick hmg mfast 

6' stc Triumph mlfast

7' stc avid mlfast

& an

occasional fly rod

[Jar11591]

Number one was a double willow spinnerbait. Not sure if 1/2oz or 3/4oz was the top weight. Fished on 7’ MH-F rod with a 5:1 reel, 30lb braid with a 25lb fluorocarbon leader.  

[Aaron_H]

Just went back through my fish log for this year and tallied the numbers. Since I took this year to really spend time and grind out learning how to be an okay jerkbait fisherman, I'm not surprised jerkbait took first place with 163 fish caught for 2022 so far, 116 of those being on the H2O Xpress Ultimate Jerk Shad, which also caught my three biggest of the year.

 

Second place was the lipless with 146 bass, 92 of which were caught on the Booyah One Knocker.

 

Senko was 3rd at 89 bass, came in clutch during the summer when the storms kept me from doing anything other than tossing a line out behind the house for a few minutes.

 

Chatterbait was 4th with 55 bass, and accounted for two of my biggest five of the year.

 

Then just a hodgepodge of other baits not worth listing.

 

Edit: I forgot to include the setups used per the OP:

 

Jerkbait setup: Most of the year was a Shimano SLX 6'10" M/XF paired with a SLX 151HG spooled with 30lb PowerPro to a 15lb Big Game mono leader. More recently I am throwing them on the newer SLX A 6'10" M/XF paired with a SLX MGL 71HG spooled with 12lb Big Game mono.

 

Lipless crankbait setup: Dobyns Fury 705CB paired with a SLX DC 151HG, spooled with 30lb PowerPro to a 15lb Big Game mono leader.

 

Senko setup: Shimano SLX 7'2" M/XF, paired with a SLX 151HG spooled with 30lb PowerPro to a 15lb Big Game mono leader. I prefer the 6'10" M/XF for weightless senkos, personally, and now that I have another newer jerkbait setup, I'll go back to throwing them on the shorter rod. The 7'2" does a fine job with them, though, and is an awesome Whopper Plopper 110 rod.

 

Chatterbait setup: 13 Fishing Defy Black 7'1" MH/F paired with a SLX 151, spooled with 30lb PowerPro to a 15lb Big Game mono.

[Columbia Craw]

Drop shot. GP Flat Worm. Xtreme 702S. Luvius 2500.

[papajoe222]

A 3/8oz. blade bait (not bladed jig) yielded a bunch of quality bass from ice-out until after the spawn. It was my go to lure for numbers after post-spawn all the way to the end of the season. I doubt I threw a lipless crank more than 4 or 5 times, which was my confidence bait prior to last year. I think the similar vibration without rattles made the difference.

 

[Catt]

Powell Inferno 703C 7' MH X-Fast 

Lew's Team Lite TLL1SH 7.5:1

Berkley Big Game 15#

Mustad Grip-Pin offset round Bend 3/0

Strike King's 1/8 oz tungsten weight

Zoom's Ultravibe Speed Worm & Craw in white.

Tail dipped in Spike It Dip-n-Glo Chartreuse Garlic. 

[Finessegenics]

Ned Rig as always. 1/16 oz jighead with half of a Zinkerz. 

A new surprise for me this year was the megabass dark sleeper. The 2.8" 1/4 oz was highly effective for me. 

[Jmontgomery87]

My best producers were a Trick worm on 1/4 oz Texas rig or 1/8 oz shakey head, Super Spook Jr., 3/8 and 1/2 oz spinnerbaits, and a finesse worm on a drop shot. I caught my first and only jig fish in late July and it was my PB. I guess I should fish a jig more.

[Bankbeater]

My most productive bait this year was a weightless, grape colored, 6" Creme Scoundrel.  Fished it on a 6'6" m/f Carbonlite with a Pflueger President spooled with 10# Big Game.  The number two bait was a 4" green pumpkin Yum Dinger fished on the same rig.

[Jig Man]

For me a Zinkerz or Zero fished shaky on a variety of heads weights on my custom 7.5’ shaky rod with a Curado 70 and 12# fluorocarbon line produced at least 2-1 over anything else.

[roadwarrior]

I sound like a broken record...For 26 years the Senko rules! My newest "best lure" is a tie:

Rage Tail Menace and Structure Bug.