Best Bass Lures Per Season

[MJack]

What are your two or three best bass lures in winter? Best in spring, etc.? Which lures do you have confidence in year around? 

[WRB]

Year around lures Are jigs and soft plastics. T-rig w/brass ‘n glass, drop shot, slip shot finesse worms and Senko’s, hair, living rubber and silicone skirt jigs w/ pork ring, Yamamoto twin tail and Chigger craw.

Winter, add structure spoons.

Pre Spawn, add trout swimbaits and big 9”-13” T-rigged worms.

Spawn (bed fish) add Bluegill swimbait, spinnerbaits.

Post Spawn, add top water dog 3 1/2” walking lures, use 5” Senko’s wacky rigged.

Summer, add top water poppers, jerk baits, crank baits.

Fall, add crank baits, structure spoons, tail and under spins.

Tom

 

[Mike L]

I make no specific bait choices based solely on the seasons as others may. 
Since the weather is fairly stable year round, my only consideration is down and upsizing, fast or slow presentations in shallow or deep water. 
 

My choices are based on the details year round 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

In the winter the bait that catches the most fish for me is a small swimbait, 3" rockvibe or easy shiner with a very light jighead 1/16 or 1/8 at most. 

In the past couple years Ive been doing really well with a suspending rattle trap.  They really excel as a searchbait and can be fished like a crankbait or JB.  Even when they dont work they still give you a good idea of what mood the fish are in.

A JB would have to be #3 for me.  They are one of the few moving baits that will catch when little else will.

Once the water start to warm, which is usually mid Feb here.  I wont be caught dead without a dozen chatterbaits.  As soon as those fish start to think about transitioning and pushing shallow, a chatterbait fished slow on the bottom like a jig is absolutely deadly for numbers or quality fish and nothing else comes close for me.  Once that bite is established its fairly consistent until the fish bed.  You just have to adjust the retrieve and profile as the water warms.

2nd late winter/early spring bait would be a trap.

3rd bait for late winter/ early spring would be a shakey head.  

Once the fish bed and the grass really grows in, I find a mojo rig very useful, particularly with a floating bait.

Free and T rigs become a go to at this time as well.

A swimjig or jig in general works really well as the fish bein to guard fry.  Using a swim jig to cover water and free rig to target particular areas has been a great 1-2 punch for me.  

As far as baits that work all the time, its difficult to beat a ned rig.  I do outfish a ned rig with finesse swimbaits as far as numbers go, but there is a certain time in the late winter/early spring where the fish around here key in on bottom contact and that to me is the best time of year for them, but its a great time of year for many baits as well.  

 

[Bankbeater]

Most years around here the bass want to chase baits from ice out until late spring.  Around the middle of fall or so they start wanting to chase again.  In summer you have to draw them out of the cover, or punch the baits down to them.

Last fall my top 3 were stickbaits, spinnerbaits, and jigs. Most bass were caught in the deeper parts of the lakes and ponds.

This past spring it was spinnerbaits, plastic worms, and stickbaits.  I had my best luck fishing in dead lily pad beds.

Fishing summertime, Jigs, jerkbaits around 3" to 4" in length , and inline spinners caught the most bass. I was fishing them in and around vegetation.

 

 

 

[Pat Brown]

Winter - lipless

Spring - lipless/frog

Summer - frog

Fall - buzzbait/jerkbait

 

[LrgmouthShad]

Winter - Lipless, Jig, Spinnerbait, Jigging Spoon, Crankbait, Senko

 

Fall - Buzzbait, Spook, Spinnerbait, Lipless, Swimbait, Jig, Crankbait, Senko, Popper

 

Summer - Worm, Jig, Crankbait, Flutter Spoon, Creature, Craw, Senko, Frog, Popper, Spook, Buzzbait

 

Spring - Worm, Jig, Crankbait, Creature, Craw, Senko, Frog, Popper, Spook, Buzzbait, Plopper, Lipless

[Jig Man]

23 hours ago, MJack said:

What are your two or three best bass lures in winter? Best in spring, etc.? Which lures do you have confidence in year around? 

I believe it is going to be regional.  What is good for me may not work north or south of me.

 

 I am not locked into any bait or method.  I use whatever I can get them to bite.  The last few years a ZinkerZ fished shaky would work all the time.  This year I went for months without a bite on it.  The one year around bait for me is the jig.  However even that has changed.  This year finesse jigs are all that have worked, especially in 3/16 oz.

[Glenn]

 

[Jar11591]

Spring: Jig, spinnerbait, lipless, senko 

 

Summer: Popper, spinnerbait, ribbon-tail worm, weedless frog

 

Fall: walking bait, spinnerbait, jig, popper 

 

 

[LrgmouthShad]

13 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

Spring: Jig, spinnerbait, lipless, senko 

 

Summer: Popper, spinnerbait, ribbon-tail worm, weedless frog

 

Fall: walking bait, spinnerbait, jig, popper 

 

 

As a former NY fisherman, I can confirm that spinnerbaits are plum perfect in that state. 

[Standard]

Winter - usually whatever panfish jig I'm using that a bass happens to grab.

 

Spring - Choppo

 

Summer - Choppo

 

Fall - Choppo

 

[king fisher]

There are two seasons where I live rainy season and dry season.

 

Rainy season best three lures

 

Buzz Bait

Frog

spinnerbait

 

Dry season best three lures

 

Spinnerbait

Crankbait

T rig worm.

 

 

 

 

[crypt]

winter---worm    spring---worm.    summer---worm.    fall---worm    we only really have summer and cooler summer here.....

[Catt]

I do not have winter, spring, summer, or fall lures...I have bass lures.

 

Topwater, mid-depth, & bottom contact are thrown based on conditions.

 

I do keep a Texas Rig & a Jig-n-Craw tied on 24/7/365. 

[papajoe222]

No winter fishing for me as I hate ice fishing.

For spring, hair jigs and jerkbaits with a blade bait or a crank added when they start moving shallow.

Summer, Jigs, worms and cranks get the most use, with topwater making an appearance when I want a little more excitement.

In the fall, hardbaits get the majority of use. Spinnerbaits, cranks and topwaters  with a worm for a vertical offering.

[RHuff]

It depends on where you are and how the season affects the water temp.. but for me we have water temperature in the high 30s in Winter all the way up to the high 80s in Summer… For me its this..

 

Winter - Blade Baits, Ned Rigs, Finesse Jigs

 

Spring - Finesse Crankbaits, Ned Rigs, Jig/Minnows

 

Summer - Wacky Rigs, Drop-Shots, Deep Crankbaits

 

Fall - Spinnerbaits, Wacky Rigs, Crankbaits

On 9/16/2024 at 11:25 PM, Catt said:

I do not have winter, spring, summer, or fall lures...I have bass lures.

 

Topwater, mid-depth, & bottom contact are thrown based on conditions.

 

I do keep a Texas Rig & a Jig-n-Craw tied on 24/7/365. 

 

I like how you think my friend…

[Pat Brown]

On 9/16/2024 at 11:25 PM, Catt said:

I do not have winter, spring, summer, or fall lures...I have bass lures.

 

Topwater, mid-depth, & bottom contact are thrown based on conditions.

 

I do keep a Texas Rig & a Jig-n-Craw tied on 24/7/365. 

 

 

I mean this is the real answer but we gotta talk about something around here and the bait manufacturers need sales 😂😂😂😂

 

I am trying to impart this exact foundational wisdom in my son at this point in time.

 

Fish the conditions regardless of what bass should be doing.

[BlakeMolone]

a lucky craft pointer 65 or 78, a small spinnerbait, and a jighead with a power minnow or ned rig bait could do all of my fishing these days through all seasons honestly 🤣 Since moving to utah i’ve found that keeping things small and simple is the best way to get bites, gives me more time to worry about actually finding the fish.