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Back when I was a kid, some outdoor magazine seemed to produce a feature almost every year about what it considered to be the dozen best bass fishing lures at that moment. I looked forward to the day when I might put together my own list of most productive lures. Well, over past decades I’ve done that from time to time, with changes to the list as new baits emerged. And now it's time to update the list for 2010.


In assessing my most productive lures, I wasn't able limit the list to just twelve, so here is a baker’s dozen. Keep in mind, this selection is intended for both largemouth and smallmouth bass during open water fishing from ice-out to ice-up. Some lures are best in cool water temperatures, some are best for summer, and others produce all season long.





1. Dog-walking topwater: The zigzag, splashy injured-baitfish action of a dog-walking lure is without questions my most productive topwater plug. I catch bass with it starting in the late spring, through the summer, and into early fall. There are many brands, but the original is still the best in my book – Heddon Zara Spook. Actually, the exact model I prefer is the Super Spook Jr.

2. Buzzbait: The constant churning of the blades at a slow to moderate retrieve aggravates bass into striking. And if the fish isn’t hooked upon striking a buzzbait, at least its location has been revealed so you can throw a jig or similar lure as a follow-up tactic. There are lots of good buzzbaits on the market, but I like the added clacker blade as well as the extra-long shaft on the Booyah Buzz.





3. Frog: This is a red-hot weedless topwater for duckweed, pads, and surface mats interspersed with pockets of open water. The modern frog bait has made great strides from the early days of the old Bill Plummer Frog. Today’s best frogs are streamlined to skim across weeds, feature a hollow body that protects a strong double hook, and include attention-getting legs. Pick your poison, but I’m partial to the SPRO Bonzeye Frog.





4. Soft jerkbait: When the “soft jerkbait” appeared in the 1980s, it quickly became the most copied lure on the market. This somewhat fish-shaped solid plastic is rigged Tex-posed on single, wide-gap hook, allowing it to be used in both cover and open water. Its erratic, unpredictable movements send out “injured baitfish” signals to bass. Twitch it rapidly just below the surface, stop it, and let it sink slowly. It’s a must-have from pre-spawn to mid-fall fishing. I like the sashay action of the Yum Houdini Shad better than other contenders. However, Yum does not offer it in must-have hot pink for smallmouth, so I also carry a package of Bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke.





5. Suspending hard jerkbait: There is a window in the early spring when you must be using a suspending jerkbait or you most likely will not catch fish. The alternating flash and suspended pause is the key. Again, there are many excellent suspenders available. One thing they all have in common is some form of internal rattle device – except one. Therefore if limited to a single jerkbait, make mine the new Lucky Craft Pointer Silent 95.





6. Crankbaits: Did you catch the “s” on the end? That’s because it’s worthless to select a single crankbait model with a limited depth range. Therefore, I get around this by choosing a crankbait series with baits which run at various depths from shallow to deep. Based on my early days of fishing the Bagley’s DB series, I prefer balsa cranks to hard plastic cranks. My choice today is the Rapala DT Crankbait Series with 5 models to efficiently cover depths from 4 feet to 20 feet.

7. Football jighead with a spider grub: When it comes to dragging the actual bottom on deep structure during the summer, my preference these days is a 1/2- or 3/4-ounce weedless football jighead with a spider-grub body. Ten years ago, it would have been a Carolina rig, but I get a higher hook-up ratio with the jig – due to the direct contact with the lure. Again, lots of choices. I usually fish a Booyah Football Head with a Yum Gonzo Grub.





8. Vibrating blade: You’ve got to have hard metal that can be fished vertically in deep water – particularly effective in the very early spring and late fall, as well as for schooling open water bass in the summer. Many bass anglers would choose a jigging spoon. But I have better success with a vibrating blade. Which one? A tough call. I like the crisp action of the Silver Buddy for largemouth bass. But for smallmouths in the coldest springtime water, I like the finesse action of a Reef Runner Cicada.





9. Jig and chunk: A highly effective lure that in some form has been around for a long, long time. There are a lot of different jig styles – some intended for heavy cover, some for finesse, and some for swimming. If limited to a single jig, I want one that can be fished horizontally (swimming retrieve) as well as vertically (pitching), and features the proper weedguard design with an exceptionally good hook.  The Tabu Open Water Jig (designed by my friend FLW Pro Dave Lefebre) does a good job as an all-around jig for multiple techniques. I’ll dress it with a Yum Chunk.





10. Tube lure: Flip a Texas-rigged tube along a weed line for largemouths or slip an insert head into a tube to probe river currents for smallmouths. There are many options for fishing tubes, and more lure choices than I can count. But I think size does matter in certain situations. For example, I frequently go with a small profile Venom Finesse Tube for cold-water smallmouths in rivers, a large profile Poor Boy’s Tube for Erie smallmouths, and a 4-inch Yum Tube for other applications.





11. Grub: In today’s highly energized world of competitive fishing, the simple grub is often overlooked, likely because it is fished with spinning tackle – something pros don’t like to use. However, give me good spinning outfit with quality 6-pound line, and I’m comfortable fishing a grub with a steady do-nothing retrieve in a variety of waters for bass of any size. As for brands, make sure the tail is thin enough for proper swimming action. I carry both the 4-inch Venom Galida Grubz (a ribbed body) and the 5-inch Kalin Lunker Grub.





12. Stick worm: This extremely versatile bait, tapered on both ends, is known by many names. Yum Dinger is the one I use most often in 4- and 5-inch sizes. A stick worm is frequently fished weightless in relatively shallow water – rigged either Tex-posed or wacky style; the slow fall with slight tail wiggle is very enticing to bass in a negative attitude. But you can also fish it on a drop-shot rig, on a mushroom head along weed lines, on a shaky jighead for deeper water, and the possibilities go on.





13. Soft swimbait: The hollow-belly soft swimbait has been the rage among bass anglers for about four seasons. But this past year, Sebile brought the Magic Swimmer Soft with a jointed soft body and detailed lifelike patterns. Once you see it in action, you may never fish another brand of swim bait. I’ve only used it last fall and early this spring, and it has already made my most deadly lure list. For me, the Sebile bait produces big bass during cool-water periods when I normally throw a lipless rattle bait.