Freshwater Tackle Top Pics...

[bman]

I have a buddy that usually fishes salt but wants to start fishing for bass...
I told him to start with his salt water top waters and jerk baits.

What would be your top 5 bass lures for a new bass fisherman?
Mine are
Sammy or Zara Spook
Headdon Tiny Torpedo
Bass Assassin Jerk Bait
Black Plastic worm
Buzz Bait

[Flint River Pirate]

Black plastic worm
Shallow running crankbaits
Spinner bait ( white with dual Willow blades)
Carolina rigged 10 inch worm
Rooster tail (in case nothing else worked)

[fishinfool]

Blue Shad plastic worm
Spinner Bait
Zara Spook
Topwater weedless frog
Rattle trap

[wevans]

Devil Horse
Rattlin Rouge "floater/diver"
Black worm for dark water, Punkin Seed or Watermellon for lighter water

[big bend gyrene]

Midnight blue plastic worm
Purple plastic worm
Black plastic worm
Brown plastic worm
Then back to the midnight blue plastic worm again...

Semi-joking aside, going to second Flint River Pirate's rooster tail spinner bait. Not necessarily for catching big bass, but if wanting just to catch any sized bass in general hard to beat plastic worms and rooster tails.

[kikstand454]

Well...its all seasonal of course....
But day in day out id have to say~

Black zoom trick worm
Watermelon red zoom trick worm
Sexy shad shallow crank
Bone heddon spook
Black and blue 3/8oz. Jig (I like a.t. jigs)

Honorable mention: 7in junebug paddletail w/16th oz. Bullet sinker.

Those produce the most for me in 90% of situations. Bigger/heavier for deeper water....darker or lighter for water color. Etc.

[Bizzarley]

Although I agree with the collection of plastic baits, the first (and still favorite) bait that I used for catching bass was various sizes of Rapalas. I have caught bass on every one from the smallest to some pretty big ones.

[Harmsway]

You should ask Carl Dyess; seen here (on right) when he won the first official B.A.S.S tournament on Lake Seminole February 1968.

BASS 1968 Seminole_Carl Dyess.jpg (53.64 KiB) Viewed 2630 times

[tin can]

Weightless stick worm
Frog
rattle trap
Any color Texas rigged worm as long as it's black and blue.
Carolina rigged stick worm or lizard, any color as long as it's black and blue

[Atticus]

Weightless stick worm

If this is a Senko = that is what I use. Wacky rigged.

The color I throw is called "cinnamon" with some glitter flakes

[J Holden]

Devil Horse
Rattlin Rouge "floater/diver"
Black worm for dark water, Punkin Seed or Watermellon for lighter water

Good to see someone that respects the classics! I've killed bass on the Devil's Horse. They need a little tuning out of the package though.

Maybe it's heresy, but I don't even use worms for bass any more. I've gone to using fluke type soft plastics like the Gulp Jerk shad, Zoom Super Fluke, Bass Assassin, etc and for me found they produce better than plastic worms did. Small baitfish are mainly what bass eat, seems logical a bait resembling them would be a better choice than worms. They come from tiny to 7'' plus in every color of the rainbow and are every bit as weedless.


So with that said my 5 choices would be

-Big topwater plug- Devils Horse/ Zara Spook
-Soft Jerkbait, can be worked weightless over cover or weighted and crept on the bottom- Zoom Super/Magnum Fluke or Berkley Gulp if you don't mind the extra dough
-Frog.. every basser needs one, they draw BIG aggressive bass. I like Koppers Live Target Frogs.
-Buzzbait, I like Lunker Lure's 1/2oz in black or white
Crankbait- Tons of choices here.. Most anything depth appropriate from Rapala, Norman, etc is good. Don't think bill shape matters much.

[sosprey]

All great choices guys - mostly I make my decision based on the cover I'm fishing. A Rapala just doesen't work in lilly pads ! Just like in the salt I can't pass up the thrill of a big topwater strike so if the conditions permit I tie on a Devil's Horse and get my adrenaline pump on standby!

[Good Times]

Everyone up here is killing em on an Alabama Rig.