Best Bass Lures For Any Conditions

No matter your fishing style or the conditions on the water, we gathered up the best bass lures to land largemouths and smallies.

Fishing’s a big, messy subject, and there are a lot of lures and even more opinions about which ones are the best. After years spent on Lake Champlain and fishing around the country, I’ve narrowed down a handful of baits that actually catch fish. This guide isn’t a catalog of everything new; it’s my go-to list: a mix of relevant new baits and historical favorites I still reach for when I need a bite. I’ll break it down by category and tell you why each lure earns a spot in my box, how I fish it, and when I like to reach for it. Nothing fancy, just stuff that works.

How I Chose These Lures

I’ve spent years chasing bass and fishing a wide variety of baits in different conditions. Over time, I’ve learned which lures consistently produce and have become staples in my tackle box. For this list, I focused on baits that have proven themselves over multiple seasons and situations, including a mix of relevant new releases and tried-and-true favorites that have been productive for the last few years. In judging these baits, I considered consistency, versatility across water conditions and techniques, action in the water, durability, and my personal experience with each lure. While every angler has their own preferences for their favorite body of water, this list reflects my firsthand experience and the baits I trust to get results season after season.

Best Bass Lures

• Best Bass Lure for Smallmouth: Beast Coast O.W. Sniper
• Best Bass Lure for Largemouth: Z-Man Jackhammer
• Best Topwater Bass Lures: Evergreen Shower Blow
• Best Jerkbait for Bass: Megabass Vision 110
• Best Dropshot Bass Baits: Berkley MaxScent Flatworm
• Best Jigs for Bass: Beast Coast Lil’ Magnum Jig
• Best Spinnerbaits for Bass: Red Dirt Bait Spinnerbait
• Best Crankbaits for Bass: Rapala DT Series
• Best Swimbaits for Bass: Keitech Swing Impact FAT Swimbait
• Bass Lures for Beginners: Berkley MaxScent General

Best Bass Lure for Smallmouth — Beast Coast O.W. Sniper

While mostly known in the Northeast for dominating major tournaments on Lake Champlain, Candlewood Lake and the St. Lawrence River, the Beast Coast O.W. (open water) Sniper jig is often utilized by pro anglers and not generally talked about. A finesse jig with no weed guard, the Sniper is built for rocky terrain with the tungsten-compound head that allows for slow drags and minimal hang-ups. It features a durable, hand-tied skirt and a super-sharp 2/0 BKK hook, with a double-barb hook keeper to keep trailers in place, even on short strikes.

Available in 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 ounce sizes, the Sniper can be fished on either a spinning or casting rod, and is an easy meal for smallmouth. There are several tried-and-true jigs for smallmouth bass, but the O.W. Sniper is the first bait I reach for when I need a bite. It is simple to throw, comes through rock and light vegetation with ease, and is very easy to detect a bite. The BKK makes hookups easy, even on a spinning rod, and the bait is oftentimes hooked right in the top of the mouth, making it easy to get fish in the boat.

O.W. Sniper Deals

Scheels

$8

Best Bass Lure for Largemouth — Z-Man Jackhammer

While a bladed jig is extremely effective for largemouth, it also doubles as a killer option for smallmouth. There are several options on the market from brands like Strike King, Berkley, Z-Man, Picasso and more. The best of the best is the Z-Man/Evergreen Chatterbait Jackhammer.

With its quick vibrations and hunting action, the blade-to-head contact creates a chattering noise, drawing fish from both near and far. With premium components, pro input in design, and the backing of two brands — Evergreen and Z-Man — it is the most consistent and effective bladed jig I’ve used. Whether fished fast, slow, or worked in and out of the grass, it draws reaction strikes and performs in a wide range of conditions.

Jackhammer

Scheels	$19
Sportsman’s Warehouse	$20

Best Topwater Bass Lure — Evergreen Shower Blow

When it comes to topwater fishing, there are a lot of options — technically we could consider frogs and other baits. For this test, I opted for hard baits, such as poppers, ploppers and walking-style baits. Frankly, a plopping-style bait could have been here simply for ease of use, but I have had so much luck over the last few years with an Evergreen Shower Blow, I had no choice but to go that route.

Available in a few different sizes, I typically opt for the larger 125 size. For both smallmouth and largemouth, this bait flat-out catches them. With a loud knock, recognizable in the midst of a wide dog-walking action, the pencil-popper style bait splashes, spits and causes a commotion on the surface. It can be walked with little to no effort, casts like a dream with built-in tungsten weights, and typically hooks fish that slap at the bait.

Shower Blow Deals

Midway USA

$22

Best Jerkbait for Bass — Megabass Vision 110

While I am admittedly more familiar with other jerkbaits such as the Berkley Stunna, Lucky Craft Pointer or Rapala and Lucky-Strike, one of the best and most renowned is the Vision series from Megabass. Megabass set the bar high with the Vision series and it became a staple across the fishing industry.

When I fished the Vision this spring and summer, I really enjoyed its premium feel and broad color palette. The Vision 110 dives 4 to 6 feet, which was perfect to stay above bottom vegetation on shallow reefs and humps where schools of post-spawn smallmouth were hanging out. I had no problem casting into the wind, and the internal tungsten system gives the bait crisp, flashy darting action with short twitches of the rod, keeping it in the strike zone longer.

Scheels	$25
Sportsman’s Warehouse	$28

Best Dropshot Bass Baits — Berkley MaxScent Flatworm

Likely an obvious pick for dropshot fishing, the Berkley MaxScent Flatworm is a standard when smallmouth bass are present. From the lifelike action on short line shakes, the natural fall on slack line, and of course, the MaxScent dispersion, the Flatworm is a must-have when finesse fishing for finicky largemouth and smallmouth bass.

The material is soft yet durable, lasting for a few fish at a time, and the flat bottom and realistic minnow profile allows for a presentation that bass cannot resist. The Flatworm is responsible for numerous tournament wins, and for weekend warriors to seasoned pros, this bait will get bit when others will not. PowerBait MaxScent formula is designed to catch more fish, and while it’s hard to quantify exactly, when things get tough, the Flatworm will gets bites.

MaxScent Flatworm Deals

Midway USA	$23
Scheels	$9

Best Jigs for Bass — Beast Coast Lil’ Magnum Jig

Being from the North, I am extremely familiar with Beast Coast products, and again, when it comes to flipping jigs, the Tungsten Lil’ Magnum Jig is almost always my go-to, especially when tournament fishing. As an angler, I do enjoy testing and fishing a variety of new products, and a close second is the Outkast Tackle Cage Fighter Tungsten Jig. Previously designed by Seth Feider, the Outkast jig fishes extremely well, and if skipping under skinny docks is necessary, the Cage Fighter is a solid option.

For anything else — grass or rocks mainly — the Lil’ Magnum is easily the best in my box. From the weight-forward design to the custom recessed vertical line tie, which allows for easy in-and-out of grass mats, the jig will easily shimmy through thick vegetation without needing to upsize the weight. The skirt is both wired-tied and banded, meaning you can trim it to length and forget about it ever coming apart. Paired with a Berkley MaxScent Chigger Craw trailer, this bait is tied on 100% of the time, often on multiple rods, and is responsible for many of my biggest bass over the past several years. The double wire keeper holds trailers in place, generally outlasting the trailer itself, and the BKK hook stays sharp longer, allowing anglers to use the same jig on multiple trips.

Lil’ Magnum Jig Deals

Scheels

$8

Best Spinnerbaits for Bass — Red Dirt Bait Spinnerbait

There are plenty of solid spinnerbait options on the market from all the leading manufacturers like Strike King, Berkley, Booyah, Bassman, War Eagle, Terminator, and Nichols, and even more mom-and-pop bait builders. While most anglers  have likely not heard of Red Dirt spinnerbaits, those that have know the deal. Made on demand in a small shop in Indiana, Red Dirt designed their bait slightly differently than many wire-bait manufacturers. Using a wire that’s roughly 70% titanium, Red Dirt claims the bait to be tunable with a simple bend of the wire. When a fish bites and bends the bait, simply bend it back to shape and keep fishing.

After years of use, their claim is true, and to this day, I still have several of the original baits I purchased years ago, and while there is hardly any paint left on the head or blades, the bait still produces. Since they are custom-made on demand, the color combination options are endless. I have caught hundreds of smallmouth on single lures, and while not fully indestructible, the tunable baits have a special character about them once broken in.

Red Dirt Spinner Deals

Red Dirt Bait Company

$9

Best Crankbaits for Bass — Rapala DT Series

While admittedly I do not throw a crankbait as much as I once did, there are still times in the spring and fall when it is necessary, and I will throw one for both smallmouth and largemouth. Growing up, I mainly fished squarebills for shallow largemouth, but now it’s become a multispecies option. In 2021, I fished a tournament, and my partner got locked into a solid bite with a Rapala DT-10. We were fishing steep, rocky banks and catching numbers of good quality bass. Since then, DTs have been a staple in my box, and whenever I reach for a crankbait, it’s generally a DT of some sort.

With a solid wobble, due to the carefully placed internal weights, tapered design and skinny tail, the DT was built to get down to depth quickly, keeping the bait in the strike zone longer. It is built to cast long distances, but the quick dive bill allows for short, precise casts when paralleling tight curved shorelines or fishing around timber and boulders. It dives quickly, and is consistent on the retrieve. With VMC hooks, even short strikes become catches.

DT Series Deals

Midway USA	$10
Scheels	$10

Best Swimbaits for Bass — Keitech Swing Impact FAT Swimbait

While the swimbait market is broad, with custom-built gliders and large hard and soft-body swimbaits, I am going to narrow this one down a bit to soft plastic swimbaits. Everyone makes a small ribbed swimbait, but the one I reach for is the Keitech Swing Impact FAT swimbait. It’s available in eight sizes between 2.8 and 7.8 inches, meaning that regardless of the situation, there is a size/color combo available.

With this bait, it’s a one-two punch. For smallmouth, the main presentation is rigged on a ball-head jig and cast and retrieved slowly while covering water. For largemouths, oftentimes rigging one as a football jig trailer or as a bladed jig trailer is where I apply it. It balances well at both fast and slow retrieves, and will not burn out. The oversized paddle tail creates a swinging action, with a subtle roll, giving the fish plenty to be interested in.

Impact FAT Swimbait Deals

Sportsman’s Warehouse	$8
Scheels	$6

Bass Lures for Beginners — Yamamoto Senko

It should be no surprise that the best beginner lure is a stickbait, and one of the best is the Yamamoto 5-inch Senko. When Gary Yamamoto designed the first model in the 1990s, I couldn’t imagine he knew the long-lasting effects it would have on the fishing industry. Today, there are stick baits designed by almost every manufacturer, and the term “Senko” is used to describe the stickbait category as a whole, all credited to the first ever by Yamamoto. To this day, it has to be one of the easiest, do-nothing, simple and effective lures for all anglers, responsible for fish catches in every body of water.

Of the many on the market, nothing can replicate the original bait that changed the fishing industry. Baits like the Yum Dinger, the Berkley General or the Rapala Pig Stick are all different in their own way, with different fall rates, scent dispersion and action while the bait falls. Depending on the application, I do opt for a few different brand “senkos” and each one serves a purpose, but if you need one, Yamamoto still gets it done.

Senko Deals

Scheels	$8
Amazon	$7

In Conclusion

New lures hit the water every season, and I’m always testing new shapes, colors and scents to see what actually catches fish. Toss a few picks from this list in your box next trip to keep things interesting, and they’ll up your chances next time you head to the water.

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