Largemouth bass are one of the most exciting species of fish to catch especially on artificial fishing lures. They strike aggressively, fight hard, and will often leap out of the water in stunning displays of acrobatics. 

They are one of the most popular gamefish in the world, attracting the attention of millions of anglers every year. There are tournaments, television shows, podcasts, and even video games dedicated to bass fishing. Every year, millions of dollars and hours spent on largemouth bass fishing.  

In this article, we’re going to lay out the what, why, and how of largemouth bass. You’ll learn about the species itself, as well as great methods for catching bass. 

Ready? Let’s dive in. 

What is a Largemouth Bass?

The largemouth bass is a freshwater gamefish that is part of the Centrarchidae family. It is a carnivorous fish that is indigenous to the eastern and central United States, as well as northern Mexico, although it can be found in many other locations as well. The largemouth bass is the largest of the black bass species. Georgia and Mississippi have named the largemouth the state fish, and Florida and Alabama have called it the state freshwater fish. 

In terms of color, it is greenish-gray. Dark blotches form a horizontal line that runs down each side of the fish. The top jaw extends past eye of the bass, and the bottom jaw juts out further than the top jaw. In other words, they have an enormous mouth, from whence they get their name. 

What are some nicknames for a largemouth bass?

Bigmouth bass, Black bass, Widemouth bass, Largies, Bucketmouth bass, Florida largemouth, Potter’s fish, Green trout, Gilsdorf bass, Southern largemouth, Oswego bass, and other regional names.

How long do largemouth bass live?

The growth rate of the largemouth bass depends on a variety of conditions, including the food supply and the surrounding environment. Under ideal conditions, they will grow as much as two pounds in their first year. The average rate of growth is approximately 0.5 pounds per year.

What is considered a trophy largemouth bass?

In some ways, this depends on where the fish are caught. Northern largemouth typically top out at about 10 pounds, while in the South, a female largemouth bass can grow as large as 20 pounds. Usually, anything between 8-20 pounds would be considered a trophy bass.

There is an argument that to be considered a trophy largemouth bass, the fish must be at least 51% of the world record. This idea would mean that a bass would need to weigh at least 11 pounds, 3 ounces to be considered a trophy. However, this is not an agreed-upon definition. You could say that a trophy bass is in the eyes of the beholder.

What is the current world record largemouth bass?

The current world record for the giant largemouth is a two-way tie. In 1932, George Perry caught a bass that weighed in at 22 pounds, 4 ounces. In 2009, Manabu Kurita caught a largemouth bass in Japan that weighed the same amount.

What do largemouth bass eat?

Largemouth bass are carnivorous fish, and they feed on a wide variety of prey. When they’re smaller, they feed on things like small baitfish, small shrimp, insects, and scuds. As they grow, they begin to consume smaller fish (like bluegill), crawfish, frogs, snakes, snails, shad, little water birds, bats, and even baby alligators.

Adult bass that live in larger lakes and reservoirs tend to occupy deeper water than younger bass, and their diet reflects this. They primarily eat small fish (shad, yellow perch, shiners, sunfish, etc.) and the younger members of larger species of fish (catfish, trout, walleye, etc.). Amazingly, bass can consume prey that are greater than 50% of their length.

Largemouth bass tend to grow slower in weedy waters because it’s more difficult for them to find and catch food. However, if there is no cover at all, bass can completely wipe out the population of prey, and thus effectively starve themselves.

What is the best bait for largemouth bass?

In terms of live bait, fish (like shiners, minnows, or shad) and crawfish work very well since these are what bass usually eat. 

Because largemouth bass are carnivorous, the best artificial baits tend to be those that mimic their prey in some way. 

Bass are aggressive predators and will also attack a wide variety of artificial baits. If you look at the most used lures, you’ll notice that they don’t all look precisely like the natural prey of the bass. The key is that each bait has some specific feature that attracts bass, such as flashing in the light. 

What are the best artificial baits for bass?

Some popular artificial baits for bass:

Jigs

Jig – Jigs are weighted lures that usually have some skirt that pulses in the water and attracts the bass. They can be used year-round, able to catch bass in everything from 50-degree weather to 90-degree weather. They can be used in shallow or deep water and are useful in a variety of environments, including everything steep underwater banks to shoreline grasses. 

Crankbaits

Crankbait – Crankbaits often look like small fish or crayfish. They have a lip on the front that causes them to dive underwater and wobble as they are retrieved. They work in almost all types of weather and can be used in a variety of depths of water. 

Jerkbaits

Jerkbaits – Jerkbaits sit on top of the water. By jerking the rod, anglers can give the jerkbait a lifelike action, making it attractive to the bass. They tend to work well in clear water, cold water, or when bass are actively feeding on baitfish. They are useful in a variety of weather and conditions. 

Rubber Worms

Rubber worm – Rubber worms can be used in a wide variety of conditions, making them enormously popular with anglers. They can be rigged in various ways, allowing them to be used in both deep and shallow water. Conventional methods of rigging rubber worms include the Carolina rig, Texas rig, drop shot, and weightless.

Rubber Prey Baits

Rubber Prey Baits – In addition to the rubber worm, anglers also use rubber baits that accurately mimic the prey of the largemouth bass. This includes rubber crawfish, rubber salamanders, and rubber frogs. Like worms, rubber prey can be rigged in a huge variety of ways, making them useful in many different environments. 

Spinnerbaits

Spinnerbait – Spinnerbaits have metal blades on them that rotate when pulled through the water. The rotating blades catch and reflect the light, which makes them look like baitfish to largemouth bass. They also have rubber skirts which flutter in the water, further attracting bass. They can be used in deep or shallow water, as well as in a variety of environments. 

Swimbaits

Swimbait – Swimbaits are known for having particularly lifelike action. Their tail shakes when retrieved, and they also have a natural rolling motion. This is a deadly combination; these two actions create vibrations in the water that attract bass. They can be fished in a variety of depths of water. ‘

Within each of the above categories, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of lures available.

How do you catch a largemouth bass?

Largemouth bass can be caught in a wide variety of ways, and the “best” way usually depends on the current conditions. The best way to catch a largemouth bass is to carefully examine the current conditions and then adapt your tackle and fishing style to those conditions.

For example, during the spring (spawning season), as well as during summer mornings and winter afternoons, bass can often be found closer to the shore. They are caught around different types of structure, such as vegetation, docks, fallen trees, etc. During other periods, larger bass tend to hang out in deeper water.

How do you catch a largemouth bass in cold water?

In colder water, bass are more lethargic and are usually caught using a slower retrieve. When the water warms up, bass are more active and are more apt to bite a lure moving more quickly.

Usually, bass favor areas that offer some form of cover, like vegetation, fallen trees, or brush. They can occasionally be found in open water, but this isn’t the norm. Catching bass often requires throwing a lure or live bait near or into cover. Because of this, you’ll need to select lures that are easily fished in cover.

Thankfully, there is no single right way to catch largemouth bass. Because they’re aggressive, they’ll often strike at lures even if they’re not actively feeding. The key is always to be analyzing the environmental and water conditions and then adjust appropriately.

When do largemouth bass spawn?

Largemouth bath typically spawn when the water temperature is between 55 and 65 degrees. Usually, this is in spring to early summer, depending on the location. When the water temperature moves above 45 degrees, they’ll start moving from deep water into shallower waters. Spawning happens in shallower water in areas that receive direct sunlight. This is often within 10 feet of the shore in depths of 1 to 6 feet.

When choosing a spawning bed, male bass often look for areas that are easy to defend, such as next to a rock, sunken log, or group of bulrushes. Nests are usually about twice the length of the male bass and look like black or white patches, depending on what the bottom of the lake looks like. Largemouth bass typically prefer gravel, sand, or muck bottoms for their spawning beds.

After the fertilized eggs are in the nest, the male bass will guard the nest until the eggs hatch. It also may stay with the nest until the baby bass are ready to swim out on their own, although this depends on the water temperature.

When are largemouth bass most active?

Because bass are cold-blooded, they are most active in warm water. In warm water, bass metabolisms are faster, meaning they use more energy and must eat more. When they’re feeding, they’re easier to catch.

Variations in the seasons and temperature play a significant role in how active bass are and where they can be found. During spring and early summer, as the water is warming, they become much more active and can be caught in shallower water.

During the hot temperatures of summer, bass are still active, but they usually move toward deeper water. As fall approaches and the water begins to cool, largemouth bass can again be found in shallower waters. During winter months, when the water is coldest, bass are less active, although they can certainly still be caught.

When is the best time to fish for largemouth bass?

The best time of day to fish for largemouth bass is usually early morning (dawn until 8:00 AM) and evening (5:30 PM until dusk), although this certainly isn’t a hard and fast rule.

Bass are visual predators, relying on their keen sense of eyesight to help them identify and attack prey. They can see better in low-light conditions than most of the prey they hunt, which is one reason why early morning and evening tend to be particularly good times for fishing. Bass can ambush their prey without first being spotted.

Get out there and get fishing!

Bass fishing is rewarding for every type of fisherman, from the new angler to the seasoned expert. They’re aggressive enough that even inexperienced anglers can have great success catching them. Yet they’re also smart enough to give professional anglers a challenge.

Don’t wait any longer. Get out there and catch some largemouth bass! If you don’t know how to catch a bass book with one of our freshwater guides.

What are the best lures for Bass fishing? And, what are the most popular lures for Bass fishing?  Are they the same? Some of them are, but just because they’re popular, doesn’t mean they’re the best.

In this video, I describe what I believe are the best all-around lures for Bass fishing vs. the most popular lures for Bass fishing.  You’ll probably disagree with some of my opinions, but that’s okay. Leave me some comments and let me know what you think.

What’s up, guys? In today’s video, I’m gonna talk about some of the best lures for bass fishing versus some of the most popular lures for bass fishing and how those are not the same. Before I get started, go down and click that little subscribe button in the right-hand corner of your screen and hit that little bell so you know when I put a new video out. So let’s get started.

What Is The Most Popular Lure For Bass Fishing? The Frog 

00:26: All right, so let’s go ahead and talk about the most obvious, probably, what is the most popular lure in bass fishing? Definitely, not the best lure in bass fishing, but the most popular. And that would be the frog. It’s a very versatile bait. You can use in open water, up in grass, near docks, down a riprap, around boat ramps, all over the place. Very popular. Everybody wants to catch them on a frog. If I started a lure company, if I started my own lure company, I’d probably only make frogs for the first three years, because everybody buys frogs and everybody always wants to buy the newest and latest and greatest frogs. Here’s one from Lunkerhunt, I can’t wait to try that. I love frog fishing. I caught a 9lb 13oz earlier this year on a frog in a private lake. Did a video on it, I’ll post the link to that video in the description.

But anyway, it’s not the most or the best lure for bass fishing. One: It doesn’t work all the time and it doesn’t work everywhere you go. Some places it’s seasonal, some places people never catch them on frogs. And the biggest thing with frogs, it’s a very low hookup ratio. Everybody’s expecting that bite. When that bite finally comes, when they finally get that big giant explosion on the frog, first thing they do is they rip it right out of its way before it’s even in its mouth. So very low hookup ratio with frog fishing. I know people are gonna disagree with me on that, but go right ahead. Leave it in the… Tell me all about it in the comments. How you disagree with me. But this is definitely one of, if not the most popular lure in bass fishing, and I have bunches of them, ’cause I do like frog fishing, but it’s not the best.

What Is The Best Lure For Bass Fishing? The Fluke 

02:18: Let’s get into what is some of the best lures in bass fishing. That’ll be the pattern for this video. We’ll talk about a popular lure and then one of the best lures. One of the best lures in bass fishing, and I know people are definitely gonna disagree with me on this, and that is great, is the fluke. The fluke is made by Zoom. The super fluke, the fluke is made by Zoom. This is made by Bitter’s, a local company. It is not a fluke, but everybody refers to them as a fluke or a soft plastic jerkbait. It’s a fluke. That’s what it is. The fluke is probably one of the best lures for bass fishing because it can be thrown in a variety of locations, around docks, down riprap, around boat ramps, out in open water, through the grass. You can fish a fluke in a lot of the same places you can fish a frog, but it’s not as intrusive and it’s a little more enticing.

03:06 Speaker 1: Again, a lot of you guys have seen my video on how to fish a fluke, my favorite color is watermelon red. I do throw other colors, but I love watermelon red. I’ve caught them in lakes, as far West as Texas, all the way up to Upstate New York, Michigan and every place in between, a lot here in Florida on a fluke. You can fish them with a small weight on them. You can fish them on an underspin. People put them on umbrella rigs. People Texas rig them. People Carolina rig them. And I like to fish them weightless on a 4/0 offset extra-wide gap hook, dead sticking it. You can work them on the surface, you can work them under the water, like I said. One of the best, most versatile baits in bass fishing, is the fluke or the soft plastic jerkbait, ’cause this is not an actual fluke. This is made by Bitter’s. But that, in my opinion, is one of the best lures for bass fishing. Easy to fish. Tons of videos out there on how to fish a fluke. I have a video out there, but definitely one of the best lures in bass fishing. Let me know what you think. On to one of the more popular lures in bass fishing.

Topwater Lures: Best & Most Popular

04:18 Speaker 1: Next, I’m gonna talk about topwater lures. And I kinda struggle with which category to put these in, whether it’s most popular… It is one of the most popular techniques or one of the most popular lures for bass fishing, but it’s also kind of one of the best because you can catch fish in a lot of different areas throughout the year on a lot of different types of bodies of water with topwater lures. So I’m not really sure which category to put this in. They don’t bite topwater all the time. The conditions have to be right. A lot of early morning, overcast, cloudy days like this. But also hot and sunny days where there’s no wind and no clouds in the middle of the summer, they will hit a topwater plug.

05:01 Speaker 1: But you have probably one of the most popular type topwater lures out that’s been out for a while. It’s actually been out for years and years and years, but made a big-time come back the last few years, is the Whopper Plopper. This is a Berkley, the plopper. Basically, a Whopper Plopper. People love fishing those. One of the reasons I probably wouldn’t say it’s the best is because those big treble hooks right there are gonna hang up in all kinds of stuff. So you’ve got to fish them in relatively open water or close to cover, but you can’t really throw that up in cover. Topwater plugs, you have your Whopper Plopper type baits, you have your walking baits, like this Dual Pitch here from 13 Fishing, a Whopper… Walking type bait. This is the 108, the 94, this is a Berkley one. These are all versions of the original Zara Spook that’s been developed over the years. One of the reasons the Spook has been copied so much is because it’s a very good bait.

06:03 Speaker 1: Again, I don’t know if it’s the best or the most popular. We’ll put this in a category of one of the best, most popular baits in bass fishing, topwater plugs. You also got your popping baits and your prop baits, can’t forget the prop baits, like the Devil’s Horse. I don’t have any Devil’s Horses in this box but this is one by Berkley. The Spin Rocket, a dual prop bait. Love fishing topwater. Easy to use. Hundreds of different types of topwater lures. You can use them all over the place, smallmouth, largemouth bass, spotted bass, all hit topwater. Striped bass hit topwater, we don’t want to leave out the stripers. We want to include everybody. But we’ll throw that in both categories of the most popular and one of the best lures for bass fishing. So not to hurt any of these top water enthusiasts’ feelings. Best and most popular.

07:08 Speaker 1: So here’s another one. Now that I think about it, it’s probably one of the most popular and definitely throughout this whole country, probably, probably one of the best lures for bass fishing and that is the old standby. Everybody’s caught a fish on one Texas rig worm. They’re inexpensive. They make them in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. You have your trick worm type. This is a DOA lures, eight-inch CAL, it’s a trick worm. You have your ribbon tail worms, you have paddle tail worms, you have curl tail worms, you’ve got worms all over the place. You go into a tackle store, and they’re gonna have more rows and selections of soft plastic worms than anything. And there’s a variety of ways to fish them. You have your wacky rig, you have weightless, the floating worms. But as far as plastic worms go… There’s a fish blowing up on the surface over here. But as far as plastic worms go, the most popular way they’re fished is probably Texas rig.

08:21 Speaker 1: You have your screw and bullet weights, like I like. You have… You can just put a regular bullet weight on there. This is a little heavy metal tungsten weight with a bobber stopper and a 4/0 hook. These can be fished all over the place. I’ve caught them all over the country on a Texas rig worm. So just like the last one, it’s probably one of the most popular but it’s definitely one of the best lures for bass fishing. If you’re just starting out and you need to get confidence in catching fish, tie on a Texas rig worm. I promise you, it’ll work in your lake. Can be fished around docks, around boat ramps, around riprap, rocky points, shell beds, up in the grass, around grass. You can pitch them, you can make long cast, you can skip worms, you can do all kinds of stuff with them. Very versatile. Works for all three major species of bass: Large mouth, small mouth and spotted bass.

09:15 Speaker 1: The Texas rig worm: I’m not gonna go in depth in it because I’m trying to cover a bunch of baits. Texas rig worm, probably one of the most popular and best lures in bass fishing. But where I would lean it more towards the most or the best and take it out of the most popular is because it is a very slow and methodical lure to fish. And people get bored of fishing and people don’t have patience anymore. Everybody’s a power fisherman. Not everybody can be Kevin VanDam, the power fisherman. It takes a lot of patience to fish the Texas rig worm, because a lot of times, you’re dragging them or slow hopping them. So it takes a lot of patience. And that’s why I would take it out of the most popular lure in bass fishing category and put it into one of the best because there’s probably been more tournaments in the history of bass fishing tournaments, fished on some variety of a plastic or Texas rig worm than any other lure there is. Close call with the next lure I’m gonna talk about but we’ll lean this more towards best and take it out of the most popular.

10:27 Speaker 1: On to the next one. This next lure is probably one of the most controversial lures of recent years. I don’t really know which category to put it in. I think it created so much controversy because it worked so well. It doesn’t work everywhere you go and it doesn’t work all year long in a lot of places. So I would kind of take it out of the best category there because you can’t throw it in a variety of situations. It doesn’t work well around heavy cover at all. It works better in cooler, deeper water. I did a video on it, recently. It is a very popular bait. It was more popular until they outlawed it in most of your major tournaments, like Bassmaster and FLW. And I’m sure it is not legal in the MLF tour, but it is the umbrella rig, or Alabama rig, as it’s also popularly known. I love throwing this thing. I learned how to fish it, I learned how to catch. I had an opportunity to do really well in a Bassmaster Tournament up in Tennessee, until I had some motor problems on the second day. Several years ago, about five years ago.

11:46 Speaker 1: The umbrella rig, people… It’s one of those lures that people love to hate. I meet people that hate it. And I find that most people hate it because they never learned how to fish it. They were beat down badly in tournaments by people throwing umbrella rigs. And they got it outlawed. A lot of whining about the umbrella rig. I like it. Not sure… Let’s put this in a category I didn’t talk about. Let’s put it in the most hated category. Even though, I love to fish it. People love to hate it, hate to love it, but it works. There’s not many lures that you catch multiple fish on one cast. You’ll have your occasional top water plug, where you get one on the front hook, one on the back hook. A lipless crank bait or a crank bait, but these are known for catching multiple bass at a time. So, a lure that can regularly catch multiple bass at a time and wins lots of tournaments and when the bite is on, and you have a 200-boat tournament and every single boat in the top 20 catches them on an umbrella rig or an Alabama rig, you have to put it up there with the best. Most popular? No, because people don’t like to fish them, you have to throw them with big heavy rods.

12:55 Speaker 1: Here I have a seven-foot, 11 heavy action, 13 fishing muse with 50… I think this is a 50-pound braid, and you got to wing it out there. So lot of people, especially people that don’t use bait casters are not gonna lean towards throwing an umbrella rig or an Alabama rig. So we’ll put this in its own little category by itself as the most hated, or most love to hate, hate it to love. Leaning towards one of the best lures of all time, because it won so much money in tournaments in a short period of time before people whined and cried it right out of the tournament trails. So umbrella rig, I love it. Let me know what you think about an umbrella rig. On to the next one.

13:37 Speaker 1: Moving on. Let’s talk about one of the best baits. It’s popular, but again, it can be slow and methodical so a lot of people don’t like to fish it. You can’t catch them everywhere you go in the country on it, but when I leave the state of Florida, I seem to always have one tied on. For a time, Denny Brauer was the all-time leading money-winner in Bassmaster’s history and he fishes with jigs. Jigs, and there’s all kinds of jigs, there’s shaky head jigs, there’s jigs with just grubs on them. But when most bass fishermen talk about a jig, they’re talking about your standard, here’s a BOOYAH jig. Let me get this out of the… This is a bankroll jig. Hundreds of different varieties of jigs. Flipping jigs, casting jigs, skipping jigs, shaky head jigs. I’m leaving some out. Swim jigs and kinda hard to throw it in the category of jigs, but the bladed jig. I guess it is a jig but it’s not really a jig. Chatterbait, bladed jig.

14:56 Speaker 1: Jigs: Probably more money won in tournaments around this country throwing a jig than any other lure there is. I don’t throw ’em a lot here in Florida. We have a lot of grass and to be honest with you, aside from the occasional flipping or punching jig or occasionally during the bluegill spawn, if we don’t have a lot of hydrilla on the Kissimmee chain and the bluegill are spawning right outside the Kissimmee grass edges, you can pitch a big jig with a whole gambler crawdaddy on it, right down those grass lines. And I think the bass think it’s a bluegill running up and down and we’ll catch some really big bass.

15:36 Speaker 1: Anyway, the jig is probably one of the best, most productive, most versatile lures in bass fishing because it can be fished so many different ways. You can throw it without a trailer. Most people put trailers on them. Different varieties of trailers, creature baits. People will put frogs on the back of jigs, you can… With soft body frogs, people will put swim baits… Well, this is a bladed jig and it has like a little swimming fluke on the back but people will put those on your standard casting jigs. They make them up to two ounces, probably bigger than that. You have your little skipping jigs. Finesse jigs, you can fish them around rocks, you can fish them around docks, you can fish them in grass, you can fish them on shell-beds, you can fish them on boat ramps, you can fish them on humps. Just about everywhere. They work everywhere you go. I’ve caught fish on them on Lake Champlain up in Upstate New York, on the Douglas… On Lake Douglas in Tennessee. I’ve caught ’em on Lake Norman.

16:38 Speaker 1: Jigs are probably one of the most productive baits there is. They can be… You can drag ’em. You can hop ’em. You can skip ’em, do a bunch of different stuff with jigs. Don’t fish ’em a lot here, probably should ’cause I love fishing ’em. I’ve got boxes of them, varieties of jigs. But probably one of the best, if not the best lure in bass fishing is a jig. And let me know if you disagree with that because I’m sure you will. I’m not saying it’s the best for everybody, but overall, throughout the country, jig’s probably one of the best lures for bass fishing. Fished a variety of ways. Fish ’em in brush piles. I probably should try that on some of the brush piles I fish, instead of just throwing a worm all the time. But let’s move on to another lure.

17:33 Speaker 1: So moving right along. If I didn’t talk about crankbaits in this video in the best bass fishing lures versus the most popular bass fishing lures, people would have a heart attack. Crankbaits: Again, one of those lures that might fall into both categories. They’ve been out forever. I’m sure any old grandpa tackle box you find in the corner of a garage that hasn’t been touched in 20 years, that you open up is gonna have a crankbait in it. Every kid, when he gets his first lures, they start throwing crankbaits. They do take some skill to learn how to fish ’cause most of the time, with a crankbait, you’re not just gonna throw it out and reel it in. You have to… There’s a lot of different cadences. The ripping crankbaits, you can crank and pause, you have varieties of crankbaits, your square bill crankbaits, you have coffin bill, your round bill, like the shad rap here, these usually dive deeper.

18:35 Speaker 1: Crankbaits, you have lipless crankbaits. I love throwing lipless crankbaits, that is a crankbait, but not your standard. When people think of a crankbait like you see in this box here, they don’t think of a lipless crankbait. But a lipless crankbait, we’ll throw it in the category with crankbaits. Very versatile baits. You can catch them on all varieties of bass, large mouth, small mouth spotted bass, on crankbaits and lipless crankbaits. They have a variety… They have sinking crankbaits, floating crankbaits, suspending crankbaits. Various different types of bills, different sizes of bills that take the lures to different depths and about every type of color you can possibly think of from ones that are supposed to resemble shad patterns to your crawfish patterns. So they can represent or attempt to resemble many different types of food that bass eat. And I’ve caught a lot of fish on them. Love throwing a crankbait. Don’t get much opportunity to do it here in Florida, but I’ve caught a lot of fish on ’em and they’re great search baits.

19:42 Speaker 1: If you’re on a lake, and you don’t know where the fish are, if you need to cover a lot of water to find fish, crankbaits, lipped crankbaits and lipless crankbaits will get the job done most of the time. But I think because they’ve been out for so long, they wouldn’t hit the most popular, the most talked about lures out there because they’ve just been out for so long. Everybody makes a crankbait. They work. A lot of tournaments won on crankbaits but I rarely get anybody that calls me and says, “Hey, can we throw crankbaits today?” It’s always the frog. Frogs, frogs, frogs, frogs. So we’ll put that in one of the best categories and ot one of the most popular categories. Popular, but not one of the most popular crankbaits.

20:32 Speaker 1: Moving right along. This one’s gonna start some controversy. A lot of people are gonna disagree with me on it. But let’s talk about flipping and punching. Flipping and punching, what category am I gonna put that in? One of the best lures or techniques for bass fishing, or one of the most popular? I’m gonna put it in one of the most popular techniques for bass fishing, and by far not, one of the most, or the best lures for bass fishing. There’s gonna be a bunch of people that disagree with me on that. As a fishing guide, if I get a request from a different part of the country, or just randomly, about how are the fish biting? The question, how are the fish biting? One of the things… I’ve actually had people call me and go, “Are we gonna be frogging or punching?” Like those are the only two techniques we could possibly ever do here in Florida is frogging or punching. By punching… Punching’s kind of a newer term that’s come in in the past few years ’cause we always refer to it as flipping. And I guess, it’s kind of been separated out ’cause people flip wood, they flip docks, and we punch through grass, but it’s all kind of in the same category.

21:48 Speaker 1: Big heavy rods, which a lot of people don’t like to fish with. This is a 7 foot 11, extra heavy, 13 fishing rod, 65-pound braid. I only have a one ounce weight on here because we were punching through some scattered semi-heavy hydrilla a while back with a vile bug creature bait there. Most of the time when people are flipping or punching, they’re throwing creature baits. There’s other lures you can throw on there. The majority of the time, it’s some sort of craw or creature bait when we’re flipping or punching. It does work a lot, it doesn’t work all the time. There’s tournaments won on it, but not as many as you think are won flipping or punching. Have I had 20 and 30-fish days flipping or punching? Yes. I’ve had 30-fish days on Okeechobee, and on various lakes on the Kissimmee chain, so it can be productive. The majority of the time, you don’t get very many bites when you’re flipping or punching. As far as flipping and punching, lay downs and wood outside of Florida, other parts of Florida and some of your man-made TVA, Tennessee Valley Authority Lakes, it does work well.

23:05 Speaker 1: I still wouldn’t put it in the best… One of the best lures for bass fishing because, to be one of the best, it has to be something everybody can do, not everybody can do this. It doesn’t always happen. It is a technique that will let you down a lot of times. You go out and practice or pre-fish for a tournament and you get on a big flipping bite or a big punching bite. You’re all geared up, you’re gonna put a sack in that live well, 20 pounds, 30 pounds. Tournament time comes and those fish have moved, and you’re not gonna find them when you’re punching or flipping. You need to put on a search bait, like a crank bait or jerkbait, top water, that type of stuff. So I would put… So many people are gonna disagree with me on this. I would take this out of one of the best bass fishing lures and put it into one of the most popular. Am I saying don’t go do this? No, because I love flipping. I don’t get many opportunities to do it when I’m guiding. Love it, won some money flipping, punching, but not the best. Because not everybody can do it and it doesn’t work all the time everywhere we go and it can let you down. On to the next one.

24:14 Speaker 1: Okay, this is gonna be the last lure I talk about in the video. And I know I’m leaving some lures out, like jerkbaits and bladed jigs. Talk about those real quick. Everybody likes storm bladed jigs or chatterbaits. They work, very popular. It’s good bait. They don’t work everywhere you go and they don’t work all the time. Jerkbaits, versatile bait, moving bait. Don’t really… I don’t think the chatterbait and the jerkbait meet this category of best of anything. They’re just good overall baits. Don’t work all the time. Don’t work everywhere you go. I love throwing a chatterbait. I love throwing a jerkbait, but they’re kind of honorable mentions when you’re talking about best or most popular. Chatterbait or bladed jig will get way up there with the most popular but because a lot of people have never caught fish on them. Everybody talks about them. A lot of money has been won on them, but I’m not gonna put them up in the category of most popular or best because a lot of people have never learned how to fish them or don’t know how to fish them or on bodies of water where they don’t work very well.

25:16 Speaker 1: So anyway, this is gonna come to… This isn’t a very popular bait for a lot of people. A lot of times, people just say they’ve fished with them but they’ve never caught anything on them. I catch a lot of fish on them. I know guides, buddies of mine that have fished for a living that hate fishing with them, but you can cover a lot of water with them. A lot of tournaments are won on ’em. They work great. There’s some lakes where they work really well.

25:39 Speaker 1: And the spinner baits. Spinner baits, a lot of my videos, you’ve seen us catching fish on spinner baits. They work all year. They work in warm water, during the transition times of the year, like we’re getting into now, the fall. They work in the spring, during shad spawns, there’s varieties of them. This is your conventional spinner bait, one or two blades. I’ve fished them with as many as five blades on them. They make heavy deepwater spinner baits. They make them small, finesse spinner baits. This would be kind of your average spinner bait, two blades, 3/8 ounce. You can cover a lot of water with them. They’re not super intrusive. They do tend to work better here in Florida anyway, when you have some wind. I’ve been on lakes in other parts of the country where they’re just eating a spinner bait. It could be dead calm and sunny and crystal clear water and they’re gonna eat a spinner bait. What do the fish think they are? If you ask most people, they would think, they would say it was a small school of bait fish. The one thing you need to remember with bass is they don’t think, they react so I think it looks like food to them.

26:41 Speaker 1: Spinner baits: A lot of people don’t like fishing them. I’m about to go throw one here because the fish are just starting to blow up behind me. But I love fishing spinner baits. I think it’s one of the best lures of all time. Definitely not one of the most popular because the majority of the people I meet when I tell them we’re gonna be catching ’em on a spinner bait. They’ll say, “I don’t like throwing spinner baits.” And most of the time, when they say that it’s because they’ve never caught anything on them. And there haven’t been a ton of innovations in the spinner bait industry in the past few years. So they haven’t been talked about as much. But it’s a good versatile bait. You can fish them all over the place. Fish ’em through grass, open water, deep water, shallow water, around wood, around rocks, around grass, out in open water, schooling fish, whatever you want. I’ve caught large mouth, small mouth, and spotted bass on them. Spinner bait.

27:33 Speaker 1: So I know I left some lures out. I can’t talk about everything ’cause who wants to watch a two-hour long YouTube video. I didn’t talk about the ned rig. That’s very popular. I don’t throw a ned rig very much. Drop shot, I left the drop shot out. I left jerkbaits out, like I was talking about earlier. I like throwing jerkbaits are great.

27:56 Speaker 1: But I covered what I think are some of the most popular bass fishing lures and some of the best lures for bass fishing and how some are in both categories. Some are in one category versus the other. I hope everybody doesn’t agree with me. Most people should have some disagreements because that’s what’s great about fishing, it’s different. Everywhere you go, every state, I’ve been to every body of water. Sometimes you can travel 10 miles down the road to a lake or lakes that are connected to each other that don’t fish the same. So for me to sit here and say this one bait is the best lure for bass fishing, or this one lure is the most popular because popularity also goes by region, or area or species versus small mouth versus large mouth versus spotted bass.

28:44 Speaker 1: But overall, throughout the country, from feedback I’ve gotten from the 5,000 some-odd people that I’ve guided over 21 years and other fishermen that I’ve interacted with. This video, I highlighted what I think are the best lures for bass fishing versus the most popular lures for bass fishing, which aren’t always the best. And some of them that kinda hit both categories. So thanks for watching. Please subscribe to my channel. Let me know what other kind of videos you wanna watch, and I’m gonna do a little bit of fishing. And then I’m gonna go spend like three hours editing this video. So see you next time.