I would probably say soft jerks and soft stickbaits.

This year: 8" Lizard,

1/8oz weight, 12# yo-zuri, MH Baitcasting gear (my worm setup)

Right now I'm still learning to use various hard baits. I'm not sure if I can pick a number 1 go to bait for me, but here's my list of lures I use when nothing else seems to be working.

Zoom Trick Worm black: has caught me a 20lb cat, an 8lb bass, and (just yesterday) a 6lb bass.

Heddon Zara Spook bullfrog: Not so good in the evenings, but at my favorite point I can rack up 4-6 in an hour (that's good for me).

NetBait Salt Lick red bug t-rigged weightless: many bass have grabbed it as soon as it hits the water.

Zoom Lizard pumpkin seed, pumkinseed/chartreuse, and watermelon: Although I haven't tried it since spawn was over.

Darn near any soft plastic that is black/ blue flake.

Yum ribbon tail red shad: for some reason the bass won't touch the Zoom version of the same type/color.

Zoom Brush Hog (the one w/o the twirl tails): 50-50 I can pull a rabbit out of the hat with it.

Xcalibur poppin' image Bill Dance Pop-R: not as good as the Spook but it works.

Nothing of mine seem to work for more than an hour at a time. And none of them are super consistent. I may get one bite in an area and not get bit at all in another area with the same lure.

I'm still working out the kinks when it comes to the Rage Tail Smokin' Rooster and the Anaconda. The Anaconda is so darn heavy that I'm having issues casting it. At the moment my honest opinion is that they aren't any better than any other soft plastic I have and they don't seem to last quite as long as the others either. Being better or not could be just an operator failure (more than likely). The black/blue flake Rooster has caught me a couple and it's really cool watching a dark shadow come out of nowhere to chase it (when swimming it). Or even better, watching a little dink inhale it after twitched on the bottom a couple of times.

T-rigged brush hog

Whatever works when I’m on the fish

Used to luv Senko and still using it, but now I am a NorthStar Jig Fan...it works! It nothing is happening, I will tie on a finesse Jig with baby craw and usually gets me a fish or two.

I always have a War Eagle spinnerbait and a Sebile Magic swimmer tied on to a couple of my rods.

As for why, they are great search baits and then I can pick the area apart after I get a bite/blowup or two. Also with the swimbait I can get a great reaction bites even when the bite slow by being very eratic reeling the bait in, gives a good injured and fleeing baitfish action.

GMAN or NorthStar jig w/ Rage Tail Craw or Lobster

Similar to Roadwarrior, the GMAN jig with Rage Tail Craw or Lobster catches fish in most situations for me. Another lure or technique may be the go to under specific circumstances, but overall the jig and craw would be my bread and butter.

Jig n pig or a jig n craw

Rage Craw. Its so versatile. I can swim it, work it slow, hop it, work it like a topwater, jig trailer. It just always catches fish and i have extreme confidence in it.

My brother turned me on to the yum ribbon tail worm in red shad, texas rigged. I also really like the yum wooly bug carolina rigged. Can't decide between the two

Fat Ika in Green Pumpkin Black or a T-Rigged Pit Boss w/ 3/8oz weight.

Rattle trap or a senko. One can cover active fish, the other covers innactive. Of course there are a few others but these just stick out for me.

Zoom trick worm, t-rigged, weightless, watermelon red flake. Always catches one, except for yesterday when absolutely nothing worked.

7.5" ribbon-tail worm, t-rigged.

Why? Because that's what I catch the most fish with.

Tom

When things are slow I throw a 4" Zoom dead ringer, color Is dependent on water clarity...I rig them on this: http://www.siebertoutdoors.com/index.php/zenith-shakey Simply put this rig can be pitched, cast, or flipped and it's a small enough profile that it doesn't spook the fish.

In Florida for the summer it would be a watermelon red Lake Fork Flipper, for flipping/pitching and a watermelon red Innovation finess worm on a 1/4 oz. drop shot for points with underwater weed beds.