- 1/4 oz football jig

- DD22

- top secret jerkbait ;D

That's the first one that surprised me! I'm a Luhr Jensen Hot-Lips Express fan myself and I hope to get in some more deep-cranking next year...

The funny thing is, if I made a Top 3 list for the last 10 years, the DD22 would be on every list.

Depends on time of year and I have a hard time narrowing it down to 3. My selections are not based on numbers of fish but importance in my arsenal...

6" River to Sea Live Eye Bottom Walker- I didn't start throwing this until August but I was blown away with the average size bass that this put in my boat along with a personal best Pike. This bait will literally change the way I view fishing as I have bought similiar baits by various companies and next season will be focusing a lot of time fishing various 6" plus swimbaits trying to learn the baits. There will still be a place in my boat for conventional tackle but once you get the swimbait bug it will be hard to go back. I've spent a lot of money these past couple of months gearing up for next year on this category of tackle.

Zoom Speed Craw- ole reliable in my boat, consistent fish catcher

Deep Diving Cranks- I have a few I like to throw. In addition to my favorites the Strike King Series 6XD & the C Flash 44 mag are newer baits that made a positive impression on me.

Honorable mention....

Lipless cranks- great bait year round especially in the spring & fall. Key baits would include Sebile Flat Shad & SK Red Eye Shad.

Lucky Craft RC 1.5 - awesome shallow water crank

Jerkbaits- awesome in the spring

Senko- what can you say that hasn't already been said. However it's associated with weightless presentations but is also very effective on jigheads, Texas rigged etc

Jackall Flik Shake- I hate finnesse fishing but sometimes you've got to do what you have to do to put fish in the boat and this bait flat out works

Jigs- all year every year, there is a reason that this is a bass fisherman's staple

1/2 oz Hornet/ 3.5 Lake Fork Shad- I love it, a power fishing bait that works under tough conditions

Blade baits- my favorite is the Vibe E, essential for ealy spring/ late fall cold water fishing

5" ***

2 1/2'' curly tail grub

3" tube

Broke my wrist and sidelined my entire late spring early summer fishing. So my fish numbers are extremely low.

Gene Larew 7 1/2" Salty Ringworm Cinnamon Pepper Neon Junebug Laminated

Terry Oldham's Eye-Max Jig & Strike King Rage Lobster

Rattle HeadTM Spinner Bait

Biggest surprise Sidewinder by Stanley

These 3 will immediately be going on everyone's Christmas list I bet...

For size:

Square bill crankbait

Frog

6" Senko

For numbers:

4" senko

Lipless crankbait

Drop shoted zoom tiny fluke

BTW I know Johns "secret" ds bait (I think)...............paypal me $50 for more info HAHAHAHAHA  ;D ;D

Pointer, Spook Jr., Senko

Jig

Finesse worm

Creature bait

Allen

Flippin Creatures (SK Game Hawg and Rage Hawg)

SK Rage Tail Shad

Zara Spook (One Knocker)

4" tube

Sweet Beaver

Swimjig w/ Ragetail chunk trailer

1.  Zoom Finesse Worm

2.  Zoom Trick Worm

3.  Rapala X-Rap

1. *** Baby Brush Bug (Green Pumpkin)

2. 4" Yama Senko (Black/Blue Flk)

3. Zoom Finesse Worm (Green Pumpkin)

1. Finesse jig with zoom superchunk jr.

2. Black/blue Senko

3. Norman deep little N chart/blue back.

crankbait

crankbait

crankbait

beaver

tube

1) North Star premier jig (watermelon/red)

2) Norman dd22

3) zoom ol' monster

1. Mattlures matt shad

2. Tru Tungten Ikey head with 4" zoom lizard

3. Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad)

1.) 8" zoom dead ringer

2.) skinny dipper

3.) horney toad

1) inline jig

2)straight tail work

3)swim baits/frogs

A lot of references to jigs, and of course a lot of references to various soft plastics. Everything else is REALLY a mixed bag.  Interesting stuff...

1) KVD bluegil swim jig with Baby Rage Craw

2)Rage Tail Lizard (weightless or c-rigged)

3)Falcon Craw  Rage Craw on a swimbait hook

1. Karu lures vibrashock

2. Netbait paca craw

3. spro bronzeye frog

Every tournament that I won or finished well in was because of those 3 lures and 90% of the time it was the only 3 lures I had on the deck of my boat.  A swim jig was very close to being in there also, but I just have to give the edge to the pacacraw.  I won numerous tournaments on it and the swim jig even though I caught a lot of fish on it, never accounted for a tournament win.

Creature of habits here, in no particular order:

1.- Zoom Trickworm ( what a surprise !  : )

2.- 3/8 oz single Tennessee blade white/chartreuse spinnerbait ( another "surprise"  :  )

3.- Rapala Shad Rap ( oh boy! surprisingly  )

Course, you can 't expect something else from a creature of habit.

Creature of habits here, in no particular order:

1.- Zoom Trickworm ( what a surprise ! : )

2.- 3/8 oz single Tennessee blade white/chartreuse spinnerbait ( another "surprise" : )

3.- Rapala Shad Rap ( oh boy! surprisingly )

Course, you can 't expect something else from a creature of habit.

Raul - you just use what works! I've heard it said before that if you have a spinnerbait and a bag of trick worms that you can catch a fair share of bass anywhere, anytime...

In spite of my crappy year overall - see my "a** whippin" thread in the General section, my tops for 2010

Tubes for the third year running

Flukes - I started fishing them a lot this year and they have done very well for me.

XCalibur One Knocker lipless crank. Fish on !!!

Raul - you just use what works! I've heard it said before that if you have a spinnerbait and a bag of trick worms that you can catch a fair share of bass anywhere, anytime...

Well, that 's the point ain 't it ? you use what works , actually them 3 top baits seems too short of a list to me, 5 top baits would be more fair, so to add:

4.- 5 inch culy tail grub

5.- Zoom Ultravibe Speed Craw

Now, if you ask me what bait I would choose if I had to choose one for the rest of my life then a 5 inch grub would be the answer. In the hands of a skillful/knowledgeable/resourceful angler and a good assortment of terminal tackle you can fish ( and catch fish ) with it almost anywhere.

Raul - you just use what works! I've heard it said before that if you have a spinnerbait and a bag of trick worms that you can catch a fair share of bass anywhere, anytime...

Well, that 's the point ain 't it ? you use what works , actually them 3 top baits seems too short of a list to me, 5 top baits would be more fair, so to add:

4.- 5 inch culy tail grub

5.- Zoom Ultravibe Speed Craw

Now, if you ask me what bait I would choose if I had to choose one for the rest of my life then a 5 inch grub would be the answer. In the hands of a skillful/knowledgeable/resourceful angler and a good assortment of terminal tackle you can fish ( and catch fish ) with it almost anywhere.

Couldn't agree more - I caught 791 fish on 5" single-tail grubs this year...