When it comes to bass fishing, there are many different lures. There are over a dozen different soft plastics alone. Then there are crankbaits, jerkbaits, topwater plugs, buzzbaits, and an asrenal of other lures many of us have stored in our tackleboxes(god forbid if we only carried one). But what if we only could carry one?

This is where the big three come into play. I thought of this today as I once again gazed at lures and fishing tackle online like a hungry dog looking at a family eating thanksgiving dinner.

When I think of "Bass Fishing Lures", I  think of the Bass (or skirted) Jig, the Spinnerbait (paperclip design, not in-line), and soft plastics (mostly the plastic worm, but we'll just use soft plastics to cover all the different shapes and sizes, not to mention colors...am I right?!?

These are the back bone of every bass fisherman's tackle box(at least it should be). It helps to have diving and lipless cranks, topwater plugs, buzzbaits, spoons, in-line spinners, maribou jigs, jerkbaits, etc. but in order to catch bass you really don;t need all those. I am not saying discard these other lures, but use them as secondary lures.

First let's look at the Jig. It's versitle, meaning it will catch bass in every season. It can be hopped, dragged, swam, jigged vertical, pitched, and flipped. It can be worked fast or slow, it shallow or deep water, for active or inactive bass. It has a compact, failry natural profile. Even though the jig is such a useful tool, it's not until a bass fisherman reaches a certain skill or experience level when he reaches for this trusty friend more than not. It takes patience and concentration to work a jig correctly, but pays off. Especially since big bass are slow and lazy(energy effecient to be politiacally correct), and so is the Jig. The jig is also a great bass tool because it is for the most part weedless and can get into prime holding spots like timber and vegetation that plugs and other lures wouldn't dare to go.

Next, in a close second, and some may argue it's placing, is the soft plastic. I placed the soft plastic in second due to the fact that a jig comes ready to fish, where as soft plastics require accessories such as hooks, weights, beads, and swivels. Coming a long way since the Creme Pre rigged plastic worm of the early days of Bassin', soft plastics now come in so many shapes. Frogs, lizards, worms, leeches, minnows, crawfish, grubs, insects, and most recntly monster creature baits unheard of to the animal kingdom. On top of coming in all shapes and sizes, it can be fished many places, on many types of rigs. From the old faithful texas rig on a 3/16 - 1/2 bullet head depending on where we are fishing, dragging a carolina across the bottom on a 1 ounce sinker, wacky worming a senko, or jerking a weightless soft plastic slug go, shakey heading a ribbontail on a small jighead, or drop shotting with a small finnesse plastic. They can be thrown into the thickest cover, fished in rock piles, boat docks, trees, deep open water, and anywhere else bass lurk. Most come premade with scent and salt, which makes them more atrractive to finiky bass. And for the price of one lure you can get 6-12 soft plastics. There life like profile and movement just add to their attractiveness. Soft plastics can also be fished in every season as the jig. One should move from a 7-10" worm down to a 3" grub, crawfish, tube, or a 4" finesse worm in the colder months though. As we all know, due to the basses slower metabolism and there decreased nee dto feed often in the winter. Not to mention a smaller meal is easier for a bass to digest which takes energy to do.

Finally, the spinneerbait. I like to think of the spinnerbait as the Jig's completely different sibling. As many of us have a brother or sister who is the complete opposite of us. One is the outgoing one, the other the shy one. One's the athlete, the other is the math/science geek, you get the point. It is the reciporical of the jig. The jig is worked methodically, slowly and deliberately. It is patient. The spinnerbait is a speed demon, an adrenaline junky, recklessly cruising the in the bass' backyard, doing donuts on his lawn. Just taunting it. He likes to move fast and dare the fish to chase him. The spinnerbait is another lure that is mostly casted by bass fisherman. It is a tried and tested favorite. There is a spinnerbait for every occasion from 1/8 - 1 oz. For clear or stained water, for night fishing, for sunny days, for cloudy days. The spinnerbait is also sort of weedless, not as much as the jig but more so than crankbaits and jerkbaits. The spinner is a great lure for the warm months when bass are active enough to chase down prey. Its great on windy days when bass will be out of hiding due to the wind breaking up light penetration in the water making the bass feel more comfortable to be out in the open. It is also a reaction bait which will get bass who aren't foraging, or actively feeding, and get them to strike just out of instict, anger, or fear. All in all, a formatable oponent, coming in third due to the fact it will only work half the year, mid spring - mid fall.

There you have it. The top three bass lures. In my opinion any angler wishing to become a successful bass fisherman should always have one. There are times where a crankbait or jerkbait might be better than a spinnerbait, or a topwater plugs may be the best option, but 90% of the time a jig, soft plastic or spinnerbait, when in season, will land you bass.

Continued into part 2

there will be no part 2...I cut and pasted but something messed up and I lost a whole post page of text. It was darn good writing too. Oh well

I just want to say I enjoy writing about my accumulated knowledge of bass fishing. I hope this can help some new to bassin. I am just a guy that likes bass fishing, so take this post for what its worth. I am fairly well read on bass fishing and been fishing more than a few times...

I'm sure my experience and knowledge isn;t even in some of these guys leagues, but I'm sure I know more than some people, and being able to share what I know with someone else makes me feel good.

Part two was really just when to use each lure...dang it!

Well, Part I is GREAT!  

So later, when you're not mad at yourself  :, please rewrite Part II and post it for us.

8-)

I have had the same problem with text disappearing if you hit a wrong key.

Please post Parts 2 and 3 in the near future.

I know you are frustrated but you may want to use your Word document to write the article, edit and spell check it and then copy it to the reply box to post on the forum.

I have done this on a few occassions (after I lost what I had written) and it makes for a beautiful, excellent grammer and spelling post.

Part 2 to my post.

If you save your writings on a Word document you can always go back and copy and repost as other forum members ask for assistance or you just want to post again to shareyour wisdom.

If I recall, we never lost stuff on an IBM typewriter.

OK you young guys, what's a typewriter?

What's carbon paper?

Great article dude  

Couple of hints when using Microsoft Word

Never cut/paste always copy/paste

Don't close the page you're typing on until you're sure your paste is successful, if not hit the undo button and every thing will re-appear.

Always hit the save button often that way it can't be lost

thanks guys

And I must say, I am apt to start fishing these three lures more often, as I really do believe they are the key to catching fish more often, in more situations. Jigs and plastics should be the first lures mastered by anglers wanting to improve their bass angling skills whether they want to tournament fish or not. They are just so versitile. The spinnerbait is just a good go to, whether used as a search bait, or thrown specifically to a "good spot".

Great read, I look forward to reading the rest.

Actually, I think I could fish the rest of my life without a single soft plastic bait.  Toss all the Senkos overboard.

A jig, crankbait and spinnerbait would be all I would really need to fish effectively all year, at all depths in all cover.

But....what fun would that be?  Oh, and the bait monkey would be, you know, really ______.  You fill in the blank.  

Brad