Spinnerbait

 

 

 

Hand down, bucktail.  It may take nearly a lifetime, but the few anglers who come close or master the bucktail can consistently produce numbers and quality in difficult conditions. 

17 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Black 8" Mann's Jellyworm. I was shocked to actually see some in BPS last week, hadn't seen them in a store in forever. 

 

Hard baits, it would be either the old Wiggle Warts, or a not as old timey but still long DC'd Zell Pop. I've lost and found this bait twice and it has just been a fish catching machine for me throughout it's lifetime.

 

LOVE them battle scars!!!!!  You got the right bait when it ain't got no paint!!!!

On 1/6/2026 at 3:22 PM, Bird said:

Spinnerbait 

Started with BeetleSpins as a young teenager.  Caught tons of fish on them.  Been fishing a spinnerbait every since.  My two largest bass were both caught on a spinnerbait.  Since starting to bass fish only, a 10 inch Junebug ribbontail has become my most used lure.  Mainly because I'm now mostly fishing into lily pads.  Anytime I'm casting in open water, along weed lines, or into open lily pad holes where I can bring a spinnerbait back most of the way avoiding pads I'll also throw it.  Nice thing about a spinnerbait is it doesn't easily get snagged.

 

These are my two most productive lures.

Rebel Deep Wee R

Floating Rapalas have caught me thousands of smallmouth and in one two-day stretch, I caught over 500 smallmouth with a Mepps brass-bladed spinner with a plain hook. I still catch lmb with my Mepps and I really need to use my floating Rapalas again.

 

I have solid success with poppers nowadays. Sure, they have different names and colors than the Creek Chub Plunkers as I used as a kid, but they're the same lure.

Its almost impossible for me to single out one old time lure becaue most of the lures I use fit that catergory. I picked a Bomber crankbait but could have easily selected a Rebel, Rapala, Jelly worm, Spook, Lunker Lure...

For the last 40+yrs. it's been the Zara Spook. Different versions of the original, but I still throw the original with some modifications. If you consider a jig a throw-back, then that would be my most productive, hands down.

Easy choice for me, the Mepps Aglia, made since 38.

Spinnerbait

Cotton Cordell Big O.

Six inch Zoom Trick Worm - Green Pumkin color .

Is a tube considered an old time lure? If so that's the ticket.

@rboat I have rat-l-trap 1/2OZ I got from @WRB-2.0 and I lost count of how many fish I caught with it. RIP Tom.

16 hours ago, ATA said:

@rboat I have rat-l-trap 1/2OZ I got from @WRB-2.0 and I lost count of how many fish I caught with it. RIP Tom.

Nice trap. Never seen that one. Do you know what color it is? I think about 1 out of every 100 traps has the it, and simply gets bit. Do not know if its the movement, sound, color or something else. You can buy 10 the same color and maybe get one that produces consistantly.

On 1/6/2026 at 8:42 PM, KP Duty said:

'Old timey' lure to me is pre 1980.  My pick is the Bagley B1 or B2. 

I caught a bunch on the chart/black back HoneyBee!!!

Silver black back Rapala, Jitterbug, Heddon Tiny Torpedo.

Allen

@rboat I don't know the color, but I have it in three sizes. My idea is the action and vibration from the lipless catching the bass most of the time, at least for me. The way I am catching fish on lipless makes it impossible for color to be a factor. BTW, I looked around the world, but I couldn't find this lure. If I find it i would buy 20 of them for me, my son, and my grandson to have it in their arsenal 😅

Soft - Culprit 7.5" ribbon tail(1st bass bait I ever fished in 1980 in Red Shad)

Hard - Musky Jitterbug primarily at night

Mepps Aglia and Creme worms with the double hooks and spinner up front.

Storm Rattlin' Chug Bug -- 1/4 oz. 2 1/2 inch.

Good Fishing

Another vote for the good ol' plastic worm. If I had my druthers it would be of the 6" straight tail variety.

A white 1/8 Beetle spin is one of my favorites and like someone else said a Mepps Aglia in multiple sizes is always tied on one of my rods.

Heddon Torpedo, some of my fondest memories as a kid were fishing this lure.

White 3" Mister Twister with a black 1/8 ounce jig head. I have caught everything from huge Smallies, Walleye, Steelhead, Gar, etc... on that bait, since I was a kid.

I would get excited to go grocery shopping with my Mom so I could check out any new lures at Wal-Mart, you could buy a Rapala for like 4 bucks back then LOL

I haven't fished either of these baits in years, but were pretty much my staples as a kid, remember it like it was yesterday, mowing lawns, saving money for fishing gear.

You used to be able to buy pretty nice rods from Bass Pro for like $30.00 LOL Fished their IM6 series a lot as a kid, Quantum Energy spinning reels and Stren line, the good ole days... The blanks were straighter and the guide train mounted on the blanks straighter than most $200 rods sold today... Good cork was no big deal, most rods had it, etc... I will never forget how excited I was for my first "nice" rod & reel, from Bass Pro, replaced the South Bend stuff I had bought from Wal-Mart and fished most of my pre-teen years.

My uncle would give me spinnerbaits & buzzbaits that his friend made back in the day. So those were a couple baits that I always had tied on at all time. Those are still a couple of my top 5 lures that I always have tied on.