Beginner Tips: Learn These Four Gateway Lures

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Tackle shops, websites, and catalogs are filled with lures. The feeling that you must learn how and when to fish each can be overwhelming, especially when beginning your bass-fishing journey. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can become a seasoned angler a few steps at a time.

The best bass anglers built their abilities by accumulating experiences. Take note of the details, whether how lures react on different retrieves or bass bite under certain conditions. Deposit those experiences, and you’re investing in your abilities. The payoff comes when you can apply them to future fishing situations, helping you find bass faster and catch more and bigger ones.

In a large sense, Bass lures can be organized into only a few categories. Once you learn a lure in each, you can apply and adapt those lessons to learning others. The four lures below are the perfect starting point. Getting these under your belt prepares you for others. Think of it as March Madness in reverse: You have the Final Four; now set the rest of the field.

1. Jig

   If there was one lure to put all your effort behind, it would be a jig. They’re available in myriad styles, weights, and colors. But their construction is the same — weighted head, hook, and skirt. While some are tied with natural materials, such as bucktail and marabou, master the living rubber or silicone skirted bass jig first. 

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   Versatility is a jig’s best characteristic. Tie on a heavier one and fish deeper. Cast one into thick cover, and its weed guard wards off snags. And change its soft-plastic trailer to adjust its sink rate or profile. Stay on top of those adjustments, and you'll keep catching all three of the most popular species of bass — largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted — year-round.

   The mechanics of jig fishing are straightforward: cast it out and work it back while waiting for a strike. Generating those strikes is most often done with three retrieves. Dragging or hopping it along the bottom are the most popular. Swimming one with a slow, steady retrieve and rod-tip twitches produces when bass are spread out in shallow water.

   Rig it up

   Jig fishing is full contact, so use at least a medium-heavy power 7-foot casting rod. It should have a fast action to generate solid hook sets, a high-speed reel to take up slack, and low-stretch line sized to match conditions —12-pound test for clear water with little cover to 25-pound test for muddy water and thick cover. Little details matter, too. Here’s three:

   • Weight check: Match your jig's weight to current conditions. Lightweight jigs, for example, are easy to swim in shallow water. Heavy jigs crash through thick cover and sink fast, triggering strikes.
   • Trailer check: As with its weight, trailer size affects a jig's sink rate. For example, skinny trailers with straight tails catch little water, allowing your jig to sink quickly. Bulky trailers do the opposite.
   • Hook check: A snag or two can roll your jig hook's point, causing it to skid across a bass's mouth instead of grabbing. Change your jig or straighten the point with a few file passes if that's the case.

   Detecting strikes

   The biggest challenge for beginning jig anglers is detecting bites. You’ll have plenty of airballs until you hit that first bass. But you’ll throw fewer if you know what to look for. Here are three of the most common jig bites:

   • Swim off: This often happens when fishing around boat docks. Pitch your jig underneath, and it comes swimming back at you or out one side. Slack line makes the strike hard to feel. 
   • Dead weight: Something feels different during your retrieve. Sometimes, the tension on your line is aquatic vegetation. But it could be a bass. Setting the hook is the way to find out.
   • Solid thump: Anglers love these bites. Bass inhale your jig with such force that you feel it in your hand and see your line jump. There's plenty of time to square up, reel down, and drive the hook home.

   Lures it’ll help you fish

   Master jig fishing and you’ll understand how weight affects sink rate and draws strikes, detecting bites on slack line and bottom-hugging retrieves. Those prepare you to fish these three lures:

   • Jigging spoon: Most strikes come while it’s sinking and the line is slack. Jigs teach you to line watch, looking for the subtle jumps and pauses that mean a bass has grabbed your lure.
   • Blade bait: Most often fished along the bottom with a pull-and-stop retrieve during the coldest months of the year, they also draw strikes on slack line. 
   • Texas rigged soft plastics: Fish these in the same spots and with the same retrieves. While they draw more attention from small bass, they catch big ones, too. 

2. Spinnerbait

   While a jig may be the most versatile lure, a spinnerbait isn't far behind. A wire frame connects its rotating blades and jig-like body. By changing up components, they can be fished almost anywhere. 

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   Spinnerbaits can sport from one to three or more blades. Together, they mimic a small school of baitfish. It’s relatively snagless, allowing you to fish it in and around most types of cover and nearly any depth. Steady retrieves work, but adding pauses or speed can trigger following bass to strike.

   You'll want a similar setup — rod, reel, and line — to jigs for spinnerbaits. If you’re using one to fan cast a shallow flat or deep-water structure, a rod with a slightly slower action may help. You’ll trade the pinpoint accuracy of the faster action, which helps you pick apart pieces of cover, for greater casting distance.

   Understand blades

   A spinnerbait's bass-catching power lies in its blades. Three blade styles are the most popular, and each does something different. Match each to the current conditions, and you’ll catch more bass.

   • Willow: Elongated like their namesake leaves, these produce a lot of flash but not much vibration or lift. Use them in clear water, deep water, and when you need a speedy retrieve.
   • Colorado: Almost circular in shape and with varying degrees of cup, these blades create the most vibration and lift. They are best in muddy water or at night. It’s the most popular for single spins.
   • Indiana: Basically a stretched Colorado, these have less flash but more vibration than a willow. They most often show up as the trailing blade on a tandem-bladed spinnerbait.

   Get more bites

   Minor tweaks to your spinnerbait can make a big difference. If you want a few more bites — and to put them in the boat — over the course of a fishing day, try these:

   • Reel faster: Speed triggers strikes, and it’s only too fast when your spinnerbait won’t stay under the water, especially for smallmouth. Try willow blades and increasing your spinnerbait’s weight.
   • Trailer hook: Adding one will ensure you land more short-striking bass. Crimp its eye partially closed or add a small keeper above it to ensure it swings free, reducing its ability to snag cover.
   • Soft-plastic trailer: Threading one on your spinnerbait accomplishes two things. It adds bulk, making your lure more attractive to big bass. And it acts like a keel, helping it run straight at higher speeds.

   Lures it’ll help you fish

   At first glance, spinnerbaits seem like a cast-and-retrieve bait. But once you learn the small changes that you can introduce, and how they make yours better in certain situations, then you’ll be ready for these other lures:

   • Buzzbait: Casting these topwater lures, which sink, takes some forethought. Similar to using a spinnerbait, the most productive casts are lined up so the retrieve passes several potential spots. 
   • Bladed jig: While fished slightly slower than spinnerbaits, these also are built for picking apart shallow targets. The same tweaks and setup work with these, too.

3. Drop Shot

   A finesse rig that puts weight below bait, its popularity may have spiked a decade ago. But it remains the best way to catch bass that swim within a few feet of the bottom, especially in deep water.

   A drop shot realistically presents soft-plastic baits. They dance and dive because your weight is anchored on the bottom, and you shake the line. It's at home on a rock shoal in a river, and just inside a weed edge in a natural lake or reservoir. And it'll handle a range of bait sizes, from 2 to 6 inches.

   While light line — anywhere from 5- to 10-pound test — is essential, drop shots don’t have to be fished on spinning gear. You can use a medium power casting rod. But either way, you need a rod with a slow action. That’s where your lure’s action is generated. Shaking the rod tip only moves your line, and thus your lure. 

   Presentations

   Drop shots aren't a one-trick pony. They can be deployed in a variety of situations when bass want a natural presentation. Here are two ways to fish one:

   • Vertical: The most popular, it’s as simple as dropping your rig overboard. It’s best in deep water and when picking apart submerged cover such as brush piles. 
   • Horizontal: Cast or pitch your drop shot. Let it sink to the bottom, and shake your line to bring its lure to life. If you don’t get a bite, drag it a few feet forward and shake again. Repeat until it’s back at the boat. 

   Rigging tips

   There are plenty of choices when it comes to assembling a drop shot. And that’s beyond the components. Getting the most bites requires considering at least these three:

   • Knot: A Palomar knot works best. Insert the line from the point side of the hook’s eye, and the point will ride up when the knot is pulled tight. Cut the tag end to length and add your weight.
   • Bait rigging: Most small baits perform best when hooked once through the nose. Longer ones can be Texas-rigged, especially when fishing around aquatic vegetation or brush.
   • Lure length: A small soft-plastic lure may work best in the clearest water or when fishing for the most pressured bass. Save longer ones, such as a thin 6-inch straight-tailed worm, for stained water. 

   Lures it’ll help you fish

   With your bait — and hook — floating between weight and rod tip, it takes practice to feel a strike when fishing a drop shot. But developing that sense will help you when it comes to a couple more lures:

   • Stick or floating worm: Whether rigged wacky or Texas, these soft-plastic baits usually are fished without a weight. That means strikes are subtle. A drop shot will sharpen your feel for them.
   • Minnow and jig head: Whether you’re mid-strolling or jigging, these are powerful producers, especially for smallmouth and spots. They also are fished off the bottom, though often shallower.

4. Diving Crankbait

   These billed baits dig during a retrieve, reaching depths other types of cast-and-reel lures can’t. And don't fret if your lake, river, or reservoir has aquatic vegetation: Crankbaits catch bass there, too.

   Before even 2-D sonar was pinging from most boats, anglers explored the bottom of lakes, rivers, and reservoirs with crankbaits. They’d bump them along the bottom to reveal drop-offs and changes in composition — whether the sharp taps of rock or soggy mess of muck. 

   Thin diameter line helps crankbaits reach greater depths, and a moderate to slow-action rod ensures bass remain hooked. Line up your casts, so your crankbaits bounce across underwater cover. Deflections draw strikes, so hit everything you can. You may lose a few to snags, but the bass you’ll catch will make up for them.

   Design

   You can tell a lot about a crankbait by its looks, including action and diving depth. That's important information because you want to match what it can do to where you're fishing. Here’s what they mean:

   • Bill length: Length, along with angle, determines diving depth. Longer bills that jut from the body horizontally dive deepest. The shallowest ones have nearly vertical short bills.
   • Bill shape: This tells you how crankbaits will react to cover. Bills with square edges plow through or over, while rounded ones will roll to one side, resulting in fewer snags. 
   • Flat sides: These produce a tight wiggle, which bass prefer in cold water. The most well-known example is Rapala’s shad rap. 
   • Round sides: These bulbous lures’ wide wobble appeals to bass swimming in warm water. Exaggerated ones also add buoyancy to crankbaits, which helps shallow divers from snagging.

   Types of retrieves

   Crankbaits rarely draw strikes while sitting still and floating on the surface. Your retrieve brings them to life. Various retrieves work with crankbaits. Here are three:

   • Steady: Keep cranking. It can be crucial, especially around pressured bass. Speed will trigger them to strike; eat now or lose this meal forever.
   • Stop and go: Adding pauses to your retrieve is often the incentive following bass need to strike. While they’re productive anytime in a retrieve, they’re best right after your crankbait contacts cover.
   • Pull and pause: Sweep your rod forward, then collect line with your reel. It’s popular with lipless crankbaits, because they sink during the pause, creating the perfect opportunity for bass to strike.

   Lures it’ll help you fish

   Crankbaits help you develop a feel for bottom composition and casting angles, skills that are equally important when fishing offshore. Those translate to these lures:

   • Football jig: With an elongated head oriented perpendicular to the hook, these are pulled along the bottom. And the feel you develop with crankbaits will let you know when it's on rock, wood, or muck. 
   • Carolina rig: Even with modern electronics, you must still line up your casts to hit offshore bass-holding targets. Mastering that skill will mean more bites on the Carolina rig.