Top 5 Best Bass Lures (Review and Ultimate Guide 2020)
If you’re new to bass fishing, selecting the best bass lures is more complex than you might have imagined. This article features the best bass lures you can use to catch bass; each one has their pros and cons, and provide a unique bass fishing experience.
Each type of bass lure is its own unique creature and takes dedication and practice to truly master the technique. But nobody becomes a champion bass fisher overnight, but you can start that journey by learning about the best bass lures and finding the one(s) that best suit your needs.
Each bass lure type has its own specific benefits and the best bass lures can be broken down thus:
Types of Bass Lures
Plastic Worms
Plastic Worm benefits: Rubber worms are the ideal bass lure for beginners. The main reason for this is because bass just simply go for worms, regardless of how fast you fish it or what other techniques you use. When you get more familiar with the rubber worm, there’s ways to rig it to make it weedless, which further ups your chances of catching bass.
Spinner Baits
Spinner bait benefits: Spinner baits are another good option for beginners; they produce a lot of their own movement and bass go for it.
Crank Baits
Crank bait benefits: Crank bait does well for fast fishing, but there are a lot more variations to consider when searching for the best crank bait for your current application compared to other bass lures.
Jigs
Jig benefits: Bass jigs are difficult to master, but when you do, the results can be amazing. So, if your goal is to become a true bass fisherman, this is definitely a bass lure you’ll want to learn, because it’s great for trophy fishing. Again, you have to practice.
Topwater Jerkbaits
Jerkbait benefits: Successful year-round fishing is the main benefit of jerkbait. You can also fish them different ways depending on your surroundings and targets, as well as weather conditions, which makes them great for more advanced anglers who have learned to navigate the nuances of bass fishing.
Tips on how to choose the best bass lures for your needs
There are a few things to consider when choosing the best bass lures for your needs:
Top 5 Best Bass Lures Reviews
1. Plastic Worms: Strike King KVD Dream Shot Review
Features:
Coffee scent
Strike King has taken a unique approach with this bait by using the scent of coffee to disguise the human smell, which, while (mostly) benign to us, can scare bass away. This improves your chance of getting a catch.
Soft plastic
The plastic used in this bait is an extremely soft plastic that remains pliable despite being exposed to the elements, salt and other extremes that can degrade lesser plastics.
Designed by Kevin Van Dam
The Dream Shot was designed by Kevin Van Dam himself, backed by his knowledge that can only come from years of bass fishing experience.
Great for Texas rig technique
Bass fishing is an art as well as a science. For intermediate bass fisherman, learning to fine-tune their technique is a big part on their journey to becoming masters of their craft. Part of that is learning how to rig the bait on the hook; the Texas rig technique is one of the most important you’ll learn in bass fishing and the Dream Shot is the perfect bait to learn on.
Great for year-round fishing
Drop shot fishing is one of the techniques you can use year-round to catch bass and the DreamShot bait is the perfect bait for drop shot.
What to like about the Strike King KVD Dream Shot Bait:
- Comes in a very wide variety of color options
- The pumpkin and green pumpkin colors and their variations are especially good
- Comes in a pack of ten for convenience
- Comes in 4-inch and 5-inch lengths
- Perfect for drop shot fishing
- Coffee scent disguises human scent for better results
- Good bait for year-round fishing
What to consider:
- While the super-soft plastic this bait is made out of is one of its biggest assets, it’s also one of its downsides, simply because a bass will chomp down on one and make it unusable for the next time. That said, at least you caught a bass. Generally, most take this trade off, because it’s not an uncommon one.
The bottom line
The coffee scent is a genius way to disguise what humans—especially male humans—smell like, and it really does seem to improve the catch ratio. Being soft and coming in a variety of colors, you can’t do better for drop shot fishing.
2. Strike King Finesse KVD Spinnerbait Review
Features:
Perfect Shirt
The newly redesigned Perfect Shirt is smaller than before and features more realistic, natural colors. It also has a smaller profile in the water, which ups your chances of a catch.
KVD insignia
This spinner bait lure features the official KVD insignia on the blade and it’s tested, approved and used by bass pro Kevin Van Dam.
Weedless
The improved blades cut through weeds like butter so your spinner bait never gets caught in vegetation.
Two sizes
The Strike King Finesse KVD Spinner bait comes in two different sizes—1/2 ounce and 3/8ounce—so you can choose the right size for your target.
What to like about the Strike King Finesse KVD Spinner bait:
- Comes in ten, original, natural colors, mostly shad-themed, with chrome and chartreuse being popular options
- Smaller profile yields more strikes
- Not just for bass, works for pike and other fish that will go for spinner bait
- High quality hook
- KVD insignia
- Makes a great addition to your bass fishing arsenal
What to consider:
- The only downside here is that there are so many color options, beginning anglers might be overwhelmed. Though, obviously, this is an upside for more advanced anglers who like to fine tune their lures to get their desired effects.
The bottom line
The Strike King Finesse KVD Spinner bait is surprisingly versatile and durable, and the smaller profile is a great design choice. Also, the color variety makes it a great choice for those who need more options for their collection of spinner bait.
3. Strike King Square Bill Crankbait Review
Features:
Silent
The Strike King Square Bill Crankbait is designed to be stealth and silent with no rattles or other noise-making tricks, ensuring you get your catch.
͞Wanders
Strike King describes their Square Bill Crankbait by saying that it wanders, and this is a big point in its favor. Ideally, crankbait should provide most of its own action. Despite this, it has enough control so that you can still maintain control.
Shallow water fishing
Crankbait is ideal for fishing in shallow water, where a different approach is necessary than fishing bass in deep waters. This crankbait works to deflect light off of things like rocks to catch the eye of the bass, upping your odds of getting a catch.
Multi-seasonal
While there are staunch ideas on the best bait depending on time of year, the Square Bill Crankbait has been known to be successful pretty much year-round, though with greatest success in spring.
What to like about the Strike King Square Bill Crankbait:
- Large range of colors
- Great for shallow waters
- Great for fast fishing
- Great year-round, excellent in spring
- High action yet still controllable
- Silent without rattles
- Designed by pro bass fisherman Kevin Van Dam
What to consider:
- Crankbait can be difficult to get the hang of for new anglers
- Anglers tend to favor the larger 2.5-inch size, because it outperforms the 1.5-inch
The bottom line
The silence of this crankbait makes it a standout and contributes to its excellence in fishing shallow waters.
4. Strike King Denny Brauer Structure Jig Review
Features:
Specifically designed for structure fishing
Structure fishing is a unique form of bass fishing, where attention to the structure you’re fishing in, like a hump of shallow water surrounded by deep water, is important to achieve the best results. You not only have to be attentive to the structure, but also the way the bass behave in the structure and the Denny Brauer Structure Jig is designed to meet those very specific needs.
Won’t get caught in weeds
The weed guard is especially designed to work with the Cobra Head to avoid hang ups.
Better structure sensitivity
The uniquely designed head with its wide-bottomed footprint enables you to feel the underwater structures below.
High quality
The skirts are high quality plastic and come in a variety of colors ideal for fishing, ranging from Gator Craw to Green Pumpkin to Hard Candy. Each color is designed to facilitate you hooking the big one, depending on the waters you fish in. Meanwhile, the paint on the jig is chip-resistant, so it will not only maintain its good looks, but also its function as time goes on. This is especially crucial to structure fishing where rocks are often an aspect to consider.
Premium hook
The hook’s zero-degree line tie enables better penetration and reduces lip blowout.
What to like about the Strike King Denny Brauer Structure Jig:
- Designed by expert jig fisherman Denny Brauer
- Great color options for structure fishing
- Durable
- Casts easy
- Weed guard prevents hang-ups
What to consider:
- The zero-degree line tie is a big selling point for this structure jig, however some may prefer different. Though, because bass fishing is pretty much an art form, preference plays a big role in the choices bass fishermen make in regards to lures.
The bottom line
Because this lure is specifically designed for by fishing expert Denny Brauer, it’s a structure jig truly made for fans of structure fishing, and lives up to the hype.
5. Strike King KVD Sexy Dawg Review
Features:
Topwater lure
Topwater bass fishing is an extremely popular way to bass fish, because it’s action-packed and you actually get to see the bass bite the lure. Ideally, topwater lures are best used in spring or summer, but because of their unique action, you can still get bass to bite no matter what season it is.
Walking action
While perfecting the walking action takes practice, this lure does make it easier because it naturally wants to do just that. The walking action is great for getting fish riled up when top water fishing isn’t at its peak, for instance when it’s too cold in the water to make top water fishing easy.
Twitching action
Aside of the walking action, the Sexy Dawg topwater lure also produces a twitching motion which is another great way to wake up the bass.
Color options
There are eleven different mostly shad-themed color options, each of which Strike King says are proven to be great for topwater bass fishing.
What to like about the Strike King KVD Sexy Dawg:
- Comes in two different size options
- Walking action
- Twitching action
- Perfect for topwater fishing
- Great for topwater fishing beginners and experts alike
- Multiple color options
What to consider:
- The downside isn’t that big of a deal, but some of the color options are so subtle those new to topwater fishing or just bass fishing in general may have difficulty narrowing down the one that might be most effective for their application.
The bottom line
The walking action makes this lure ridiculously fun to use—and that fun translates to successful catches, which is why it’s one of the best topwater fishing lures on the market today
What To Look For When Buying A Bass Lure
If you don’t already know which type of bass lure you have in mind, consider the target and where you’re going to be fishing. This guide of the best bass lures can help you decide which bass lure is best for your needs.
A general rule of thumb when it comes to the best bass lures is that they have to be well-made and come from reputable brands. The reason for this is some of the more complicated lures like buzzbait need to be high quality just to achieve their function. The more complicated the bait, the less you need to skimp on quality and workmanship. That philosophy also applies to whether you’re fishing for fun or for a tournament.
The best bass lures can either create their own movement or, in the case of jerkbait, the movement is caused by you, the angler. In lures that create their own movement, more technical know-how about what makes that type of lure good is necessary, which is why choosing bass lures is almost more of an art form than science.
When selecting spinner baits, you have to consider how fast and deep you’ll be fishing. Spinner baits have blades that use vibration to attract bass, so choosing the right blade is also important.
The catch-all (no pun intended) bass lure is the plastic worm and it fill fit most needs. When shopping for plastic worms, look for a good brand name that carries worms in soft plastic with a variety of colors so you can match color to current application.
If you’re going to be fishing in waters with heavy cover and vegetation, go for a weedless bass lure like a jig.
Most bass lures come in different sizes. Size can play a factor in how successful you are at catching bass, but believe it or not, bass aren’t as finicky about bait size as other types of fish, so you may find size matters less here.
Bass are temperature sensitive, so when you pick out your bass lure, make sure it’s a good one for the season you’ll be fishing in.
This is, by no means, a comprehensive guide, because it can take years to truly master selecting the best bass lures or the right variation of a specific bass lure, but with practice, any dedicated angler can get there.
The Benefits Of Buying A Bass Lure
The main benefit of buying bass lures is the fact that they’re designed to specifically target bass. If you’re interested in catching bass, going for the best bass lures instead of whichever lure happens to catch your eye at the tackle shop, you end up saving loads of time while also getting the result you want: catching bass.
Essentially, when it comes to fishing in general, you first choose the technique and bait type that can get you the fish you want.
Then, when it comes to bass especially, you further refine which type of lure you need to get the results you want, which makes bass fishing a little different than other types of fishing, because your desired results and preferences largely makeup the whole fishing experience, down to choosing the best bass lure, and everything else, with some luck and skill, falls into place.
