Ultimate Guide to the Best Artificial Lures for Every Fishing Situation

What are the best artificial lures for bass, trout, or saltwater fishing? This expert guide cuts through the noise to match lures to conditions, species, and your skill level.

Let's be honest. Walk into any tackle shop and the wall of artificial lures is overwhelming. Spinners, crankbaits, jigs, soft plastics in every color imaginable. The promise is simple: buy this one, catch more fish. The reality? There's no single "best" lure. The magic isn't in the plastic or paint; it's in the match. Matching the right lure to the fish you're after, the water you're on, and the conditions you're facing. That's the secret most articles don't tell you. After years on the water, I've learned that a well-chosen, well-presented lure is a tool, not a trick. This guide will cut through the marketing and give you a system for choosing the best artificial lures, every time.

What's in This Guide?

How to Choose the Right Artificial Lure: The Decider's Checklist

Forget picking a lure because it looks cool. Before you even open your tackle box, ask these questions. Your answers will point you to the right category.best fishing lures

1. What Species Are You Targeting?

This is your starting point. Bass, trout, pike, and saltwater species have different feeding habits and prey preferences. A massive pike lure will scare off a cautious trout. A tiny trout spinner might not even register to a big bass. Know your quarry.

2. What's the Water Depth and Structure?

Are you fishing a shallow weedy flat, a deep river channel, or around submerged timber? Lures are designed to run at specific depths. A topwater frog is useless over 20 feet of water. A deep-diving crankbait will snag instantly in thick weeds. Match the lure's designed depth to where the fish are holding.

3. What Are the Water Conditions?

Clear water? Murky water? Fast current? This dictates size, color, and action. In clear water, natural colors and subtler actions work. In stained or muddy water, you need vibration, sound, and high-visibility colors (chartreuse, bright orange) to get noticed.

4. What's the Weather and Season?

Fish are cold-blooded. Their activity level changes with water temperature. In cold water (early spring/late fall), slow-moving lures like jigs or suspending jerkbaits are key. In the warm summer months, fast-moving reaction baits like spinnerbaits or topwater lures can trigger aggressive strikes.top artificial lures

Here's a tip most folks overlook: On a tough day, downsize. If the fish are seeing a lot of pressure or are in a neutral mood, switching to a smaller, more finesse-style lure (a 3" soft plastic on a light jig head) can be the difference between a skunk and success.

What Are the Main Types of Artificial Lures?

Think of these as your tool categories. Each excels in a specific scenario. The table below breaks down the core families.

Lure Type Best For Key Action/Trigger Presentation Tip
Soft Plastics (Worms, Craws, Creatures) Versatile bottom fishing, finesse situations, imitating natural prey. Lifelike texture and movement; subtle to aggressive depending on rig. Let it fall naturally. Most bites happen on the drop. Keep contact with the bottom.
Hard Baits (Crankbaits, Jerkbaits, Topwater) Covering water quickly, triggering reaction strikes, specific depth zones. Built-in swimming action, lip-driven dive, or surface commotion. Vary your retrieve speed. A pause during a crankbait retrieve often triggers a follow-up strike.
Spinnerbaits & Inline Spinners Murky water, searching for active fish, fishing around cover. Flash from the blade(s) and vibration through the water. Don't burn it all the time. A slow, steady retrieve that just keeps the blade turning can be deadly.
Jigs (Flipping, Football, Finesse) Precision fishing in heavy cover, imitating crawfish/baitfish on bottom. Up-and-down "hopping" motion, triggered by rod tip action. Feel the bottom. A jig is a contact lure. If you're not occasionally feeling rocks or wood, you're not in the zone.
Spoons & Blade Baits Vertical jigging, imitating injured baitfish, deep water. Erratic, fluttering fall and a tight wobble on the retrieve. The fall is everything. Experiment with different drop heights before starting your retrieve.

That table gives you the blueprint. Now let's get specific about the fish.how to choose fishing lures

The Best Artificial Lures for Specific Fish

General advice is okay, but you want to know what to tie on. Here’s a breakdown based on species, drawn from countless hours of trial and (plenty of) error.

For Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass

Bass are opportunistic. Your arsenal needs versatility.

  • All-Around Winner: The Jig. A 3/8 oz flipping jig with a green pumpkin craw trailer. It works in rocks, wood, and weeds. It mimics a primary food source. It's my go-to when I need a bite.
  • Search Bait: Lipless Crankbait. A 1/2 oz model in a shad or chrome color. Rip it through grass flats or yo-yo it over points. The internal rattles call fish in from a distance.
  • Finesse/Skittish Fish: A Ned Rig. A small mushroom-head jig with a 3" soft plastic stickbait. It's almost unfair how well it catches pressured bass. Cast it, let it sink, and drag it slowly. The subtle action is irresistible.best fishing lures

For Trout (Rainbow, Brown, Brook)

Trout are often in current and can be line-shy. Think smaller and more refined.

  • River & Stream Classic: The Inline Spinner. A #1 or #2 Mepps Aglia or Panther Martin in gold or silver. Cast across current and retrieve steadily. The flash mimics a minnow, the blade thump draws strikes.
  • Stillwater & Lake Killer: The Marabou Jig. A 1/16 oz or 1/8 oz jig with a marabou feather tail in white, black, or olive. Jig it vertically from a boat or cast and retrieve with small hops. The pulsing feathers are pure temptation.
  • Power Bait Alternative: Small Soft Plastic Grub. On a 1/16 oz jig head, a 2" chartreuse or smoke grub retrieved slowly near the bottom is a simple, deadly tactic in ponds and lakes.

For Walleye & Pike

These predators often relate to deeper structure or weed edges.

  • Walleye Trolling Staple: The Crankbait. A deep-diving shad-style crankbait in a perch or firetiger pattern, trolled along breaklines or rock piles. It gets down to their zone and matches the hatch.
  • Pike/Musky Attractor: The Large Spinnerbait or Bucktail. Big blades, lots of flash, and a bulky silicone skirt. Retrieve it steadily along weed edges. Pike see the commotion and attack out of instinct.
  • Jigging for Both: The Blade Bait. Like a Cicada or Silver Buddy. Drop it over a school suspended off a point, rip it up, and let it flutter down. The erratic action triggers savage bites.top artificial lures

Common Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

I've made these so you don't have to. These are the subtle errors that separate a good day from a frustrating one.

Mistake #1: Changing lures every five casts. You see it all the time. A guy makes three casts with a crankbait, switches to a spinnerbait, then a worm. He's covering water, but he's not giving any pattern a chance to develop. Fish might need to see a lure a few times, or your retrieve might need a slight tweak. Stick with a proven lure for a solid 15-20 minutes in a productive area before switching.

Mistake #2: Ignoring line size. That fancy finesse worm won't have the right action on 20 lb monofilament. A heavy braid can make a topwater lure sit wrong in the water. Match your line to the lure's purpose. Use lighter, more supple line (6-10 lb fluorocarbon) for finesse presentations and crankbaits for better action and depth. Use stronger braid (30-50 lb) for heavy cover fishing where you need to pull fish out.

Mistake #3: Setting the hook like you're trying to pull the fish into the boat on the first try. This is huge with treble-hook lures (crankbaits, topwater). A violent, sweeping hookset often pulls the lure right out of the fish's mouth. With treble hooks, a sharp, firm snap of the wrists is usually enough. With single-hook lures like jigs, you can lean into it more. Feel the weight of the fish before you try to rip its lips off.

Mistake #4: Not tuning your lures. A crankbait that runs off to the left won't track properly and will catch less fish. Most hard baits have a small eyelet or tie point. Gently bend the eyelet opposite the direction the lure is running to correct its track. Test it beside the boat. A tuned lure runs straight and gets to its designed depth.how to choose fishing lures

Your Artificial Lure Questions, Answered

What is the single biggest mistake beginners make with artificial lures?
Focusing on color over action and profile. In most water conditions, a fish identifies prey by its silhouette and vibration long before it discerns specific colors. A lure with the wrong action or that looks nothing like the local baitfish will fail, regardless of its paint job. Get the size, shape, and movement right first, then fine-tune with color.
How important is lure color, and what's a simple rule to follow?
Color matters, but it's secondary. The simple rule is: bright colors for dirty/low-light water, natural colors for clear water. In murky water, a chartreuse or firetiger pattern creates a strong silhouette. In gin-clear water, a shad or bluegill pattern is far more convincing. Don't overcomplicate it; start with this basic contrast principle.
Do I really need to carry 50 different lures?
Absolutely not. This is a common trap. A pro's box is curated, not cluttered. You're better off mastering 5-6 versatile lures that cover the water column (topwater, mid-depth, bottom) than being mediocre with 50. A reliable starter kit could be a topwater popper, a squarebill crankbait, a spinnerbait, a jig with soft plastic trailer, and a pack of paddle-tail swimbaits. Versatility beats volume every time.
Can I use the same lure for bass and trout?
Some lures have crossover appeal, but the presentations differ drastically. A small inline spinner or a 1/8 oz marabou jig can catch both. However, bass lures are generally larger and noisier, designed to trigger an aggressive reaction. Trout lures are typically smaller, subtler, and presented with a finesse retrieve in current. Using a loud, bulky bass crankbait in a trout stream will likely spook the fish.

The journey to finding the best artificial lures is ongoing. Water clarity changes, seasons turn, and fish moods shift. But if you start with the checklist—target species, depth, conditions—you'll immediately narrow the field from hundreds to a handful of likely candidates. Master a few from each major category. Pay attention to how fish react. That feedback loop, more than any magazine ad, will teach you what truly works on your home waters. Now go get your line wet.