June 18, 2018
By Game & Fish Online Staff
There may not be a more secure market than largemouth bass lure sales, and every year there's the next latest and greatest that will help you catch more fish.
From jigs to jerkbaits, here's a look at some of the best largemouth bass lures for 2018.
By Peter Robbins
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Strike King | J-Lee Comeback Jig
Strike King built this football jig to the specifications of 2017 Bassmaster Classic winner Jordan Lee, who wanted a wide head with a flat bottom so that the lure would stand up and "challenge" approaching bass to bite. It has extra-long rubber skirting and a 5/0 Mustad Needlepoint hook, and it's available in six popular colors in four sizes from 3/8 ounce up to a full ounce.
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$4.99
Scottsboro Tackle Company | Raider Swim Jig
$4.99
Buckeye G-Man | Ballin' Out Jig
Two-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year Gerald Swindle has bailed himself out of dozens of tough spots with a little ball-head jig. This one combines the best attributes of all his favorites, including a fiber weedguard and a banded skirt with a classic "finesse cut." It comes in four sizes from 1/4 to 3/4 ounce, for a wide variety of depths and fall rates.
$4.39
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CRANKBAITS
SPRO | Little John Super DD
SPRO has taken their proven designs and upsized them, entering the world of ultra-deep-diving crankbaits with this hard-hunting ounce and a half model. Despite its beastly size, it doesn't pull hard on a fast retrieve, but still manages to get more that 20 feet deep on a long cast. It hunts from side to side, but sticky sharp Gamakatsu trebles catch even the light biters.
$11.99
Berkley | Juke
This lure, built under the guidance of Bassmaster Classic winner and cranking legend David Fritts, looks like a jerkbait, but it can be fished like a crankbait. It's made of durable plastic, but behaves like a lightweight balsa plug, and the coffin bill allows it to dart side-to-side in a "walk the dog" motion. It comes in three sizes, and all of them can be cast on baitcasting gear in the wind.
$7.99
Strike King | 4.0
Strike King's newest entry into the world of "oversized" diving crankbaits is the 4.0, a squarebill that's 3 3/4-inches long and dives to 7 feet. It's made for an erratic form of power fishing that involves getting it to max depth quickly, bumping it off stumps or into riprap, and then holding on while bass get stuck by the two No. 2 trebles.
$9.99
Booyah | Prank
It may share the body style of Zell Rowland's beloved topwater poppers, but look closely and you'll see that the Prank has a small diving lip affixed to its lower jaw, making it a one of a kind hybrid. The lip allows it to dive 1- to 2-feet, where it'll deflect off cover and still spit and gurgle when it comes back to the surface. A feathered treble completes the package.
$9.99
SPINNERBAITS
Yo-Zuri 3DB Series Knuckle Bait
Instead of a traditional blade at the end of the safety-pin wire, the latest offering from Yo-Zuri has a ball there, and as the name suggests it knuckleballs erratically as it comes through the water. It retains the general look, weedlessness and easy castability of traditional spinnerbaits, but with a totally different sound profile.
$7.99
Fish Head | Primal Spin
Fish Head is best known for their underspins, and they've taken that basic strategy and coupled it with a standard two-bladed spinnerbait, putting a small willowleaf on the lure's chin. It's available in three sizes from 1/4 to 1/2 ounce, but all feature exceptional flash and topnotch components like a long-shank Mustad hook and premium ball bearing swivels.
$8.99
Freedom Tackle | Double Willow Spinnerbaits
They're called Freedom no doubt because the hook swings freely from the lure's head, allowing for maximum movement and minimizing the leverage of any hooked fish. Furthermore the hooks can be interchanged, allowing one lure to become several. It comes with a spring lock trailer keeper allowing you to further customize your spinnerbait's looks.
$8.99
OTHER BAITS
PH Custom Lures | Wesley's Ploppin' P
Following up on the uber-popular Plopper craze, PH Custom Lures added their own stubby highly-buoyant topwater to the mix. It features a rotating metal blade on the back that, unlike its plastic counterparts, can be "tuned" to emanate different frequencies. Whether you're burning it like a buzzbait, steady reeling it back to the boat, or intermittently twitching it for spawners, the universal baitfish size and precision paint jobs make this a valuable curveball when other anglers are throwing the standards.
$19.99
Lunkerhunt | Propfish
This topwater is half hollow-body frog, half buzzbait, combining a collapsible body with the sound making mechanism of a rotating tail. It's available in both shad and sunfish models, both of which come through heavy cover with ease while kicking up a fuss.
$8.99
Jackall | Rerange
Jackall's latest high-tech jerkbait, available in both 1/2- and 3/4-ounce sizes, features a "TG Zero Friction" weight transfer system consistent of a fluororesin-covered tungsten weight. It provides the dual advantage of extending casts and enhancing action, the result of which is an erratic slashing motion that calls bass from long distances.
$14.99
Rapala | RipStop
Rapala's latest offerings literally stop on a dime, ceasing motion at the end of each pull thanks to a "secondary lip" on the tail end of the bait that allows them to rip and shimmy and then suddenly stop. It's available in a wide range of Rapala's popular baitfish imitating colors, all of which come with VMC black nickel fire wire trebles.
$8.99
Coming soon to G&F.com: Top Smallmouth Bass Lures for 2018
