Inshore fishing success can be had with the right lures. (Photo courtesy of Z-Man Fishing Products)
October 10, 2025
By David A. Brown
Whether you’re stalking spooky fish on skinny flats, prospecting deep grass beds, casting to mangrove points or bar-hopping oyster mounds, a diverse selection of artificial lures will prepare you for whatever the day brings. A dozen anglers will produce a dozen different lists of must-have lures, but regardless of where you fish, this roundup will get you in the ballpark.
LEAD HEAD JIG Photo courtesy of Z-Man Fishing The most basic presentation from which most saltwater fishing interests begin, the jig and artificial bait combo allows you to make rapid-fire casts to probe a variety of habitats and depth ranges. The quick-change nature of a jig setup affords you immediate adaptability, so keep a mix of paddle tails, curly tails, and shrimp bodies handy and match size, profile and color to current conditions and local forage. Opinions vary on painted vs unpainted heads, but when the bite is tough, try colored options, as well as those with realistic designs like the Vudu JuJu and Z-Man’s Trout Eye Jighead.
SOFT PLASTIC JERKBAIT Photo courtesy of Berkley Baits Slender baitfish profiles like the Saltwater Assassin Shad , Berkley Gulp! Saltwater Jerk Shad , or a DOA CAL Jerk Shad work well on jig heads or Texas-rigged on wide gap hooks, but you’ll achieve maximum motion by nose-hooking these baits. Twitch them over grass, shallow rock or shell, or along mangrove edges. In denser grass, fish a nose-hooked jerkbait on a dropshot with a leader long enough to hold the bait above the vegetation. Scented baits are particularly effective here.
Note: In the Florida Keys, rigging jumbo jerk baits/stick baits like the 7.5-inch Lunker City Slug-Go on a 6/0 or 7/0 wide gap hook, or a jig head and burning it across the dark grass patches amid sand flats will bring giant barracuda racing forth to clobber what resembles a ballyhoo or needlefish.
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SPOONS David A. Brown photo Standard issue for the savvy angler’s tackle box, weedless spoons like the classic Johnson Silver Minnow or the Aqua Dream present one of the most consistent options for redfish, but they’ll also fool trout and the occasional snook. Made to wobble and flash, spoons mimic pinfish and other popular forage, while traversing pretty much any habitat from grass to oyster bottom.
Gold and silver are most common, but consider a selection including chartreuse, pink and black. Also, ultra-realistic photo print finishes of pinfish, sardines and other baitfish can help when predators turn picky. Elsewhere, casting spoons like a Luhr Jensen Krocodile , Clarkspoon , or Hopkins Shorty serve well the surf angler seeking trout, mackerel, bluefish and others. Note: A spoon’s inherent spinning motion will twist your line and cause compounding issues. Prevent this by adding a split ring and a swivel, which allows your lure to move independently with all the appeal, but none of the hassle.
POPPING CORK RIG Photo courtesy of Four Horseman Tackle Commotion plus vulnerability define the attraction of a jig and plastic, or a shrimp lure hung beneath a cork. In a pinch, an old school peg-style cork with a concave top will work, but modern anglers typically use a premade rig (ex: Four Horseman ) comprising a wire stem with a cork flanked by rattle beads and tie-offs at both ends. Connect your main line to the top, add a 20- to 30-pound fluorocarbon leader to the bottom, then tie on your lure of choice. Cork color and shape might matter in clear water, but it’s mostly about the disturbance.
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Snap your rod tip downward or to the side, and the cork chugs, while the beads rattle. This commotion attracts predators to what sounds like other fish feeding, and when they spot the bait below, it’s usually a quick sale. Easy to cast, the popping cork rig allows you to present baits over grass and shell, while offering a clear strike indicator. Cork disappears—start reeling.
Note: Around oyster bars and other snaggy bottom, hang a lipless bait like a Bill Lewis Saltwater Rat-L-Trap below the cork and just let it drift through the strike zone to mimic a pinfish.
TOPWATERS Photo courtesy of Rapala Walking baits like the Rapala Skitterwalk, Yo-Zuri TopKnock Pencil , and MirrOlure Top Dog or She Dog , are great for covering water and finding aggressive fish. Scale your bait size to the scenario, as the heavy splash of a full-size topwater is a good bet for targeting trout, snook and redfish traveling with a noisy mullet school. Bomb that same bait over a calm, shallow grass flat and you’ll scatter the daybreak feeders. Downsize to the smaller profile like a 3 1/2-inch Heddon Saltwater Super Spook Jr. or MirrOLure MirrOMullet for the stealthy times.
Rattles make a big difference, but a low-frequency bait will influence differently than a high-frequency design. For example, the heavy thunk-thunk-thunk of a Heddon One-Knocker Spook presents a steady acoustic rhythm that predators can track from a distance, while the frantic sounds of a topwater with multiple smaller rattles are intended to excite nearby fish with what sounds like baitfish clusters.
Don’t overlook poppers like the Storm Saltwater Chug Bug for pestering homebodies around particular targets like docks, bridge pilings, mangrove points and oyster bars.
TWITCHBAIT Photo courtesy of MirrOlure Mimic baitfish over grass flats, potholes, channel edges and oyster bar drop-offs with baits like the Yo-Zuri 3D Inshore Twitchbait , MirrOlure MirrOdine (sinking and suspending models) or the Bomber Saltwater Grade Mullet . Vary your retrieve based on fish mood, but a twitch-twitch-pause cadence is a good starting point. In deeper areas, dead stick a sinker to mimic a vulnerable meal.
SHALLOW DIVERS Photo courtesy of Bomber Typically retrieved at a peppier pace than the twitchbaits, models like the Rapala X-Rap Saltwater , Bomber Long A , or Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow do a good job of imitating fleeing baitfish from sardines to needlefish to ballyhoo. And if you think gag grouper and mangrove snapper are strictly meat-eaters, you’ve never burned a shallow running bait across a nearshore rock pile, rock/shell bottom, or inshore reef. This technique also applies to an oyster bar’s deeper edges or a dock/bridge piling.
DEEP STUFF David A. Brown photo This type of lure roundup probably fosters thoughts of baits thrown in less than a rod length of water, but the “inshore” realm fairly includes several deep-water scenarios. From publicly accessible ports and basins to shipping and navigational channels inside major bays and harbors, you’ll find opportunities to connect with serious arm-stretchers.
Jigging spoons, big flutter spoons, and 3/4- to 1-ounce bucktail or lead head jigs with curly or paddle tails often yield jumbo redfish, snook, cobia, big jacks and the occasional gag grouper.
POMPANO JIG David A. Brown photo) With painted lead molded in tapering form to the hook shank, this unique lure is made for a wobbling, scampering display that pompano can’t resist. The basic shape finds a smooth, rounded lower end, but some pompano jigs sport an angled bottom. With either, a small bucktail teaser attached to the eye with a split ring enhances the appeal.
From the original Doc’s Goofy Jigs (many of us still have them in our boxes), to modern makers like Skyline Fishing Company and Buccaneer Bait Company, this bottom scooting design also appeals to croakers, whiting and redfish on the sand, while trout, ladyfish, mackerel and bluefish will bite them on a mid-water column retrieve.
BUCKTAIL Photo courtesy of Spro A round or bullet-shaped head with a short, dense skirt made of natural or faux bucktail (sometimes nylon) paired with a curly or twin tail trailer works well on a long cast, or a vertical presentation from piers, docks, or bridges. Fish baits like the SPRO Bucktail as-is for pompano and other surf species by bumping across sandbars and dropping into the troughs, or tip them with sand fleas, cut shrimp or scented synthetics like Fish Bites. Trout love bucktails, and the old school tandem rig pairing a couple of light bucktails in staggered positions never goes out of style (Sweeten a bucktail with a chunk of squid or a lip-hooked finger mullet and you have a serious flounder charmer).
HONORABLE MENTION: SABIKI RIG Photo courtesy of Mustad Fishing This one may raise a few eyebrows, but while live baiters commonly employ this basic string of gold hooks for sardines, blue runners, goggle eyes and the like, you’ll also find more elaborately dressed sabikis with quills, flashy fibers and even small shrimp bodies. Vertical presentations from piers, bridges, and jetties will nab an interesting variety from grunts to filefish to South Florida tropicals, while a diagonal retrieve through the surf zone will tempt croakers, whiting and the occasional pompano. For young anglers, a sabiki string provides a user-friendly option that’ll produce nearly non-stop action, while the adults fiddle with the more challenging, patience-heavy techniques.
