Proven Freshwater Fishing Lures ~ Tried and Tested

Freshwater fishing lures are artificial baits, usually made from plastic, rubber, wood, or metal.

Some are dressed with materials such as hair or feathers, and some are even scented. And they are all designed with one purpose in mind – to provoke an attack from a predatory fish.

Lure anglers are spoilt for choice with many lures available. Selecting the right lures for beginners new to lure fishing is quite a task. But if you have some knowledge about the species you are targeting – considering what might appeal to them, taking into account the lure’s size, color, the depth and its movement on the water choosing the right lures for freshwater fishing will be much easier.

There are thousands of lures on the market but most are designed more to attract anglers than the fish. So the big question is which of the thousands of lures that you should buy and use?

Here are some of the tried and tested freshwater fishing lures which are proven to catch almost all predatory freshwater species of fish that swims on this planet. These are the lures that you should have in your tackle box.

A spinner has a blade or spoon, which revolves around a weighted body. Some are dressed with hair or plastic fish. Often made of metal these lures are designed to spin in the water when retrieved. A swivel placed at the head of the trace is a must to prevent line-twist. They come in a variety of colors, sizes and shapes. They can be cast, troll or drift and they are very versatile for a great amount of freshwater predators. One top example is the pike.

A spinnerbait has a single or pair of blades mounted tandem-style on a V-shaped stainless steel shaft. The body consists of a rubber, squid-like skirt folded over a large single hook. It spins and works similarly like the spinners and it can be retrieved fast or slow, and at all depths.

These particular freshwater fishing lures are very popular with Asian’s anglers for snakehead fishing but work well for many other species. When fishing in murky water where visibility is low this is the lure you going to need – carry a variety of them in your tackle box!

Spoons are lures made from chrome-plated steel, brass or copper attached with a treble hook at one end and a swivel at the other. They wobble rather than simply spin when retrieved.

One of the earliest forms of artificial baits, spoons are effective for many large predators on a sunny weather when the light from the sun catches the shinning metal.

Some spoons are wheedles, equipped with a fine wire hook-guard to prevent it from snags. These spoons come with a single hook. They are excellent for fishing places with thick vegetation._

A freshwater jig has a large hook with a lead head moulded round its eye. The single hook is then covered with a soft plastic body to imitate something to entice a predator.

Jigs might look very simple but they are very effective. They will catch almost any freshwater fish, from small panfish to large salmon.

The plastic body comes in endless combinations of shape, color and size. Some are shaped to resemble a fish and others are shaped to resemble some sort of prey.

To entice a predator to takes your jig it must be worked with a jigging action. Jigs are versatile, they can be retrieved vertically, usually fishing on a boat, cast and retrieved in mid-water or troll behind a boat.

Crankbaits come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors. Also known as plugs – floating plugs, floating/sinking plugs and sinking plugs -- they are commonly used for bass fishing but are equally deadly when used for other freshwater predators.

Most plugs are usually made from wood or hard plastic, but modern designs made of soft plastic that are much cheaper than those made of other material are getting very popular.

Here above are the freshwater fishing lures you should have in your tacklebox. The number of lures with the wide selection of body colors, shapes and sizes available makes it impossible to buy and carry them in your tacklebox. So my advice is to pick a few from each category – have confidence in the lure you have selected – and keep on trying until you succeed. Tie one on today!