I would bet that I caught more fish in the 90's on a Rapalla black on silver floating minnow than anything else. I have a buddy that uses "Rapalla" for any 2"-6" hard floating minnow whether it's a Rapalla, Yo Zuri, Rebel, etc. He'll say, they're not hitting plastics, I'm switching to a "Rapalla", then grab a Rebel minnow.

When I was a kid in the sixties, the Worden's Rooster Tail in gray/blue was the had-to-have lure for California bluegill. I used one at Homer Lake, Illinois, last week and caught a big bluegill on the first cast.

Back in the stone ages of bass fishing, the American Angler wrote a book called *HOW...WHEN...WHERE...TO CATCH BASS*. In it, John Fox coins a series of lures called the alphabet lures. I used the Balsa "B" and the Big "O". I loved all Jim Bagley's lures and his salty dog was better than Mann's grub series. But my all time favorite era was the Heddon Spooks. The yellow plastic vamp spook caught more fish for me than any other in my life.

I would say Mepps spinners, the Zara Spook or even the clown-colored Rapalas, if you wanted to be specific.

I've become a spinner-bait nut for the last several years. My favorite is the Chartreuse/White from BassKicker.com . Great vibration. You can feel every little bump. Hook sets easy and stays hooked. I've caught many Bass, Northern and even Musky on these. My favorite is the 3/8oz for bass and the 1/2oz for anything larger.

As a kid Rooster Tails played a big part of my fishing with my Dad on the various creeks and rivers for Redbreast Sunfish and Bluegill Bream along with a few Jack (Chain Pickerel).

I was also one of those mid 80's guys chunking and dragging Shad Raps, Perch and shad being the main colors. I still have and use some of those old baits.

Rattle traps also came to be a much used bait for me.

I remember Jig-n-pigs were the rage for bass in the 80's. Before that it was Rapala F4's for creek fishing and of course the rooster tails and Mepps spinners. I do not remember it's name but I enjoyed fishing a rubber worm decked out with hooks and a little propeller in front of it. It looked corny by todays standards but it caught fish.

Rooster Tails ... and Johnson spoons with Uncle Josh's pork rind tails. Small jointed red head/white body minnow lures were my favorite for creek fishing - I can't remember the brand. I have an old one left but there is no name on it.

Dr Ralph, I'm happy to hear that your Dad validates my opinion on the Jitterbug; I love them to this day. Throw it in the vicinity of a weedbed after sundown, let it sit for a few minutes, then retrieve sporadically. There is nothing like hearing that "glug, glug, glug" as it churns through the still water then letting it rest again. My Jitterbugs all date from the late 60's or so, and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

doesn't anybody use heddon anymore? for me, just texas riggin a Gulp worm or a Heddon frogbait worked
pretty well on bass.

For me it is Eppinger Dardevles and Rapala floaters. I even used a couple Lazy Ikes in Saskatchewan this year to catch walleyes and pike, and later used a Brooks Reefer to catch the same species. All work as well as they did 40 or 50 years ago! I bought a dozen Lazy Ikes for less than a buck apiece at a store in Fargo, ND in the early 1970s. I suspect that this lure is no longer being made, nor the Brooks Reefer...both great lures. Maybe someone knows when those lures went out of production.