Print
Email
Share
The 50 Greatest Lures of All Time
The 50 Greatest Lures of All Time
Rebel Pop-R
The Pop-R has been the gold standard among freshwater bass poppers for the past 20 years, a shad-imitating plug that can be fished fast or slow according to need. This ¿¿-ounce chartreuse shad version is suited to medium-weight spinning tackle and 10- to 12-pound-test mono. Here's a trick: Use a sharp knife or sandpaper to reduce the edge of the cupped, popping face. The plug will grab less water and be easier to skitter. lurenet.com
Photo by Todd Huffman
Additional Info
Whether you target bass or walleyes, trout or stripers and more, these are lures that actually work. Some selections are lures your granddad fished. Others are so new you might not have seen them yet. In all cases, though, you'll find a lure that catches fish, specified right down to size and color, along with just what to do when you're on the water.
Picking the perfect lure for a given situation is hard work, so I'll confess to a dirty trick. Before returning to a marina dock or my truck, I take the day's hot lures off my rods and put them away. To the same rods, I then attach lures that didn't work. That means the prying eyes of other anglers in the parking lot will be led astray, and I'll keep a secret to myself just a little longer.
Not this time, though. The lures on these slides are, indeed, the ones I use myself-a core collection distilled through 50 years on the water. They'll work for you, too.
Advertisement
RELATED PHOTOS
ADVERTISEMENT
Today on Field & Stream
Visit Our Sister Sites at Bonnier Corporation
| Enthusiast | Kiteboarding | QUAD | SKI | Skiing | Scuba Diving | Sport Diver | TransWorld Ride BMX | TransWorld Business | TransWorld Motocross | TransWorld SKATEboarding, | TransWorld SNOWboarding | TransWorld SURF | WakeBoarding | WaterSki | Warren Miller Entertainment | WindSurfing |
|---|---|
| Travel | Caribbean Travel & Life | Destination Weddings & Honeymoon | Islands | Meeting Traveler | Resorts & Great Hotels |
| Lifestyle & Shelter | Florida Travel & Life | Garden Design | Home Ft. Lauderdale | Home Miami |
| Luxury | SNOW | Spa |
| Marine | Boating Life | Cruising World | Fly Fishing in Salt Waters | Power Cruising | Marlin | Motor Boating | Sailing World | Salt Water Sportsman | Sport Fishing | Yachting | NewBoats.com | UsedBoats.com | YachtBroker.com |
| Outdoor | Field & Stream | Outdoor Life | SHOT Business |
| Parenting | Babytalk | Parenting |
| Science | Popular Science | Science Illustrated |
| Saveur | Saveur |
| Working Mother Media | Working Mother |
| Entertainment / Events | World Entertainment Services | World Sports & Marketing |
FieldandStream.com is part of the Bonnier Outdoor Group Network
Copyright © 2008 Bonnier Corp. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Photo Gallery Comments (42)
They forgot lure no. 51: A quarter stick of dynamite. Works EVERY time!
Hard be a Rapala if you ask me.
I have to say, the curly tail is my favorite lure for everything, and there are so many ways to use it, jigs, trailers, on a bare hook, the opportunitys are endless, now all you have to do is make a 50 best flys ever and i would hope the number 0ne would be the Clowser minnow.
to me the best plug ever made was called a ( scrambled egg).it was a good bass and jack fish plug.the company that made it went out of business and wouldn't sell the patent to it.would love to see it back on the market again.people that still own one wont sell theres or fish with them for fear of losing them forever!
What about bucktails? How could the list not have bucktails?
Personally, I think Panther Martin spinner & Yamamoto Senko are both slightly underrated on this list. I'd definitely put the a dressed PM in front of a Rooster Tail in a heartbeat.
The curly tail works great for our monster smallmouth we have on the columbia river. For Chinook Salmon It's The K-16 Kwikfish wrapped with sardine and the best lure for Steelhead is a lil corkie and yarn...
FISHING TIP RE:ZARA SPOOK for Striped Bass/Blue Fish.
Old timer gave me this awesome tip, drill a BB size hole about 1/4" or a bit more behind the eyes directly along the spine. Put a tsp of mineral oil or cod liver oil and seal with silicone.(just enough for it to float with the head bobbing upward) In the surf this extra weight will scream the lure an extra 30 yrds (more if you use braided line)and the stripers smash em. They're also cost effective $5, so if you lose em it doesn't sting as much!
Panther martin is a great lure, but I have hooked over 10 types of fish on a single rooster tail. I would have ranked it a little higher.
in my apinion the sketter pop frog by rapala is the best bass lure ever made
I've cought more bass on a rubber worm then any other lure. Jurking them on the retreve will increase the amount of strickes also
say that again
If all else fails I use a Mepps Aglia. I don't alway catch the big ones, but sometimes I just like to catch fish.
caught 20 bass on a rapala hoola pooper over the weeds one day last fall smallest one was 15 inches ever since that day ive been poppin!
Rapala Original Floating Minnow.
With all these sweet lures its no wonder these fish don't stand a chance. Its amazing being able to watch the lure design evolve in this gallery. What will they think of next?
Forgot to mention, where is the saltwater love? Should be titled the 50 Greatest Freshwater Lures.
My fav is the Pop-R I catch more on that..
I'd have to put the buzzbait near the top of the list. What it lacks in diversity of fish species it more than makes up for in hellyeah.
i like them all the ones that i have that are in here all work really good.
Panther Martin spinners are the all time best trout lure out there I have caught all sizes of brook trout from all times of the year on them cant beat em
hard to beet a good mepps or a nice daredivel
the red and white dare devil spoon is great. i caught my 42 inch pike on one...
can you tell us more about the scrambled egg plug? what did it look like design colors any pictures?
You will find my tackle bag full of assorted jigs, tails, rapalas, and little cleos.
They sure didnt forget #25. The jitterbug works good as the suns going down in the summertime espeacaily around brush.
its like lookin in my tackle box
jitterbug is byfar my favorite lure of all time i have caught so many fish on this lure it isn't even funny
i also like the Bomber model B
i also like the Bomber model B
mepps are still no.1 in my book hard to beat these little spinners
I think that we all underestimated the old Johnson Sprite Spoon. Even though they are originally ment for redfish, they have produced some rainbows and largemouths over and over again
Actually, the Daredevle spoon rotates 360 degrees instead of the "wobble" effect as the Cleo, or the Darting action of the Kast Master, so a steady retrieve is a better presentation for this lure!
what about an erie derie , all you do is let it drift with a worm (optional) and waleye will be left and right
What about the old Wounded Minnow. I caught some of my first fish on the wounded minnow, about 30 years ago. Lost that lure some time back, and haven't found one like it since.
i'd put shad rap up higher
what about scumfrogs.
when im trout fishing kastmasters work farely well , so do panther martin lures .
the panther martin is very underated on the list, it is my favorite trout lure.
Storm Thunderstick, Silver with black back
Seeing all these great lures brings back many great memories as I have caught some great fish on nearly every one of them. One lure that used to slay bass that I haven't hear mentioned is the Bassareno in frog or in red and white. Back in the 60's living in South Dakota, that was my go to plug for bass when nothing else was working. I caught tons of bass on it and I don't hear too much about it anymore...
I liked seeing the wide range of lures but Fail!The Lucky 13 should have been in there for sure. Nice gallery though
Post a Comment
Personally, I think Panther Martin spinner & Yamamoto Senko are both slightly underrated on this list. I'd definitely put the a dressed PM in front of a Rooster Tail in a heartbeat.
Hard be a Rapala if you ask me.
I have to say, the curly tail is my favorite lure for everything, and there are so many ways to use it, jigs, trailers, on a bare hook, the opportunitys are endless, now all you have to do is make a 50 best flys ever and i would hope the number 0ne would be the Clowser minnow.
What about bucktails? How could the list not have bucktails?
FISHING TIP RE:ZARA SPOOK for Striped Bass/Blue Fish.
Old timer gave me this awesome tip, drill a BB size hole about 1/4" or a bit more behind the eyes directly along the spine. Put a tsp of mineral oil or cod liver oil and seal with silicone.(just enough for it to float with the head bobbing upward) In the surf this extra weight will scream the lure an extra 30 yrds (more if you use braided line)and the stripers smash em. They're also cost effective $5, so if you lose em it doesn't sting as much!
I've cought more bass on a rubber worm then any other lure. Jurking them on the retreve will increase the amount of strickes also
Forgot to mention, where is the saltwater love? Should be titled the 50 Greatest Freshwater Lures.
They sure didnt forget #25. The jitterbug works good as the suns going down in the summertime espeacaily around brush.
its like lookin in my tackle box
mepps are still no.1 in my book hard to beat these little spinners
to me the best plug ever made was called a ( scrambled egg).it was a good bass and jack fish plug.the company that made it went out of business and wouldn't sell the patent to it.would love to see it back on the market again.people that still own one wont sell theres or fish with them for fear of losing them forever!
The curly tail works great for our monster smallmouth we have on the columbia river. For Chinook Salmon It's The K-16 Kwikfish wrapped with sardine and the best lure for Steelhead is a lil corkie and yarn...
Panther martin is a great lure, but I have hooked over 10 types of fish on a single rooster tail. I would have ranked it a little higher.
in my apinion the sketter pop frog by rapala is the best bass lure ever made
say that again
If all else fails I use a Mepps Aglia. I don't alway catch the big ones, but sometimes I just like to catch fish.
caught 20 bass on a rapala hoola pooper over the weeds one day last fall smallest one was 15 inches ever since that day ive been poppin!
Rapala Original Floating Minnow.
With all these sweet lures its no wonder these fish don't stand a chance. Its amazing being able to watch the lure design evolve in this gallery. What will they think of next?
My fav is the Pop-R I catch more on that..
I'd have to put the buzzbait near the top of the list. What it lacks in diversity of fish species it more than makes up for in hellyeah.
i like them all the ones that i have that are in here all work really good.
Panther Martin spinners are the all time best trout lure out there I have caught all sizes of brook trout from all times of the year on them cant beat em
hard to beet a good mepps or a nice daredivel
the red and white dare devil spoon is great. i caught my 42 inch pike on one...
can you tell us more about the scrambled egg plug? what did it look like design colors any pictures?
You will find my tackle bag full of assorted jigs, tails, rapalas, and little cleos.
jitterbug is byfar my favorite lure of all time i have caught so many fish on this lure it isn't even funny
i also like the Bomber model B
i also like the Bomber model B
I think that we all underestimated the old Johnson Sprite Spoon. Even though they are originally ment for redfish, they have produced some rainbows and largemouths over and over again
Actually, the Daredevle spoon rotates 360 degrees instead of the "wobble" effect as the Cleo, or the Darting action of the Kast Master, so a steady retrieve is a better presentation for this lure!
what about an erie derie , all you do is let it drift with a worm (optional) and waleye will be left and right
What about the old Wounded Minnow. I caught some of my first fish on the wounded minnow, about 30 years ago. Lost that lure some time back, and haven't found one like it since.
i'd put shad rap up higher
what about scumfrogs.
when im trout fishing kastmasters work farely well , so do panther martin lures .
the panther martin is very underated on the list, it is my favorite trout lure.
Storm Thunderstick, Silver with black back
Seeing all these great lures brings back many great memories as I have caught some great fish on nearly every one of them. One lure that used to slay bass that I haven't hear mentioned is the Bassareno in frog or in red and white. Back in the 60's living in South Dakota, that was my go to plug for bass when nothing else was working. I caught tons of bass on it and I don't hear too much about it anymore...
I liked seeing the wide range of lures but Fail!The Lucky 13 should have been in there for sure. Nice gallery though
They forgot lure no. 51: A quarter stick of dynamite. Works EVERY time!
Post a Comment