We independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here.
It’s time to have some fun and talk about the best largemouth bass baits.
When it comes to catching largemouth bass, everyone will have a different opinion.
I’ll likely create some best friends in this article, but I’ll probably create some enemies as well.
To say that one lure is the best over another is usually subjective to the individual, but I will say that I went to the ends of the Earth to find some lures that are a bit unique and some that you’ll already know and love.
In this article, we’re taking a look at the best largemouth mouth bass lures, and in the end, I’ll give you a quick breakdown of some “need to know” facts about catching largemouth bass.
Best Lures for Largemouth Bass
- Booyah Super Shad Spinnerbait (Best Spinnerbait for Largemouth Bass)
- Berkley PowerBait Wigglers (Best Wigglers for Largemouth Bass)
- Arbogast Jointed Jitterbug (Best Jitterbug for Largemouth Bass)
- ROSE KULI Multi-Jointed Swimbaits (Best Swimbait for Largemouth Bass)
- Rapala Rattlin (Best Rapala for Largemouth Bass)
If you prefer to learn by YouTube video, Anglers.com Community Coordinator Wes Littlefield tells us his 5 favorite largemouth lures!
- Best Lures for Largemouth Bass
- Our Reviews Of Our Favorite Lures for Largemouth Bass
- When Can You Catch Largemouth Bass
- Where to Catch Largemouth Bass
- Strategies For Fishing Different Lures
- A Few Expert Tips
- Best Lures for Largemouth Bass
- Our Reviews Of Our Favorite Lures for Largemouth Bass
- When Can You Catch Largemouth Bass
- Where to Catch Largemouth Bass
- Strategies For Fishing Different Lures
- A Few Expert Tips
Our Reviews Of Our Favorite Lures for Largemouth Bass
Booyah Super Shad Spinnerbait
BEST OVERALL
Specs
- Type: Four willow blade spinnerbait
- Number of lures: One
- Weight: ⅜ Ounce
Pros
- You can’t beat the four-bladed presentation
- Comes in a variety of colors
- Creates a natural action that bass can’t resist
Cons
- Some have said that the blades aren’t of the best quality
I’m sure most of you will agree that spinnerbaits are one of the best largemouth bass fishing lures for a lot of reasons. I love this one because of the four-bladed design.
This feature allows you to create a ridiculous presentation in the water and the 55 strand skirt helps you stay weedless in dense cover.
The four blades reflect light really well, so it makes the one lure appear like a school of fish in the water (if you buy a natural color.)
Overall, it’s a great big mouth bass lure.
Berkley PowerBait Wigglers
BEST SOFT PLASTIC
Specs
- Type: Soft plastic powerbait
- Number of lures: 5-100
- Weight: Varies based on style
BUYING ADVICE
- I would choose the “baby bass” Powerbait Power Jerk Shad option
Pros
- Mimics baitfish
- Scented lures attract bass
- Easier to store than waxworms
Cons
- Only comes in a ten pack
If you check this option out, you’ll realize there are dozens of options to choose from. I suggest using the power jerk shad for a few reasons. First, the appearance is natural, which makes it look like an actual shad.
Second, this option comes with a pack of ten, which is enough to last you a while because they’re durable, and they don’t break apart easily.
I love Powerbait because they come with a natural scent and attractant that largemouth bass love. The presentation is super smooth as well, which is important.
Arbogast Jointed Jitterbug
BEST FOR BEGINNERS
Specs
- Type: Jointed jitterbug
- Number of lures: One
- Weight/Size: 3 ½ Inch
FEATURED SPECS
- Comes in five different colors
EXTRA FEATURES
- Jointed for improved topwater action
BUYING ADVICE
- Research and learn how to create a topwater presentation before hitting the water
Pros
- Great for beginners because it’s easy to create the ideal action
- Bright in the water
Cons
- Requires a bit of research
I chose this option for beginners because it’s easy to jump right in and catch largemouth bass with this lure regardless of your level of experience. After a few minutes of reading or watching some videos about how to create the presentation, you should have no problem catching almost anything.
ROSE KULI Multi-Jointed Swimbaits
BEST TOPWATER
Specs
- Type: Square bill jointed swimbait
- Number of lures: Three
- Weight: 0.44 ounces
FEATURED SPECS
- Dives four feet
EXTRA FEATURES
- Creates an incredibly natural presentation
BUYING ADVICE
- Choose the Color-A option and fish it beneath the surface with a slow retrieval
Pros
- Awesome presentation
- Lifelike looking eyes
- Internal vibrating ball draws attention
Cons
- A bit too big for small pond fishing
While I do consider this one of the best topwater lures on the market, you aren’t limited to fishing on the surface. This jointed lure dives around six feet when you cast it, and with a slow reel action, you can create a brilliant presentation that is natural and noisy.
Overall, this is one of the best topwater lures largemouth bass cannot resist.
Rapala Rattlin
BEST RATTLER
Specs
- Type: Freshwater Rattling swimbait
- Number of lures: One
- Weight: 0.3 ounces
FEATURED SPECS
- Comes in a variety of natural colors
EXTRA FEATURES
- Loaded with BBs
BUYING ADVICE
- Great for presenting in heavy cover. I recommend it for shallow water.
Pros
- Great action
- Well balanced so it’s easy to control depth
- The loud presentation works well during spawning season
Cons
- Too small for some
This lure has to be one of my favorites of all time. Noise is essential when fishing for bass because they’re naturally ornery. Often, bass will bite something not because they’re feeding but because you’ve aggravated them enough to cause a strike.
Rapala is a super reputable brand, and the rattling BB presentation works great. It’s also nice and balanced, so it’s easy to manage your depth, which makes it beginner-friendly as well.
When Can You Catch Largemouth Bass
The best thing about bass is that they don’t have a season; you can find them all year long. If I had to put a “best time” on fishing for these guys, I would suggest throughout the spring.
Bass spawn in the spring, and they’ve started to feed again after the long winter. This combination creates bass that are both protective and hungry, which is a recipe for success on the side of the angler.
If you’re fishing in a small pond, lake, or river, it’s also good to know that bass don’t travel very far. When you compare that to fishing large bodies of water like inshore and offshore situations, it’s completely different.
Once you locate them, you’ll have no problem finding them again and again because they will remain in the same area throughout the spring, summer, and fall.
Where to Catch Largemouth Bass
If you’ve read any of my articles, you’ll know that I preach the same gospel over and over again. You need to look towards cover almost all the time. If you’re fishing in the morning and evening, you’ll want to look around vegetation, stumps, rocky ledges, docks, buildings, and wreckage of any kind.
This factor is especially true during the spring when they are spawning. They’ll stay close to their spawn for protection, and this is almost always around thick vegetation.
When determining the best largemouth bass lures, we should keep this in mind. For this reason, loud and brightly colored lures work best. When you’re pushing your way through the cover, you’ll need a lure that will draw attention and intimidate the bass.
That said, here is where expertise starts to kick in. Bass are the “scaredy cats” of the water, so they prefer to pick on the little guy. You don’t want to intimidate them too much because they’ll back off, figuring that it’s not worth the fight.
For this reason, spinnerbaits work well because they’re not usually too big, they create a loud presentation, and they reflect a lot of light.
During the middle of the day, you’ll want to switch up your strategy. Bass are in full feeding mode at this time, so they’ll move into deep water, especially during the summer when the water temperatures are higher. When fishing open water you also want to increase the size of your lures.
If you have a fish finder, you’ll want to pay attention to changes in the water column because this is where they’ll hang out during feeding time.
Strategies For Fishing Different Lures
Above, we talked about some of the best big mouth bass lures on the market. Let’s get into some more detail about how to use each of them to your advantage. I didn’t mention crankbaits or jigs in this article but they’re also solid options for bass fishing.
I’m a huge believer in bass fishing technique over everything. You can catch bass with any lure if you know what you’re doing.
Fishing Largemouth Bass with Spinnerbaits
First, let’s talk about spinnerbaits. When fishing for bass, one thing to remember is patience. You don’t want to jerk the lure until you’re 100 percent certain you have the bass on the line. Bass tend to hold spinnerbaits for a long time, so when you have a bite, you’ll know it.
Tip number two is to choose the right color. These types of lures work well in murky and heavy covered water, so with that, you want to choose a bright spinnerbait. Your lure should have a neon-like color orange or green, so it stands out in the water. When you pair that with the noise and presentation, you’ll have the best largemouth bass lure.
Finally, the sun plays a significant role in the success of your spinnerbait fishing for largemouth bass. The blades reflect light, so they work well at creating attention on sunny days. The opposite is true as well because they’ll take any amount of light you have and create a reflection even if it’s an overcast day.
Fishing Largemouth Bass with Soft Plastics
Now let’s talk about using a soft plastic lure. You have a multitude of options with plastics. There are worms, grubs, jerk baits, crawfish, and more. You can use these for smallmouth bass too. There are a few things to remember about soft plastic worms and baits.
First, you want to only purchase these from a reputable company with a history of creating high-quality products. Since most of these lures are made from molds, anyone and their brother can make a soft plastic lure.
You’ll want to make sure you know how to rig these properly as well. There are many ways to rig rubber worms like the carolina rig, texas, and wacky. I always recommend using them wacky style. This strategy creates a great presentation that is both natural and disruptive to the bass.
Fishing Largemouth Bass with Swimbaits
The last lure we’ll talk about is swimbaits. These come in both soft and hard styles, but the ones I’ve recommended to you are hard segmented swimbaits. This type of lure is known to create a large splash in the water, so it’s known to a lot of bass anglers that you only want to use swimbaits when targeting big bass.
With that, you also want to alter the size of your swimbait based on where you’re fishing. If you fish the small pond behind your neighbor’s house, you wouldn’t want to go in with a two-ounce swimbait because you’ll intimidate the bass, and they’ll never bite.
I would recommend sticking to swimbaits of less than four inches in length because they’ll work more appropriately for the finesse style of fishing that works best for bass. The best lures are ones that allow you to have a sensitive but strategic approach in the water.
A Few Expert Tips
Here are a few things I’ve learned from other bass fishermen, my family, and my experiences. These tips will help you catch bass regardless of the situation.
- Experiment with different weather conditions to understand how they impact bass behavior.
- Master one lure before bouncing to another.
- When fishing in clear water, use a naturally colored lure.
- When the weather is warm, increase your lure size. If you’re fishing in cold water, reduce your lure size.
- Keep both lipless crankbaits and square bill crankbaits in your tacklebox.
- Watch the weight of your jighead when using soft plastics.
Catch More Largemouth Bass
You should now have all the tools you need to catch more largemouth bass! As I said at the beginning of the article, a lot of fishing tricks and tips are subjective to the individual. Take what you’ve learned here, apply it, experience it, and decide for yourself what your best bass lures are.
For me, I can never go wrong with a basic spinnerbait presented slowly but fast enough to keep it visible at all times. Remember that a lot of fishing has to do with your technique. Each lure has a specific strategy that you need to deploy to have success, so study up, learn the lures, and give it your best effort!
Anglers.com
It’s time to have some fun and talk about the best largemouth bass baits.
When it comes to catching largemouth bass, everyone will have a different opinion.
I’ll likely create some best friends in this article, but I’ll probably create some enemies as well.
To say that one lure is the best over another is usually subjective to the individual, but I will say that I went to the ends of the Earth to find some lures that are a bit unique and some that you’ll already know and love.
In this article, we’re taking a look at the best largemouth mouth bass lures, and in the end, I’ll give you a quick breakdown of some “need to know” facts about catching largemouth bass.
Best Lures for Largemouth Bass
- Booyah Super Shad Spinnerbait (Best Spinnerbait for Largemouth Bass)
- Berkley PowerBait Wigglers (Best Wigglers for Largemouth Bass)
- Arbogast Jointed Jitterbug (Best Jitterbug for Largemouth Bass)
- ROSE KULI Multi-Jointed Swimbaits (Best Swimbait for Largemouth Bass)
- Rapala Rattlin (Best Rapala for Largemouth Bass)
If you prefer to learn by YouTube video, Anglers.com Community Coordinator Wes Littlefield tells us his 5 favorite largemouth lures!
- Best Lures for Largemouth Bass
- Our Reviews Of Our Favorite Lures for Largemouth Bass
- When Can You Catch Largemouth Bass
- Where to Catch Largemouth Bass
- Strategies For Fishing Different Lures
- A Few Expert Tips
- Best Lures for Largemouth Bass
- Our Reviews Of Our Favorite Lures for Largemouth Bass
- When Can You Catch Largemouth Bass
- Where to Catch Largemouth Bass
- Strategies For Fishing Different Lures
- A Few Expert Tips
Our Reviews Of Our Favorite Lures for Largemouth Bass
Booyah Super Shad Spinnerbait
BEST OVERALL
Specs
- Type: Four willow blade spinnerbait
- Number of lures: One
- Weight: ⅜ Ounce
Pros
- You can’t beat the four-bladed presentation
- Comes in a variety of colors
- Creates a natural action that bass can’t resist
Cons
- Some have said that the blades aren’t of the best quality
I’m sure most of you will agree that spinnerbaits are one of the best largemouth bass fishing lures for a lot of reasons. I love this one because of the four-bladed design.
This feature allows you to create a ridiculous presentation in the water and the 55 strand skirt helps you stay weedless in dense cover.
The four blades reflect light really well, so it makes the one lure appear like a school of fish in the water (if you buy a natural color.)
Overall, it’s a great big mouth bass lure.
Berkley PowerBait Wigglers
BEST SOFT PLASTIC
Specs
- Type: Soft plastic powerbait
- Number of lures: 5-100
- Weight: Varies based on style
BUYING ADVICE
- I would choose the “baby bass” Powerbait Power Jerk Shad option
Pros
- Mimics baitfish
- Scented lures attract bass
- Easier to store than waxworms
Cons
- Only comes in a ten pack
If you check this option out, you’ll realize there are dozens of options to choose from. I suggest using the power jerk shad for a few reasons. First, the appearance is natural, which makes it look like an actual shad.
Second, this option comes with a pack of ten, which is enough to last you a while because they’re durable, and they don’t break apart easily.
I love Powerbait because they come with a natural scent and attractant that largemouth bass love. The presentation is super smooth as well, which is important.
Arbogast Jointed Jitterbug
BEST FOR BEGINNERS
Specs
- Type: Jointed jitterbug
- Number of lures: One
- Weight/Size: 3 ½ Inch
FEATURED SPECS
- Comes in five different colors
EXTRA FEATURES
- Jointed for improved topwater action
BUYING ADVICE
- Research and learn how to create a topwater presentation before hitting the water
Pros
- Great for beginners because it’s easy to create the ideal action
- Bright in the water
Cons
- Requires a bit of research
I chose this option for beginners because it’s easy to jump right in and catch largemouth bass with this lure regardless of your level of experience. After a few minutes of reading or watching some videos about how to create the presentation, you should have no problem catching almost anything.
ROSE KULI Multi-Jointed Swimbaits
BEST TOPWATER
Specs
- Type: Square bill jointed swimbait
- Number of lures: Three
- Weight: 0.44 ounces
FEATURED SPECS
- Dives four feet
EXTRA FEATURES
- Creates an incredibly natural presentation
BUYING ADVICE
- Choose the Color-A option and fish it beneath the surface with a slow retrieval
Pros
- Awesome presentation
- Lifelike looking eyes
- Internal vibrating ball draws attention
Cons
- A bit too big for small pond fishing
While I do consider this one of the best topwater lures on the market, you aren’t limited to fishing on the surface. This jointed lure dives around six feet when you cast it, and with a slow reel action, you can create a brilliant presentation that is natural and noisy.
Overall, this is one of the best topwater lures largemouth bass cannot resist.
Rapala Rattlin
BEST RATTLER
Specs
- Type: Freshwater Rattling swimbait
- Number of lures: One
- Weight: 0.3 ounces
FEATURED SPECS
- Comes in a variety of natural colors
EXTRA FEATURES
- Loaded with BBs
BUYING ADVICE
- Great for presenting in heavy cover. I recommend it for shallow water.
Pros
- Great action
- Well balanced so it’s easy to control depth
- The loud presentation works well during spawning season
Cons
- Too small for some
This lure has to be one of my favorites of all time. Noise is essential when fishing for bass because they’re naturally ornery. Often, bass will bite something not because they’re feeding but because you’ve aggravated them enough to cause a strike.
Rapala is a super reputable brand, and the rattling BB presentation works great. It’s also nice and balanced, so it’s easy to manage your depth, which makes it beginner-friendly as well.
When Can You Catch Largemouth Bass
The best thing about bass is that they don’t have a season; you can find them all year long. If I had to put a “best time” on fishing for these guys, I would suggest throughout the spring.
Bass spawn in the spring, and they’ve started to feed again after the long winter. This combination creates bass that are both protective and hungry, which is a recipe for success on the side of the angler.
If you’re fishing in a small pond, lake, or river, it’s also good to know that bass don’t travel very far. When you compare that to fishing large bodies of water like inshore and offshore situations, it’s completely different.
Once you locate them, you’ll have no problem finding them again and again because they will remain in the same area throughout the spring, summer, and fall.
Where to Catch Largemouth Bass
If you’ve read any of my articles, you’ll know that I preach the same gospel over and over again. You need to look towards cover almost all the time. If you’re fishing in the morning and evening, you’ll want to look around vegetation, stumps, rocky ledges, docks, buildings, and wreckage of any kind.
This factor is especially true during the spring when they are spawning. They’ll stay close to their spawn for protection, and this is almost always around thick vegetation.
When determining the best largemouth bass lures, we should keep this in mind. For this reason, loud and brightly colored lures work best. When you’re pushing your way through the cover, you’ll need a lure that will draw attention and intimidate the bass.
That said, here is where expertise starts to kick in. Bass are the “scaredy cats” of the water, so they prefer to pick on the little guy. You don’t want to intimidate them too much because they’ll back off, figuring that it’s not worth the fight.
For this reason, spinnerbaits work well because they’re not usually too big, they create a loud presentation, and they reflect a lot of light.
During the middle of the day, you’ll want to switch up your strategy. Bass are in full feeding mode at this time, so they’ll move into deep water, especially during the summer when the water temperatures are higher. When fishing open water you also want to increase the size of your lures.
If you have a fish finder, you’ll want to pay attention to changes in the water column because this is where they’ll hang out during feeding time.
Strategies For Fishing Different Lures
Above, we talked about some of the best big mouth bass lures on the market. Let’s get into some more detail about how to use each of them to your advantage. I didn’t mention crankbaits or jigs in this article but they’re also solid options for bass fishing.
I’m a huge believer in bass fishing technique over everything. You can catch bass with any lure if you know what you’re doing.
Fishing Largemouth Bass with Spinnerbaits
First, let’s talk about spinnerbaits. When fishing for bass, one thing to remember is patience. You don’t want to jerk the lure until you’re 100 percent certain you have the bass on the line. Bass tend to hold spinnerbaits for a long time, so when you have a bite, you’ll know it.
Tip number two is to choose the right color. These types of lures work well in murky and heavy covered water, so with that, you want to choose a bright spinnerbait. Your lure should have a neon-like color orange or green, so it stands out in the water. When you pair that with the noise and presentation, you’ll have the best largemouth bass lure.
Finally, the sun plays a significant role in the success of your spinnerbait fishing for largemouth bass. The blades reflect light, so they work well at creating attention on sunny days. The opposite is true as well because they’ll take any amount of light you have and create a reflection even if it’s an overcast day.
Fishing Largemouth Bass with Soft Plastics
Now let’s talk about using a soft plastic lure. You have a multitude of options with plastics. There are worms, grubs, jerk baits, crawfish, and more. You can use these for smallmouth bass too. There are a few things to remember about soft plastic worms and baits.
First, you want to only purchase these from a reputable company with a history of creating high-quality products. Since most of these lures are made from molds, anyone and their brother can make a soft plastic lure.
You’ll want to make sure you know how to rig these properly as well. There are many ways to rig rubber worms like the carolina rig, texas, and wacky. I always recommend using them wacky style. This strategy creates a great presentation that is both natural and disruptive to the bass.
Fishing Largemouth Bass with Swimbaits
The last lure we’ll talk about is swimbaits. These come in both soft and hard styles, but the ones I’ve recommended to you are hard segmented swimbaits. This type of lure is known to create a large splash in the water, so it’s known to a lot of bass anglers that you only want to use swimbaits when targeting big bass.
With that, you also want to alter the size of your swimbait based on where you’re fishing. If you fish the small pond behind your neighbor’s house, you wouldn’t want to go in with a two-ounce swimbait because you’ll intimidate the bass, and they’ll never bite.
I would recommend sticking to swimbaits of less than four inches in length because they’ll work more appropriately for the finesse style of fishing that works best for bass. The best lures are ones that allow you to have a sensitive but strategic approach in the water.
A Few Expert Tips
Here are a few things I’ve learned from other bass fishermen, my family, and my experiences. These tips will help you catch bass regardless of the situation.
- Experiment with different weather conditions to understand how they impact bass behavior.
- Master one lure before bouncing to another.
- When fishing in clear water, use a naturally colored lure.
- When the weather is warm, increase your lure size. If you’re fishing in cold water, reduce your lure size.
- Keep both lipless crankbaits and square bill crankbaits in your tacklebox.
- Watch the weight of your jighead when using soft plastics.
Catch More Largemouth Bass
You should now have all the tools you need to catch more largemouth bass! As I said at the beginning of the article, a lot of fishing tricks and tips are subjective to the individual. Take what you’ve learned here, apply it, experience it, and decide for yourself what your best bass lures are.
For me, I can never go wrong with a basic spinnerbait presented slowly but fast enough to keep it visible at all times. Remember that a lot of fishing has to do with your technique. Each lure has a specific strategy that you need to deploy to have success, so study up, learn the lures, and give it your best effort!
Thank you for the excellent information, it was complete coverage of everything one would want to know about Bass fishing,