If I Could Only Use 5 Lures For The Rest Of My Life…

I tend to have a lot of lures kicking around.

I don’t spend a lot of time considering my favorite lures. I take a ton of tackle with me when I go fishing so I always have a good variety to choose from. However, the recent Avid Angler Challenge wants to know what lures I would choose if I could only use five lures for the rest of my life. Talk about a tough decision.

I like to fish for just about everything so that makes it hard to narrow down lures. They would have to be a good variety that would still allow me to catch all my favorite fish. After some careful deliberation, and following the guidelines set out for the challenge, I narrowed it down to these five:

1. Rapala Husky Jerk in Tennessee Shad, Size 14

Darrell threw this lure all one summer before finally tying it on my line on a tough day when I couldn’t get a bite. He told me to cast it to the same area I had been throwing my jig for 15 minutes without a hint of action. On the very first cast a decent bass nailed it and I was hooked. This is my ultimate go-to lure. Bass, pike, muskie, salmon, whatever, they will hit it. Casting or trolling, any weather conditions, it just catches fish.

2. Terminator T-1 Titanium Spinnerbait in Bright White Shad, 3/8 oz

I hate to choose only one spinnerbait, but if I had to, this is it. It casts like a dream, runs true, and if it gets bent, the titanium snaps it back into shape. This lure has an uncanny knack for picking up pike and bass on even the slowest day. On a good day, you can’t keep the fish off. Even crappie love to bite this. It’s a perfect search lure and is easy to toss all day.

3. 1/16oz White Jighead With a Mister Twister Curly Tail Grub in White, 2″

Most of my early bass fishing was done using a curly tail grub. It wasn’t until later on that I realized how effective it was for panfish. Find a school of crappie, drop the jig among them, reel one in, repeat. I’ve had many 50 fish days on this (all released, of course). I had one day where I was targeting perch with this setup on light line and couldn’t keep the pike away. I pulled in several of the toothy critters. This jig also works well for brookies.

4. Panther Martin Deluxe Fly in Silver/Yellow, 1/32oz

In my experience, this is the best little brook trout lure out there. This spinner will catch them day in, day out. It’s easy for a beginner to use and those with more advanced skills can make it dance along even more enticingly. The rest of my life had better include brookies, so I’ll definitely have one of these spinners with me.

5. Berkley Gulp! Alive! Minnow in Emerald Shiner, 2.5″

Rigged on a dropshot, you will not find me without my Gulp minnows. Whether it’s chasing psychotic smallies up in Georgian Bay, or targeting hesitant crappie closer to home, this is almost always found on one of my rods. Most people have heard the line about this bait ‘outfishing live bait’ and in my experience, it’s true.

So there you have it, the five lures I would use for the rest of my life.

What lures would you choose?

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argosgirl

Sporadic blogger and sometimes podcaster who loves fishing, the outdoors, hanging with her animals, gardening, and reading manga.

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