Top 5(ish) Baits of 2018

2018 was a banner year for my fishing, with more days on the water, more fish caught, a new PB, multiple new species, and some great memories. While the offseason rages on (currently writing inside on a 2 degree day) I decided to put together my thoughts on my top 5 baits of the year. These are the baits that I caught the most fish on, gained the most confidence in, and had the most fun learning with. I hope that you take these into consideration as you do your preseason shopping – I promise you won’t be disappointed.

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Strike King KVD 1.5 Shallow:

This was, without a doubt, my #1 bait this year. It’s as simple as that. For the average fisherman looking to move into moving baits, particularly those guys or gals who spend their time fishing relatively shallow waters from the shore or in kayaks without the help of electronics, the KVD 1.5 Shallow is as good as it gets in my experience. I fished it all season, from mid-spawn through to the end of the year – it was actually the bait that landed me the last bass of 2018 back in late November.

The 1.5 has excellent movement – it’s got a relatively wide wobble when retrieved at slow or mid-range speeds, and a much faster wiggle when burned in, though still maintaining some of that roll. Paired up with some Mustad EWG trebles for extra sticking power and run in the Black Back/Chartreuse color, I caught more fish on this single bait than on any other the whole season.

As the name would suggest, the KVD 1.5 Shallow is a very shallow-running bait, typically diving to depths around 18 inches, maybe a little more if you’re reeling fast. The flattened, downturned squarebill helps to deflect against weeds and other obstacles, though due to its size, the deflection isn’t as good as it would be with other, larger squarebills. However, for pond fishing, shallow-flat burning, rock bumping, easy-access crankbait fishing, particularly for a price under $8USD, you really can’t go wrong here.

YUM Dinger and Yamamoto Senko:

No list would be complete without the inclusion of these puppies. A soft plastic stickbait is arguably the most universal bass fishing bait on the market, with the ability to basically catch any fish in any condition. A stickbait, worked in tandem with moving baits like a crankbait or paddletail, can help you find out how the fish are acting, what they’re keying on, what color they might like, and how easy bass fishing can occasionally be when the conditions are right. There are times in every bass angler’s life where there is simply no reason to move away from a stickbait during a day out on the water, and the proof for me is in the pudding – both of the past two year’s biggest fish I’ve caught, including my PB, have come off of a stickbait. These are a must-have for every bass angler’s tacklebox. If you want to learn more about stickbaits and how I fish them, click this link.

Keitech Swing Impact FAT Swimbait:

Back to the moving baits, the Keitech Swing Impact FAT is a devastatingly effective bait. My fishing really focuses around simplicity, and these are as simple as they come for swimbaits – rig them nose first with a belly-weighted EWG hook, or fish them with an exposed swimbait hook, all you have to do is chuck and wind. Even on a rod that lacks sensitivity, feeling a bite on these is about as easy as it comes in terms of detection – you’ll feel a sudden jerk in the tip, or the line will go slack, and all you’ve got to do is swing on ‘em. And trust me, you’ll be doing a lot of swinging on these.

Colors aren’t extremely important to me here, as I’ve had success on everything I’ve thrown. My suggestions would be to stick with naturals at the beginning, like Bluegill Flash or Crystal Shad, but I think that the movement and profile of the bait is what makes it so tantalizing for fish, and many colors would likely crush bass.

Z-Man Baits Ned Big TRD:

The big brother to the ever-successful Ned Rig from Z-Man, the Big TRD (aptly named in terms of appearance) is a 4” version of the finesse bait coveted by anglers going for tricky fish. At four inches, you have a much larger profile for a bass to key off of, and as such I’ve found that you will catch some bigger ones the more you learn how to fish it. This is my go-to bait when I want to fish to rocky bottoms, or when I’m going for river smallmouth (like the one over yonder). I pair it with the Z-Man Weedless Power Finesse Shroomz Jig Head, which has a 3/0 hook to help land those bigger fish – it’s entirely necessary in my opinion to use the weedless version of these hooks, just as a heads up. There are EWG style weedless heads coming out for baits like the Big TRD nowadays, but I haven’t had any experience with them just yet – I’ll go out on a limb and say that I like fishing an exposed hook more for this application.

This thing is simply a lethal bait. It doesn’t have a particularly vibrant action, but most Ned rigs don’t, instead relying on the popping retrieve typically used by anglers to draw in fish. I’ve had success on this bait when all others failed me, and for that reason alone, regardless of how many fish I caught on it, it makes my Top 5 list.

Strike King Series 1XS Mini-Crank

As everything goes for the KVD 1.5 Shallow, so goes it for the Series 1XS. This is a tiny crankbait, coming in at only 1”, but it does tremendous work in small pond/extremely-shallow conditions, particularly in the early spring and late fall seasons. I caught my first fish of the year on this bad boy, which I actually tie on a spinning rod – this makes it a great option for new or young anglers, but it’ll work for experts just as well. This crank has a tight wobble and a lot of flashy action, and it seems to be able to catch every fish in the pond. I never caught any big boys on this bait, but what I did catch typically made up with quantity what they lacked in quality. Crappie, small bass, river smallies – you name it, this thing can catch it. I’d go as far as to say that this little crankbait might be the best option you have when you really, really just need to feel a bite in early or late seasons.

Gamechanger Lures Eeliminator

This came as a surprise to me. I got it from mystery tackle box, so I’m not sure about availability, but these soft plastic tadpole imitators are among my most coveted baits in the box. They sat on a shelf in my house for a month or more before I broke them out and started to fish them – I’ll never get that month back, but I certainly won’t be wasting any time next year when the water gets warm again. I’ll be doing a full piece on these in the near future as my Sleeper Bait of 2018, because these baits are so damn good, so surprisingly effective and wildly easy to use, that they came away clean with a victory in that category, and people need to know about them.

Click here to see the full piece on the Gamechanger Lures Eeliminator as the 2018 Sleeper Bait of the Year.