Know what people love?
Arguing. Arguing about elections, arguing about football teams, arguing about how people hold fish, arguing about whether or not their husband forgets to lock the front door whenever he leaves to go duck hunting at 3:30 in the morning. Okay. Maybe not that last one, but whatever, we love to debate.
So, that being said, we’ve decided to give you the official Outdoors 360 Ridiculous Draft : Top 10 fishing lures. While I’m sure no one will find any discrepancies or errors in our rankings, feel free to leave us a comment celebrating how correctly we’ve nailed this list . . .
- Zara Spook – What? You wouldn’t go topwater #1 overall? Let me tell you something my friend – we did not become the top site for outdoors news and articles by playing it safe. The Zara Spook is timeless. It’s functional. It produces solid quantities and qualities of fish. We won’t get into color at this point, but I can almost guarantee there’s a bone colored spook tied to a rod in my boat at ALL times.
- Purple Rubber worm – I just crossed you over, like the Steph Curry of lure rankings. You were set up for me to go one way, and I doubled back. I fish in freshwater something like 10-15 times a year. I always use a purple rubber worm. I always catch a few bass on it. Just like my dad did. Just like his dad did. This is like taking an Offensive Tackle #2 in the draft – it’s not sexy, but it works.
- Johnson Silver Minnow Gold Spoon – I don’t think it’s crazy to say this is the single most successful redfish lure ever created. I’ve caught 3 redfish on it in the last week. It just works. Plug it in and forget it. Give me a gold spoon and I’ll line up against anyone. Solid, not spectacular, but very hard to beat . .
- Gulp Shrimp- I’m not going to get into specifics (mostly because I don’t know any specifics), but I’m pretty sure Gulp shrimp by Berkely are made from real shrimp. I’m 95% sure you can pitch them out on a jig head, leave them alone, and catch fish. And I’m 100% that dabbing a little bit of the juice behind your ears will have the lady outdoorsmen (outdoorswomen?) beating a path to your door.
- Rapala SkitterWalk – We’ve got our first reach. If this were a live draft, the crowd would be a mixture of cheers and boos. Not me. I know what I’m doing. I love the SkitterWalk. It’s an easy topwater to walk for beginners. It has a great action and noise. It’s a perfect size, casts far, and it always produces.
- Spro Frog – Back to freshwater, right? WRONG! I’ve caught snook and redfish on this weedless wonder. Not to mention 2 of my 3 biggest bass. I don’t WANT the Spro Frog in my tackle box – I NEED the Spro Frog in my tackle box.
- Mirrolure Mirrodine – Dang. I don’t know how the Mirrodine fell to #7 overall. This is one of the few artificials I’ll allow folks to throw on my charters. Great action, with the ability to pause it in place suspended just below the surface. I’ve caught everything on a mirrodine. Everything.
- White bucktail jig – A sentimental pick. My first snook. My daughter’s first snook. My wife’s first snook. My son’s first snook. Sensing a theme here? They’ve been around a million years, but it’s a very good producer given the right circumstances.
- AquaDream Spoon – in white. I only use the white one. Why? Because I’m superstitious. Someone gave me a white one, we caught fish on it. I bought a silver one and didn’t catch anything on it, switched to the white one, and started catching fish. This is scientific proof that the white one is the best.
- Smithwick Devil’s Horse – I can hear the snickering now? “What are you, 90 years old?” Or “What year is this?” It’s fine. I’ll keep chugging along a 5″ stick full of hooks and propellers and producing MONSTROUS trout and plenty of snook. I’ve never caught a redfish on one, though.
So that’s it. Our first ever Official Ridiculous Draft of Outdoors Things . . . Agree? Disagree? Let us know what you think . . .
About the author : Travis Thompson
Fishing Guide Duck Hunter Dad Husband Writer Maverick 21′ Master Angler Smith – Yeti -Stormr BOOK NOW: (863) 206-0762 [email protected] outdoors360.com/why-do-we-fish
