What is the most effective freshwater fishing lure?

Rabbit food especially if the fish come from a hatchery. That’s what they are fed there, otherwise a Mickey Finn or Grey Ghost.

It’s a tough choice between a spinner bait and a rubber worm. Both have different styles of fishing - fast, slow, fast then stop, etc. I would probably go with the rubber worm though, b/c fish I think would be more willing to eat it if they’re cold or not hungry… depending on how well you fish it.

Jigs. They come in all sizes, colors, materials and catch all fish.

if I could only have one it would be a Rebel teeny wee crawfish……..it will catch any freshwater fish

Jigs, hands down.

Ok, all the answers you have gotten are right in their own way. Truth is, there is no most effective lure or you would see no other lures out there. The effectiveness of lures is determined by a ton of factors. Weather, Temperature of the air and water, wind, pressure both atmospheric and by fishermen ,and time of year. Lipless crankbaits and spinnerbaits are very versatile as they can be fished high or low in the water column. Jigs are a good bet during most of the year but I would not call them the most effective. Plastics always have their place anytime of year. Jerkbaits are great for early spring pre-spawn patterns. There are way too many answers to this question and I would suggest covering that in your paper. The answer is there is no such thing as the MOST effective.

Ask 100 people this question, and you’ll likely get 100 different nswers, based on their opinions, and that is likely based on their experiences.

As others have said, its pretty difficult to pick one. there are som many factors, and what works one day doesn’t the next- or what one fish will hammer another one won’t touch.

I would suggest another approach- do some research and see what SELLS the best- that might be some indication of what is most popoular, and what is the most popular is likely what works the best (Taking into account the effectiveness of marketing, of course)

If you were to ask my opinion, I’d ave to say that soft plastic baits in all their forms (plastic worms, grubs, Mr. Twisters, lizards, etc are probably the top fish catchers) as a class.

Good luck

Berkley power bait paste is the best fishing lure. I have not tried myself but it is best selling item.

Now your talkin’ specifics… Strictly a lure right? Then I’d go with ole’ faithfull ~ Rapala’s “Original Floater”. I’ve been beatin’ the waters for many a’ moons now and still to this day swear by that lure. Why? Because that particular lure has nailed me, many a different type FRESHWATER species and still does. Link will show you the lure… < ' (( ( > <

Rapala’s “Original Floater” :

Note: I prefer the color that is shown on the link ie., Shad/Minnow (Black & Silver). Colors will very due to conditions of water ~ others have covered that already for ya’ on your other post ;)…

I’d take a Rapala Shad Rap, because you can go after Walleye and Bass with them along with similarly sized fish. They work for trolling or casting which is nice as well.

The spinner bait will catch more bass then any other lure on the market in just about every conceivable condition - it can be fished on top, the bottom ,fast , slow, on the fall, etc. overall it will catch more bass and catch them faster then any other lure.
How ever, my lure if narrowed down to one type of lure would be the plastics. FINESSE FISHING ROCKS!!!