Walk into any tackle aisle and you’ll find two hundred crankbaits staring back at you, most of which catch more fishermen than fish. You don’t need a wall of lures to catch bass on hard baits. You need a handful of the right ones, fished with some confidence.

The idea here is simple: five hard baits that cover the whole water column, from chopping the surface at dawn to grinding a deep ledge in July. This is the honest starter kit — five lures that have earned their spot in countless tackle boxes, none of which will make you wince at the register.

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What to Look For

Bill shape and diving depth. The bill is what pulls the lure down. A big, wide bill dives deep; a short one stays shallow. Every crankbait lists a diving depth on the package — pick the bait whose depth matches where the fish are sitting, not where you wish they were.

Squarebill vs. round bill. Square bills deflect off wood and rock instead of hanging up, which makes them the shallow-water choice for fishing around cover. Round bills dig straighter and deeper, better for open water and ledges where deflection doesn’t matter as much.

Rattles vs. silent. Rattles call fish in from a distance and shine in murky water or when fish are aggressive. Silent baits get more bites from pressured fish that have heard every rattle in the lake. There’s no wrong answer — it depends on the day.

Treble hook quality. Budget baits often come with hooks that bend out or dull fast. Reviewers consistently report that upgrading stock trebles is the single cheapest improvement you can make to a hard bait’s landing rate. Check hooks before you buy, and keep a spare pack in your box.

Color selection by water clarity. Clear water calls for natural shad, bluegill, and translucent patterns. Stained or muddy water calls for chartreuse, fire tiger, and craw colors with bright bellies. When in doubt, match what the baitfish in your lake actually look like.

Buoyancy: float vs. suspend. Most crankbaits float, so they back out of snags when you pause your retrieve. Suspending baits like jerkbaits hang nose-down at rest, which is what triggers a strike on the pause. Knowing which you’ve tied on changes how you fish it.

Matching lure size to forage. Big baits catch big fish, but only when bass are eating big baitfish. A 2-to-3-inch bait matches the young shad and bluegill most bass eat most of the year. When bass are gorging on full-size shad in fall, size up.

Our Picks

Strike King KVD 1.5 Squarebill — best shallow crankbait

If you buy one crankbait this year, make it this one. The KVD 1.5 runs 2-1/4 inches and 7/16 oz, dives 3 to 5 feet, and was designed to Kevin VanDam’s specs with a square bill that bounces off stumps and riprap instead of hanging up. It runs silent with no internal rattles, and the wandering, “hunting” action is what triggers reaction strikes when you crank it into cover. It carries a pair of #2 trebles out of the box. Reviewers consistently report it runs true right out of the package and catches fish year-round. Go with Chartreuse Sexy Shad in stained water or Olive Shad when it’s clear. Around $10.

Who it’s for: Every bass angler, full stop — this is the first hard bait in the kit for a reason.

Pros: Affordable, runs true out of the box, deflects off cover, proven fish-catcher in any region.

Cons: Reviewers consistently report the paint chips and wears with hard use around rocks; being silent, it won’t call fish in from far away in muddy water.

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Strike King Pro Model 6XD Silent — best deep crankbait

When bass slide out to deep ledges and points in summer, this is how you reach them. The 6XD Silent is 3 inches, a full ounce, and dives 17-plus feet (Strike King lists 19-plus on a long cast) thanks to its curved diving bill. It’s the silent version of the famous 6XD, meaning no rattle chamber — a deliberate choice for pressured fish that have heard every rattling crank in the lake all summer. It comes armed with two #2 trebles. Pick Gizzard Shad or Sexy Shad to match open-water shad schools. Around $9–$11.

Who it’s for: Anglers fishing reservoirs, deep points, and ledges — anyone who needs to reach fish a shallow crank can’t touch.

Pros: Digs to real deep water fast, runs true despite its big profile, silent version fools pressured fish.

Cons: It pulls hard — you’ll want a long, heavy cranking rod and your forearm will know about it; overkill for small ponds, and the finish chips on rock just like every crankbait.

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Strike King Red Eye Shad (1/2 oz) — best lipless crankbait

The lipless crank is the search bait of the bunch: no bill, so it sinks, and you can burn it fast, rip it through grass, or yo-yo it off the bottom. The Red Eye Shad has been the standard in this category for years. The 1/2-oz, 2-1/2-inch model is the all-around size — heavy enough to cast a mile, light enough to fish shallow grass. Free-floating rattles give it its loud, hard-vibrating signature, and the red 3D eyes are its trademark. It sinks on the fall, which means it also works as a vertical jigging bait in winter. Chrome Sexy Shad is the go-to in clear water; Fire Tiger in the mud. Around $10.

Who it’s for: Anyone fishing grass lines, flats, and windy banks — the fastest way to find active fish.

Pros: Casts far, fishes at any depth you choose, loud rattles draw strikes, hard to beat for the money.

Cons: It’s loud by design, which can push pressured or cold-front fish away; it sinks, so it will find every stump in timber; reviewers report the finish chips with heavy grass-ripping.

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Berkley Choppo 90 — best topwater hard bait

Topwater is the most fun way to catch a bass, and the Choppo makes it the easiest too — just chunk it out and wind. The 90 is 90mm (about 3-1/2 inches), 1/2 oz, with a cupped propeller tail that churns up a noisy, splashy commotion on a straight retrieve. It comes with two #5 Fusion19 treble hooks that reviewers consistently report are sharp and solid. Bone is the classic color — it throws a clean silhouette at dawn and dusk — and it casts a long way for its size. Around $13.

Who it’s for: Early-morning and calm-evening anglers, and anyone who wants to experience a bass blowing up on top.

Pros: Dead simple to fish, casts far, draws explosive strikes, quality hooks out of the box.

Cons: The plastic prop tail is the weak link — it can warp if left in a hot truck bed, and some reviewers report theirs didn’t spin true out of the box, so check it before you buy; at around $13 it’s the priciest bait in this kit.

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Rapala X-Rap XR08 — best jerkbait

A jerkbait covers the water a crankbait can’t: the in-between zones, fished with twitches and pauses instead of a steady crank. The X-Rap XR08 is 3-1/8 inches, 1/4 oz, runs 3 to 5 feet, and — the key part — suspends on the pause, hanging nose-down right in a following bass’s face. It has a textured translucent body with internal holographic foil, 3D holographic eyes, a long-cast weight system, and two #6 VMC black nickel trebles. Work it with a jerk-jerk-pause cadence; most strikes come on the pause. Gold is a proven clear-water color; Silver works anywhere shad swim. Around $11–$15.

Who it’s for: Cool-water anglers — spring and fall — when bass want a bait that stops and sits instead of one that keeps moving.

Pros: Suspends on the pause, casts well for a light bait, deadly in cold water, quality VMC hooks.

Cons: The priciest bait in the kit; the suspending action can drift toward slowly sinking in very cold water, which changes the cadence; small hooks mean it’s not a heavy-cover bait.

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Hard Bait Tips for Bass

• Vary your retrieve until something works. Steady crank, stop-and-go, burn-and-kill, slow roll — the same bait fishes five different ways. Change speeds before you change lures.
• Match the hatch on size and color. Shad lake? Throw shad colors. Bluegill pond? Throw bluegill colors. Five minutes watching what baitfish are doing will outfish an hour of guessing.
• Upgrade stock trebles on budget baits. The bait is fine; the hooks are where cheap gets exposed. A pack of quality trebles costs less than one lost fish of a lifetime.
• Tie direct or use a snap — but not both with a swivel. A direct knot gives a crankbait its best action. A small snap makes lure changes fast and won’t hurt the action. A big swivel will.
• Deflect squarebills off cover. Aim the KVD 1.5 at stumps, rocks, and dock posts on purpose. The deflection is the trigger — most strikes come the instant the bait bounces off something.
• Fish lipless fast over grass. Rip the Red Eye Shad just fast enough to tick the tops of submerged grass, then rip it free when it catches. That rip-and-tear is what gets the reaction strike.

FAQ

How many lures does a beginner really need? Fewer than the tackle industry wants you to think. Five hard baits — a shallow squarebill, a deep diver, a lipless crank, a topwater, and a jerkbait — cover the surface, the shallows, mid-depth, and deep water. Learn to fish these five well and you’ll outfish most guys with a hundred lures they can’t name.

Squarebill vs. deep-diving crankbait — which first? The squarebill, every time. Most bank fishing and most pond and lake fishing happens in under 6 feet of water, which is exactly where the KVD 1.5 lives. Buy the deep diver when you start fishing deep structure on bigger water.

What color crankbait for muddy water? Bright and loud: chartreuse, fire tiger, and craw patterns with orange or chartreuse bellies. In muddy water bass hunt by vibration and silhouette, so pick a color with high contrast and pair it with a rattling bait like the Red Eye Shad.

When should I throw a lipless crankbait? When you need to find fish fast. Grass flats, windy banks, and pre-spawn staging areas are prime. Burn it over grass, yo-yo it off deeper bottom, or let it sink and jig it vertically in winter. It’s the most versatile retrieve in this kit.

Do I need to upgrade the hooks? On the baits in this kit, the stock hooks are serviceable — the Choppo and X-Rap come with genuinely good hooks. But if you buy bargain-bin hard baits, yes: reviewers consistently report that dull or soft stock trebles are the number-one reason fish come unbuttoned. Sharpen or replace them before the first cast.

What rod and line for crankbaits? A 7-foot medium or medium-heavy rod with a moderate (not fast) action — the softer tip keeps trebles pinned and keeps the bait from tearing free on the strike. For line, 10–12 lb fluorocarbon is the standard for crankbaits and jerkbaits (it sinks and gets the bait deeper), and 30–40 lb braid or 12–15 lb mono works for topwater since you want the line to float.

Joshua Parrish, Founder of HookNArrow.com