So my dad was a nut for Mepps spinners. A #3 Gold was his go-to; there were times when he might step outside his comfort zone and go with silver, or REALLY get radical and go with a red & white daredevil, but generally it was the Mepps #3 Gold undressed.

I recognize that, on the one hand, if you only use one lure all the time you’ll catch all yer fish on it. Duh.

Conversely I recognize you’ll miss the fish that aren’t interested.

And that many lures are nothing but marketing hype trying to separate fools from their money.

A few weekends ago I went fishing with a buddy & his son. My buddy and I rotated through our usual favorites… Mepps, Cleo’s, and rapalas. His son, however, stuck with HIS favorite the entire time, the Beetlespin, and outfished us 2-to-1.

This past weekend I ran a beetlespin with a Berkley GULP minnow and nailed a lot of fish, but went back to my standby Mepps on my way out & nailed my biggest smallie of the day.

What’s your favorite lure? How willing are you to experiment? How hard do you push it when trying something new?

Do I have to pick just one? Able to fish year round here so it varies.


Usually a Mepps Musky Marabou or a Medusa swimbait.

If those two aren't getting looks, I don't dare to throw something different.

I use live bait most of the time, but when I do throw artificials it's usually a Beetle Spin or a Johnson Silver minnow with a little 1" grubtail trailer. I use better jigheads on the Beetle Spins, though. The hooks that come on them are about as firm as microwaved butter...

*added*

Ice fishing I'm mostly after panfish, a 2-3mm tungsten jig is my standard 99% of the time, usually tipped with Gulp waxie, a nibblet of crawler, or a wax worm. If something bigger does cruise through and scatter the panfish, I'll drop a chain or sliver spoon, or a small #1 or #2 jigging plug.

Pretty vague question. Species, time of year, water conditions, all that makes huge differences in lure selection.

Tough one. In the far north for my boat a wades wobbler or doctor spoon. Lakers, pike, walleyes will take those. If far enough south a musky or smally will as well at times.
A jig with rubber tail if the same fish are moving slow.

Years ago there was a crank bait called a Cacklin rap I believe. I’ve got some left back home. I’m not sure what scale the sound is when it clicks but it is flat incredible catching fish. No longer made, of course.

Osky

I have caught many, many fish on Beetlespins. I have neve caught anything on any of the Mepps that I have tried. I have not really used them extensively, so I am not saying that no one catches anything with them, just that I haven't. I have tried them when other things are catching fish to try and give them a fair chance, but it hasn't worked out. Likewise, I have never caught any northerns/muskies on bucktails. I think that there must be something in my aura.

Around here, my go-to has often been a dark-colored 6" plastic worm, either Texas rigged (around cover) or on a long-shank jig head (open water). I'm also fond of a cheap little H&H spinnerbait in a light color. They aren't much bigger than a BeetleSpin.

Trout fishing it would be a rooster tail, brown trout color. Rapala for everything else. I can't say what my tried and true musky lure is.

I put together a small tray-style tackle box I could grab and go fishing. Mostly geared to bass and farm pond type fish.

Rooster tail spinner, beetle spin, rapala original, couple of six inch plastic worms, couple bobbers and hooks and weights, a few twister tails on jig heads, a jitterbug, and a small buzzbait.

Those are the ones that always seem to work, and when one doesn't get it done, another will.

Once again, I have overthought things and spent hundreds on lures and different ideas.

Could have saved all that money and time. Just like guns. Could have bought a 223 and 308 and retired early lol

I have a pile of stuff to sling, . . .

BUT

If I can't do it with a white spinner bait, black and silver Rapala, copper Mepps, I am having a NO fish day.

My “do-all” is either a rooster tail or the micro 1/8 oz chatterbaits.

Hard to beat a plastic worm or spinner bait for Bass. When I was a kid I the late 1960’s, the first bass lure I ever bought was one of those H&H Spinnerbaits.
They were $.19 cents at Gibson’s Discount Center.

Nowadays, if I’m fishing for bass and crappies with an ultralight spinning rig, it’s either a Beetle Spin or a small Mariboo jig head with a spinner blade or curly tail plastic grub on it.

This.

Or if you want to cover "most" species I would say a nightcrawler.

lead head jig

Depends on the targeted species, but if I had to pick........... I could do all my fishing with :

Johnson Silver Doctor spoon

J07 or J09 Rapala in silver (S)

Joe's Fly in brown w/silver blade

No that’s fair. I ought to have disclosed to type of fishing I do.

I mostly fish smallmouth, northern, and trout on smallish rivers.

I guess I was asking not just what yer standby(s) might be for your typical fishing but how long you try something new that you’ve heard is good also before you go back to what you know?

Rooster tail, Panther Martin, Mepps should all cover what you have listed.