Baits, and the Rod Each One Needs
Not “lures”. Swordfish take rigged squid and redfish take live shrimp, and a table named for lures would have needed renaming by the third row. What they have in common is that each one hangs a weight off a rod tip, and that weight is what decides which rod can throw it.
The table is grouped by hook, not by category. A shop files baits by what they look like; a rod only cares what the hook needs. A single hook has to be driven through something and wants a tip that moves line fast. A treble hook needs the opposite — a rod that bends, so the pressure never spikes and levers small points out of hard tissue. Two baits from different aisles on the same hook will usually share a rod.
Read the weight column downward to work out what one rod covers. A profile rated 1/4–3/4 oz throws everything whose range sits inside it and nothing whose range does not, and that is the whole of the first fitness rule.
What It Weighs, What It Rides On, and the Water It Wants
| Bait | Weight | Hook | Water | Rods that cast it | For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas-rigged soft plastic wormlure · soft-plastic | 3/16-3/4 oz6–10″ | single | clear, stained and muddy1–20 ft | 1medium-heavy | 1largemouth bass |
| Live shrimpnatural-bait · live-bait | 1/4-5/8 oz2–4″ | single | clear, stained and muddy1–6 ft | 2medium and medium-heavy | 1redfish |
| Creature baitlure · soft-plastic | 5/16-1 1/4 oz3.5–5″ | single | stained and muddy1–15 ft | 1medium-heavy | 1largemouth bass |
| Ned-rigged soft plasticrig · soft-plastic | 1/16-1/8 oz3–3″ | jighead | clear | 1medium-light | 1smallmouth bass |
| Shrimp-imitation soft plasticlure · soft-plastic | 1/8-1/2 oz3–4″ | jighead | clear and stained1–8 ft | 4medium, medium-heavy, medium-light and medium-heavy | 1redfish |
| Tube jigjig · soft-plastic | 1/8-3/8 oz3–4″ | jighead | clear and stained | 2medium and medium-light | 1smallmouth bass |
| Light paddle-tail swimbaitlure · soft-plastic | 1/4-7/16 oz3–4″ | jighead | clear and stained | 4medium, medium-heavy, medium-light and medium-heavy | 1smallmouth bass |
| Paddle-tail swimbait on a jigheadlure · soft-plastic | 1/4-3/4 oz3–5″ | jighead | clear and stained1–15 ft | 4medium, medium-heavy, medium-light and medium-heavy | 2largemouth bass and redfish |
| Lipless crankbaitlure · crankbait | 1/4-3/4 oz2–3″ | treble | stained and muddy1–12 ft | 1medium | 1largemouth bass |
| Popperlure · topwater | 1/4-5/8 oz2.5–4″ | treble | clear and stained0–1 ft | 3medium, medium-heavy and medium-heavy | 3largemouth bass, redfish and smallmouth bass |
| Squarebill crankbaitlure · crankbait | 3/8-3/4 oz2–3″ | treble | stained and muddy1–6 ft | 1medium | 1largemouth bass |
| Suspending jerkbaitlure · jerkbait | 3/8-7/16 oz3.5–4″ | treble | clear | 1medium | 1smallmouth bass |
| Medium-diving crankbaitlure · crankbait | 1/2-7/8 oz2.5–3.5″ | treble | clear and stained6–14 ft | 1medium | 2largemouth bass and smallmouth bass |
| Walking topwater pluglure · topwater | 1/2-7/8 oz4–5.5″ | treble | clear and stained0–1 ft | 3medium, medium-heavy and medium-heavy | 3largemouth bass, redfish and smallmouth bass |
| Deep-drop jigjig · metal-jig | 16-48 oz6–12″ | circle | clear800–1800 ft | 1extra-heavy | 1swordfish |
| Rigged squid deep-drop baitnatural-bait · rigged-bait | 64-160 oz8–14″ | circle | clear1000–2000 ft | 1extra-heavy | 1swordfish |
The Weight Is the Bait Plus Everything Attached to It
A Texas-rigged worm weighs what the worm weighs plus the sliding weight in front of it, and the rod feels the total. That is why the numbers in this column are sometimes larger than the packet on the bait suggests, and why a rod rated for the packet weight is the wrong rod. Every weight here is what actually hangs off the tip.
Sizes are listed where the data has them, and they move independently of weight. Two baits at the same weight can present very differently to a fish; the rod will not know the difference, and the fish will.