waterman262:

Hey there, glad to help out on this one. This comes from the about guide which says it better than i can. it was a 1-8 best lures to use for bass. Check it out.

2. Crankbaits
Crankbait – Crankbaits look like baitfish or crawfish, two of the favorite foods of bass. Crankbaits come in all sizes, shapes and colors. They are easy to cast and work in most kinds of water. You can fish fast and cover water to find active bass. Learn to fish a crankbait and it adds to your arsnel of effective lures.
3. Spinnerbaits
Spinnerbait – Spinnerbaits catch lots of bass and they are a good bait for covering a lot of water fast to find fish. They tend to catch bigger bass, too. They come in a wide variety of sizes, colors and blade configeraton to help match the hatch. They look like baitfish and bass eat a lot of baitfish.
4. Jig and Pig
Jig and Pig – A jig and pig is one of the best big bass baits available to fishermen. Lots of tournaments are won with a jig and pig because they catch bigger bass. Resembling a crawfish when worked on the bottom, they attract bass looking for an easy meal and bass love crawfish.
5. Bucktail Jig
Bucktail Jig – A bucktail jig is a very basic lure that is so effective in catching fish it is included in survival kits. Varations include plastic tails either straight or curly. All work well under varing conditions. Not just a bass lure, they do catch bass under a wide varitey of conditions.
6. Topwater Plugs
Topwater Plugs – No bass bite is more exciting than what you get with topwater lures. The smashing splash of a bass hitting on top will make your heart stop, but even the gentle hit of a big bass sucking a topwater plug under as it eats it is thrilling. You can get a lot of colors, sizes and actions in topwater baits and you can make them work in a huge number of ways.
7. Tail Spinners
Tail Spinners – When bass are deep a tail spinner is an excellent way to catch them. Little George lures made Mann’s Bait Company famous and have caught many bass. They are great in cold water when bass are inactive and don’t chase baits very far.
8. Spoons
Spoons – Jigging spoons catch a lot of bass but a weedless spoon with a trailer is an excellent bait in grass and heavy cover. In some cover a weedless spoon works better than any other bait. They flash and wiggle and attract strike

M G:

what i would do is go to the bait shop near the place you want to fish and ask the guy who works there what the locals use. that is the quickest way to make sure you don’t have a tackle box full of stuff you don’t need. most of these stores specialize in what the local favorites are. once you get the hang of that, you can begin to experiment. color is very important as the forage food is adapted to a particular body of water.

timfd024:

Keep it simple. Pic the color of your lures according to the color of the water your fishing. (the darker the water, the darker the lure). I would start with a texas rigged cinnamon or watermelon worm with a slide sinker. If water is somewhat clean and your good at casting try some beetle spinners (yellow and black). I would start with those two “texas rigged worms or beetle spinners”.

chimp dancer:

Welcome to the bass scene. It’s alot different than what you’re used to as far as carp and catfish. The good thing is you won’t smell as bad after words. The bad news is that you won’t get those sizes you did when carp fishing and catfishing. It’s not as exciting as catching a huge carp on a fly rod or grabbing a 30 pound cat by the lips.
The honest truth is that no one here can answer your question, just give you examples of what works best for them. You should really check with the fisheries management in your area for tips and locations. Hit the local bait shops to get the low down on what’s going on and with what lure. Do a little research online in your neck of the woods. That’ll get you started on the right path for sure.
As for lures…yeah, soft plastics are a proven lure for years from novice to pro, no doubt about that. Their versatility has made them the best over all choice hands down. You can fish them on top, sub-surface , off the bottom….make ‘em look like injured minnows, eels, snakes and so on. The color combos are insane and will simulate just about anything out there.
A quick tip, pay attention to the wild life in your area (where you fish.) Look at the baitfish, the bugs, and so on, this’ll help you get a feel for the colors you need during certain times of the year.

stop_makin_cents:

Lots of good answers here.

As a new bass fisherman, (in my opinion), you will want to concentrate mainly on “Soft Plastics”, “Spinnerbaits”, “Jigs” & “Floating Stick baits (Rapalas)”.

Soft plastics- Worms, Lizzards, Crawdads, “Senko-type” dead stiks, Etc. Good basic colors- Pumpkinseed, Watermelon, Black, Junebug/Purple, Camo, Red Shad, Etc. Brands-Berkley, Culprit, Zoom, Yamamoto, Etc.

Spinnerbaits- 1/8-1/4 OZ. Strike King/Booyah/Titanium. Blades-Gold.
Good basic Colors- White, Chartruese, White/Chartruese, “Crawdad”, Etc.

Jigs- 1/8-1/4 OZ. Football, Round, Slider, Etc.
Good basic colors- Black/blue, “Crawdad”, Watermelon/Black, Pumpkin/chartruese, Etc.

Floating Stik Baits- Original Rapala, Yozuri, Cotton Cordell, Etc. Good basic colors- Silver/Black Back, Gold/Black Back, Perch, Firetiger, “Crawdad”, Etc.

Soft plastics work “the best” in most situations. Concentrate your $ on this category. Google “Texas Rigged Worm” & “Carolina Rigg”.

Bass fishing doesn’t HAVE to be expensive! A bag of good worms, 3/0 offset hooks & 1/16 OZ worm-weight. Simple!

Make sure to get decent line. I like Berkley “Vanish” for a “mono-based” line AND Stren Superbraid or Power Pro for a “braided line”.

Hope this helps somehow? Good luck! And welcome to “the party”!