The Lucky 13: A baker's dozen of flies, lures that work
Fly fishing to ultra-light to cranking, these are the ones that have hooked the most fish for me
My fishing corner has been re-organized so many times it looks the pile of old gear at someone’s yard sale, more neatly stacked than actually organized.
“Hyper-organized,” actually would be a good description, because it’s organized until I can’t find something when I have five minutes to get out the door and everything gets scattered as I hyper-search—and then I run out the door.
It’s just a corner of my office, well, a corner and part of a wall, and then a part of the closet and some other stuff behind the door if you count the bow-fishing stuff, but mainly it’s the corner. Some day when I grow up I’ll have a temperature-controlled garage and there will be racks and shelves and pegboard.
It could happen!
What amazes me every time I sort through this stuff is just how many lures and hooks and flies I actually have when, if I boil it down and am truly honest with myself, there are only a few lures and flies that account for 80-90 percent of the fish I catch in any given year.
Admittedly, for truly avid anglers who read this, 80 percent of my annual catch likely is equal to what some of you hook in a week or two. But heck, one morning I went fly-fishing and stood at a rock and caught seven different species of fish not just on one type of fly, but one, single, fly.
So if you’re starting off fresh, or paring down, here are the “ones” in a variety of categories that have consistently hooked fish for me.
FLY FISHING
Clouser Minnow
Chartreusse, white and a bit of red in a size that imitates the bait fish where you’re fishing. This is the one that caught striped, white, and hybrid striped bass, channel and blue catfish, and crappie all in one spot one morning. The toss-up contender in the streamer category was the wooly bugger, but the Clouser came out on top for sheer numbers.
Poppers
A black popper with rubber legs is the thing, for any fish that eats anything off the surface of the water—which is any fish. So many other surface flies are effective—hoppers to ants to caddis and mosquitoes—but if I go purely with numbers of fish hooked over the years it’s a classic popper of any color with rubber legs and a modest tail of any size or color.
Gold-ribbed hare’s ear nymph
Bead-headed or not, I’ve just caught more trout, and actually a channel catfish or two, on a gold-ribbed hare’s ear (or close variations) than any other nymph. Strong second goes to a pheasant-tail nymph and similar or, the basic marabou jig.
ULTRA-LIGHT TACKLE
Bobby Garland Baby Shad
Ever since George Toalson, formerly of Gene Larew and Bobby Garland, taught me how to catch more crappie out of the shallows than should be allowed with a Bobby Garland Baby Shad or Shad Swim’R on a small jig head (1/24th to 1/32th ounce) I have used it to catch a mess of crappies, shallow or deep, spring, winter or summer.
Luhr Jensen Super Duper
When it comes to fishing for trout in the stocked ponds, streams and lakes I almost listed the Size 0 Mepps Aglia spinner. Then I thought hard about the 1½-inch Rapala sinking minnow, but I finally had to admit the good ol’ Luhr Jensen Super Duper has been the spoon that’s hooked the most fish for me. It casts a mile on 4-pound-test line.
MEDIUM-WEIGHT SPIN GEAR (finesse)
Gene Larew Long John Minnow
Over 13 fishing seasons in Oklahoma I probably have caught more white bass on a pearl white 3-inch Long John Minnow than any other fish with any other kind of bait. Fish I’ve kept to eat, anyway. Honorable mention goes to Fle-Fly Go-Go Minnows, firecracker color.
Gene Larew Ned Rig Inch Worm
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If I have a light or medium-weight spinning rod in my hand I most likely have a green pumpkin Gene Larew Ned Rig Inch Worm with a classic white mushroom-head jig (as small as suitable for conditions). Ned Kehde introduced me to these so, naturally, it has to be a favorite! This one’s brought in lots of bass, lots of panfish. Honorable mention to any other of your favorite plastics you like to use Ned-rigged.
Strike King Bitsy Tube
An Illinois River Neosho strain smallmouth getter and one to grab bass or anything else that snarfs up a crawfish will hit a salty green-pumpkin tube bait like the Strike King Bitsy Tube. Necessary mention goes to any other tube of a size or color that fits the conditions.
CRANKING BAITS
The Biffle Bug
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My secret is out, and maybe I’ve just spent a little too much time around bass pro Tommy Biffle over the years, but if I’m headed to the lake with a couple of rods one of them is going to have a Sooner Red color Biffle Bug on a shaky-head jig. It’s versatile, and if I have to choose just one creature bait, my track record and confidence sits with The Bug. I’m really, really sorry to say I rolled all other jigs into this category. Ugh. Hard choice!
The Gary Yamamoto Senko
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You can Texas Rig it, you can whacky it, you can fish it weightless or put it on a shaky-jighead. More than any other plastic worm—and I’m putting this up against a lot of years when a black or purple ribbon-tail worm was all I used—the Gary Yamamoto Senko is a fish magnet. If I had to choose one worm to use, this would be it.
The Zara Spook
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The category for surface baits was the tough. I love a buzzbait (especially at night) and frogs are the bomb around thick cover, but when it comes to numbers the Zara Spook wins because it’s hooked both largemouth bass and stripers, and a the most of both. Probably because I kinda suck at getting hookups with a frog. So, walk that dog! Note, I own more frogs than Spook-style baits, so what does that say about my purchasing habits?
Booyah Tandem Blade Spinnerbait
If you fish for bass in Oklahoma you need spinnerbaits and (see red and chartreuse Clouser above) a ½-ounce Booyah Tandem Blade Spinnerbait in white and chartreuse with that red eye and the blood-blush on the cheek and gill is a good all-around spinner. A necessary mention goes out to all other spinnerbait brands and colors with weights and spinner configurations to suit the conditions. (See how I end up with piles of junk!)
Bomber Model A Crankbait
Last but certainly not least, I’ve got more crankbaits than a junkyard dog has fleas, but if I open my box and look for the ones with the most chips and beat-up bills it’s small cranks in the craw and bluegill colors of the Bomber Model 6A and 4A. Apologies to the Bandits and the Strike King XDs, and more apologies to all those Rapalas that have served me well for four decades, and to the lipless crankbaits (sorry Rat-L-Trap), the shallow square-bills, deep divers and jerk baits that I’ve learned how to fish more recently.