Over the past few weeks, the full team at here at Man Versus Fish has been pouring over notes, reviews, video, and anecdotes looking for an answer. We wanted to give out our first annual “Baits Of The Year” awards in various categories.
We wanted to let you, the reader know which baits were head and shoulders above the pack—and deserved recognition.
Keep in mind that last year was 2011 and in pondering the answer, we had to think in terms of those baits that were available for use the entire year which necessarily excluded some that came out later or we simply didn’t have the chance to fish until the season was well under way.
As you know, we strive to give every new lure that we test adequate time on the water and to use it in the conditions for which it is designed to allow a bait the best chance of showing off its effectiveness versus other baits in its class.
For the purposes of this article, we are only going to mention a single bait in each category that we cover. If you are looking for some of the other baits in any particular genre, spend some time searching our archives and you will see in our reviews that we think highly of products from other manufacturers in each bait class.
So, without further ado, it is time to give out the MVF awards for baits of the year.
Best Crankbaits Of 2011
Our first category is going to be crankbaits and we’ll start with the shallow divers. This was a horse race to be sure, but the one that came in first by a head was the KVD Silent Stalker HC 1.5 and 2.5. These little gems edged out some other very fine cranks as well as the rattling versions from Strike King. There are so many competitors in this genre of baits and so many of them are effective. However, the KVD just caught more fish for us than any other shallow running, square bill bait. Not to mention the fact that they are value priced within this market segment.
For medium running cranks, once again it was very close. Ultimately the winner was the Strike King 3XD. In trying to not be redundant, there are a lot of lures out there in this class that we carry and catch a lot of fish with but for us, the 3XD out-caught all comers. Here again, this is a good value as well as an effective bait.
In the deep diving category, Strike King again takes home the crown with the 6XD in both rattling and silent versions. I have to again stress that there are other very fine alternatives that we do carry, and that catch a lot of fish.
Best Soft Plastic Baits Of 2011
In the land of the finesse worm, the Strike King KVD Perfect Plastics Finesse worm edged the competition by nose. There are a lot of very good finesse worms out there and this was one of the toughest categories to judge, but the Perfect Plastics Finesse gets the gold.
For soft plastics stick baits, the Strike King KVD Perfect Plastics Ocho was our most consistent performer. I don’t know if it the eight sides molded into the plastic or the caffeine scent, but the Ocho replaced our previous favorite this year.
Soft plastic jerkbaits are one of our favorite baits for catching bass and our champ this year is the Strike King KVD Perfect Plastics Caffeine Shad. Between its weight, action from that bulbous tail and the scent, the fish really gobbled these up all year. This was another bait that replaced our gold standard during the course of 2011.
Right about now, I can hear the murmurs, “Don’t you guys fish anything other than Strike King products?” Or, “They must be getting some kind of kickback from Strike King.” The answers are yes, we fish a lot of other products, and no, we aren’t getting any kickback from any lure manufacturer. It isn’t our fault that they are doing great work and making products that catch fish!
Best Spinnerbait Of 2011
Spinnerbaits have been around for a long time and are proven bass catchers. For us here at MVF, the top spinner of the year was the River2Sea Crystal Spin. The Crystal Spin separated itself from the competition early on and never looked back.
Best Buzzbait Of 2011
Our buzzbait category has River2Sea claiming top honors once again. The Crystal Buzz was the most consistent fish producer for us in this class all year. Both of the aforementioned baits use very high quality components throughout their design but still retail for what we consider a moderate price.
Best Jigs Of 2011
We use jigs year round and in our fishing, the Dirty Jigs California Swim Jig and Finesse Swim Jig out produced our previous favorite. The Dirty Jigs products proved to be versatile and effective in a myriad of conditions with colors that can match lots of environments.
Best Topwater Baits Of 2011
I personally don’t know a bass hound that doesn’t love the magic of topwater bass fishing. The first class we’ll look at are hollow bodied frogs. Here again, a newcomer stole the crown from a seasoned vet. The Koppers Live Target Hollow Body Frog was our winner. This line has now been expanded in both sizes and colors available.
We love walking the dog and managed to catch more fish in 2011 with the Heddon One Knocker Spook than any other lure in this category. This is another bait that when compared to its competitors, it is moderately priced.
Best Lipless Crankbait Of 2011
In 2011, we caught more fish on the Spro Aruku Shad Jr. than any other lipless crank. This is not to say that we carry only the Aruku Shad or that we only fish the small version of these baits. But we certainly have had a great deal of success with this pint sized offering this past season.
Best Swimbait Of 2011
And finally, one of our favorite categories of lures, the swimbait. Throughout 2011, the Netbait BK swimbait has consistently out produced all other soft plastic swimbaits. They are sturdy, value priced and the bass just can’t seem to lay off of them.
Those are our winners for 2011. At the risk of sounding apologetic, I want to say again, that there were a bunch of baits that didn’t make this list that are in my tackle box every time I hit the water. These are simply the baits that were able to edge out the competition, and take home the title this time around.
The fun in all of this for us here at MVF is seeing how many of these products will retain their title in the coming year. Toward that end, stay tuned, 2012 will have us busier than ever testing new baits and techniques. As soon as we can, you can be sure we’ll let you know what our results are.
See ya’ on the water …