Building Your First Tackle Box: 5 Essential Beginner Fishing Lures
Okay, we’ve got our rod, reel, and line sorted. Now for the fun part—the candy store. Walking into a tackle shop and seeing walls lined with thousands of lures in every shape, size, and color is exciting, but it’s also where most beginners make expensive mistakes. You don’t need 100 different lures. You need a handful of proven winners that can catch fish in a variety of situations.
Tonight, in the garage, we’re building that first, can’t-fail tackle box. These are the five essential lures I believe every single beginner should own. With these, you can confidently fish almost any freshwater lake or pond in the country.
1. The In-Line Spinner
Before any fancy bass lures, there was the simple in-line spinner. A blade rotates around a central wire, creating flash and vibration that is absolutely irresistible to trout, panfish, and small bass. It’s the ultimate “cast and retrieve” lure and a perfect tool for learning.
The Classic: The Mepps Aglia. It’s been catching fish for decades for a reason. Get a couple in 1/8 oz and 1/4 oz sizes with both silver and gold blades.
2. The Soft Plastic Grub on a Jig Head
If I could only have one lure for the rest of my life to feed myself, this would be it. A simple 3-inch curly tail grub threaded onto a 1/8 oz or 1/4 oz lead-head jig is the most versatile fish-catcher on the planet. You can swim it, hop it on the bottom, or hang it under a bobber. Everything from crappie and bluegill to walleye, trout, and giant bass will eat it.
The Must-Have: A bag of 3-inch Mister Twister Grubs in white, chartreuse, and motor oil colors.
3. The Floating Minnow
This lure, often called a “jerkbait,” imitates a wounded baitfish. It’s a hard-bodied lure with a small lip that makes it dive when you pull it. You can retrieve it steadily or use a “twitch, twitch, pause” retrieve to make it dart erratically. It’s deadly for bass and larger trout.
The Legend: The Rapala Original Floater in size F09 or F11. It’s a lightweight balsa wood bait that has probably caught more world records than any other lure.
4. The Topwater Popper
Every angler needs to experience the thrill of a topwater bite. A popper provides that excitement. We’ve covered this in detail before, but it absolutely belongs in your first tackle box for those calm mornings and evenings when big fish are looking up.
The Details: Check out our complete Guide to Fishing a Topwater Popper to learn how to use it.
5. The Weedless Worm
Sometimes the biggest fish live in the thickest, ugliest cover. For that, you need a lure that can go in and get them without getting snagged on every cast. The Texas-rigged soft plastic worm is that tool. It’s a staple for a reason.
The Details: We’ve built a comprehensive Step-by-Step Guide to the Texas Rig that you should treat as required reading.
With these five lures in a small plastic box, you are prepared for almost anything. This selection is a key part of the starter kit we introduce in our Beginner’s Guide to Fishing Gear. Now get out there and get a line wet.
-Captain Sal
