Top 5 Lures for Deep-Water Bass Fishing
In the bass fishing world, you’ll typically focus on presenting your lure in two main areas when targeting your next personal record.
You’re either going to fish the shallows around weed beds and structures, or you’re going to drop your lure deeper to look for either suspended bass or fish feeding on the bottom.
Today, we’re diving into the deep and breaking down the top lures for deep-water bass fishing, highlighting the five best options to maximize every cast.
1: 6th Sense Flutter Spoon 120
A flutter spoon is a little metal lure designed to flutter around as it descends in the water. This causes vibrations and flashes that attract even the most lethargic bass, taking refuge on the hottest days.
It’s also extremely easy to use and surprisingly versatile. You can drop it off the side of your boat and get the bite on the drop, chuck it out and buzz it back through the entire column, or jig it around like a crappie lure. None of these techniques require much practice, and all are effective.
The 6th Sense Flutter Spoon 120 stands out because of its visual design. Most spoons are steel or brass pieces that are highly polished to increase their light reflection. This method is effective and has been the standard for many years.
However, the 120 features a realistic fish print that’s darker and has the right color accents to catch a largemouth’s attention in the deepest, darkest parts of the lake. This makes it more effective in clear water, where realism is often more critical.
Beyond this, the 120 also features a feather hook on the end that ensures plenty of flash without interrupting the far more natural presentation of the realistic body.
This 6th Sense spoon offers all the value and effectiveness of a traditional spoon lure, but it’s upgraded just a notch to take things to the next level.
2: Carolina Rig with a Craw
Next, you don’t have to use a specific lure. Instead, it’s mainly about the rig itself.
You can’t talk about deep-water bass fishing without mentioning the Carolina rig. This is designed to sink your bait quickly, but unlike other rigs, the bait flutters around a few feet behind the hefty sinker. This allows for unmatched natural movement, a fast descent to the bottom, and a great way to present lures that drag and hop around.
This is why we recommend putting a craw on it. Crawfish naturally hop backward on the bottom of the lake floor, and bass suck them up as a delicacy. They’re perfect for the Carolina rig. Worms work great, too.
To make this rig, slip on a heavy egg or ball sinker onto your main line then tie a swivel onto your line, tie a 1 to 2-foot leader onto the other end of the swivel, and then tie your hook to the end of the leader and finally thread your soft-plastic lure onto the hook. The sinker drags it down quickly, and the lure naturally hops and falls.
We recommend a Live Target Live Craw or the popular RageCraw soft plastics. These consistent performers are almost guaranteed to work if you do the presentation part right. They’re also relatively cost-effective for such reliable craws. Other good options include your old-fashioned Zoom Trick Worm and any decent U-Tail grub.
To use this one to its maximum effect, you want to slow things down. You must remember that the sinker moves first, and then the momentum will pull the lure up and let it fall slowly or drag it across the bottom, depending on how you move it. You also want to watch for line movement because it can be harder to detect smaller bites at first.
3: Strike King Pro Model 5XD
Strike King has released an upgraded version of its popular model 5, the Pro Model 5XD. This crankbait can reach depths or 15 feet on 8-pound test line, maximizing the time you spend at your optimal depth with each cast.
This should be in every tackle box if you fish any fishery deep enough to accommodate it. A crankbait is simply one of the easiest hard plastic lures to use, and it’s tough to throw one out and get skunked. If an option matches your fishing depth, it’s always great to have one in your tackle box.
This model comes in various colors, but we prefer the sexy shad color.. It has an erratic action and a built-in vibration system, and it’s one of Kevin Dam's go-to lures. If you’re looking for a crank that can go deep and reliably pull up big bass, this is the first one to tie on.
There isn’t much to recommend with this. It works the same as any other crankbait and is one of the easiest lures for beginners.
However, if you are new to fishing, it’s usually best to cast it far beyond the area you want to target, reel it down for a few seconds to reach its depth, and then start cranking it back with periodic pauses. If you can tick the bottom with it, this will help trigger strikes.
You can also do a straight fast retrieve if the bass are particularly active.
4: Arkie Bucktail Muddler
Now, we’re going down to a smaller lure that many modern bass anglers tend to neglect—the bucktail jig. A bucktail jig is extremely simple. It’s a jighead that has a bucktail-style skirt tied to it. Crappie anglers often use these, but when it comes to getting bass deep in the water column, it’s lethal.
You can quickly grab any decent bucktail jig and get good results. You don’t have to choose our recommendation to use this technique, but there are some significant advantages to using the Arkie Bucktail Muddler.
The Muddler features a flash-accented skirt in various colors, a high-quality hook that’s unlikely to bend, and the jig head is painted with a durable coat to match the skirt theme. However, that’s not what makes it stand out. With a few materials, you could make those. The big difference maker is the weed guard built into the jighead.
When targeting bass, it’s often a good idea to go after those downed trees at the bottom of the lake, old structures that have long eroded and sunk out of sight, weed beds, etc. That little weed guard doesn’t look like much, but it will significantly reduce the number of snags you deal with.
It also gives you some flexibility. Bucktails are great for jigging up and down, but they get snagged often if you bounce them back over a distance. The weed guard can prevent that and let you easily change your approach.
We recommend using these on days when there’s a lot of pressure. Smaller lures tend to perform better when there are a lot of other anglers around, and the bass are catching on to what all those big “snacks” really are. They can also be great when the temperature drops and smaller lures start to pick up steam. Many anglers fish this with a 3-inch soft plastic craw or curly tail trailer.
5: Beast Coast Tungsten Compound Sniper Jig
Finally, you can’t beat a football jig when it comes to deep-water bass fishing. There are a few reasons for this, too.
First, a football jig’s shape allows it to roll right over most of the debris you’d usually get snagged on when jigging on the bottom. So, you can trust that you’ll keep your lure around a lot longer without buying replacements.
Then, there’s the skirt. This is standard on most bass jigs now, and it’s nothing to write home about, but it helps tremendously. It moves out of the way when a bass bites but keeps the hook from digging into sticks, nooks, crannies, etc.
The rubberized skirt also mimics a baitfish as it flares out and shrinks back in with each movement.
They’re the best way to present soft-plastic craws and craw trailers for a finishing touch. They move very similarly to a crawfish, and bass is tricked every time when you get that soft-plastic trailer on it to mimic the animal’s profile.
The Beast Coast Compound Sniper's quality and jig material makes it stand out. This is a tour-quality jig used by the pros; it’s not a big-box store unique. The skirt is hand-cut and tied, the size is stamped into the head, and the marabou is woven into the tie to ensure durability.
However, the tungsten head is what makes it stand out. It’s incredibly dense, makes a more attractive thud when it strikes the bottom and is soft enough to let you pull it away from snags without breaking your line.
All of this makes for a superior football jig, and since it’s about $7, it’s not even all that expensive. There are plenty of lower-quality jigs that cost just as much or more.
We recommend using the Compound Sniper on lakes with rocky bottoms that aren’t covered in vegetation or downed trees. This is where it rolls over debris the easiest.
Otherwise, gentle lifts and slow reels followed by lengthy pauses are the best approach. You should also use chunk-style trailers. Many skirts have marabou supports, which don’t work well with full craws.
When Do These Deep-Water Bass Fishing Lures Excel?
These are all some of the best bass lures on the market for deep fishing, but if you don’t use them at the right time, they’ll seem like duds. So, when should you use them?
1: Summertime Suspensions
On the hottest days, bass like to suspend for much of the day. They want to stay calm like you do and won’t budge unless they have to get something to eat. That’s a prime time to identify where the deeper water is and start casting these deep-water lures.
You can quickly reach where they’re suspending, keep the lure in their part of the column, and trigger a bite. Also, you should note that most of our top recommendations work best when fished slowly. This is another tactic that aligns with fishing suspended bass. You don’t usually want to buzz a lure past a lethargic fish.
2: Cold Weather Bass Fishing
In the colder season, you typically want to get out on the water during the brief period when bass come up in the column to hunt in the shallows. However, they are usually more profound in the water, looking to stay warm since it takes longer for cold weather to cool the deeper portions of the lake.
They’ll be lethargic, and you’ll have to fish these already slow lures 10 times slower to entice the bass a lot of the time, but these are the lures that will get you those winter bass. Particularly the smaller lures that look like low-effort meals.
3: Along the Bottom of the Bank
This applies to everything except for the crankbait we mentioned. You need at least 10 feet of water to use that.
Otherwise, these deep-water baits can easily bump the bottom of the bank in far shallower water. Just because they’re baits that excel in the deeper portions of the lake doesn’t mean you have to keep them there.
Where to Get the Best Deep-Water Bass Lures
You can find different versions of the lures we recommend at practically any tackle supplier. However, the best deals that reflect the prices we’ve shared are from Tackle Warehouse, and you can get the fancy models we talked about at a killer price.
If you like to make lures, you can make some of these, such as the bucktails.
Catch Your Next Deep-Water Bass with BassForecast
With these five lures for deep-water bass fishing in your tackle box, you’re always set to pull lunkers out of the deepest parts of the lake.
To help you find those deep spots, water hazards, and more, check out the BassForecast fishing app.