When you see the title of my column this month, you may immediately think of your own favorite. Yesterday, son Darren and I practiced for a tournament, and tonight’s lure will be tied on our rods, due to what worked best then. In fact, Darren just came from the Dick’s Sporting Goods with a fresh supply of what worked well in practice.

Years ago, I became enamored with a particular nighttime bass lure of a specific color and size. I just about cleaned out the local bait shop of a lure that my wife Claudia and I were really whacking them on.

But through the years, if I had to pick my all-time favorite lure, it was the first artificial I had success on as a teenager, and still have in my tackle box and boat. When Lauri Rapala created the first Rapala, I learned about it from a Woolworth Five and Dime store manager I worked for who was also a fisherman. He showed me one of the lures and I spent some of my paycheck at Kmart buying one. It looked great in the box, but absolutely incredible in the water! Bass, which I mostly fished for, just beat it to smithereens! After a time, I got into ultra-light fishing and bought the smallest silver Rapala they made. It was like finding gold—or rather, silver—for a young angler.

About that time, I got my first motorized vehicle—a Honda 50 motor bike—and began taking trips on my own to places away from Terre Haute, Ind. where my family lived. My dad was a minister, loved my motor bike, and soon he started making calls on it, so I got to take his car fishing, which expanded my range of fishing places considerably! Soon, I saw the latest version of Lauri’s lures: a micro Rapala. I grabbed one in the original silver, another in gold, and then a fluorescent red one. All caught fish and still do, although I use silver the most and gold when the water has some color.

The next lure my wife and I were drawn to was a Touchdown Worm, made in Seymour, Ind. and created by Tom More. The lures are molded with a weedless appendage to cover the hooks and are marketed in different solid colors with a bright-colored tail. Our favorites are black with yellow or red tails, and we crank and twitch them slowly. Again, they attract all game and panfish.

My favorite bait after dark (not dusk or dawn) is the Arbogast Jitterbug. It must be casting-size, frog-colored, with a jointed body. I have tried black, which is constantly recommended. I have fished with guys throwing black and have ridiculously out-fished them. My late fishing partner Ken Walton taught me to fish the Jitterbug with a stop-and-go retrieve and I have caught my biggest bass ever throwing this lure after dark—but not during daylight and not even at dusk or dawn.

Here’s the bottom line. For daylight fishing, anytime the water is not frozen, if I have to pick my money lure, it’s the Original Rapala Minnow in silver, or gold for discolored water. I’m gonna throw it on ultra-light tackle with 4- or 6-pound fluorocarbon line, using a little snap swivel to allow the most action. That’s my choice for still water or slowly moving streams. I’ll even use it to look for action while practicing for a tournament, or even during a tournament if the bite is super tough. I may go up to a size larger and use a medium action rod with 6- or 8-pound line. I recall getting five keepers on five casts on Lake Monroe when the bite was super tough.

The only trick is deciding whether you are gonna fish slow or fast. If I move a fish that doesn’t bite, I may speed up how I twitch it. My brother-in-law Jim Cain, who I taught to fish as a pre-teen, particularly how to use a Rapala, likes to slow down if a fish moves near the bait but doesn’t bite. We both like to fish this lure on the surface for still mornings and evenings. He convinced me one cold, February day that bass will hit a Rapala if the water isn’t iced over. I teased him for throwing it in such cold water until he caught three bass on three casts in inches of water next to the bank! Confidence makes a lot of difference in fishing, and there is no lure I have more confidence in than a Rapala.

Finally, if I just want to get a bite—any bite, from any fish—I will add a 2-inch, black plastic worm; a black hair jig; or a Beetle Spin in just about any color. I can’t find the original Hairy Worm marketed by Dan Gapen, so I use a 1/8-ounce black jig with black hair and a 2-inch tail section, and it works fine!

There you have it: My go-to lures when fishing is tough! I know you or someone you know would have a different list of go-to baits. I don’t know from experience about most other baits as far as dependability, but I know about these! They flat-out work if you tie them on your line and toss them where the fish are!

For more fishing insight from the pros who know, check out the next issue of MidWest Outdoors, available by subscribing on our website.