The #1 selling hard bait in the US, the Bill Lewis Rat-L-TrapHard baits are also known as crankbaits, cranks, or lures. There is a tremendous variety of hard baits out there. I fish nearly exclusively with hard baits. Probably 80% of the time I fish with hard baits (most of that with Rapala brand of some kind or another), 15% with spoons, and 5% with live bait. I'll often have one rod with a worm on a bobber while I fish a crankbait with another rod.
Most crankbaits can be fished by just retrieving at a constant speed. However, there are other methods that we can talk about in each individual section below.
Finally, most cranks have two or more treble hooks. I always remove the front one. See Ethics for why.
One more thing about color. In crankbaits in general, there are specific patterns that work. Perch coloration works where there are perch, and shad color works where there are shad. This is not rocket science. However, some really crazt colors work and I don't think anyone knows why. The Rapala color "crayfish" works wonders, and it is basically orange. Firetiger, that obnoxious green chartreuse with the black stripes, is one of the most effective color combinations of all time. Conventional wisdom says that on dark days, use subdued colors, and on bright days, use bright colors. I think that's crap. If it's bright, I use natural colors and if its cloudy, late, etc., I use bright colors. What the hell, it works for me. However, you might find a particular combination that works well in a given location. For instance, there's a spot in Devil's Lake where you can throw a beer can with a hook on it, as long as the top is blue and the bottom orange, you'll catch fish. I don't explain 'em.
The #1 selling hard bait in the US, the Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap
Rat-L-Trap is like Daredevle: lipless cranks are all called Rat-L-Traps regardless of who makes them. These are very effective baits, designed for bass fishing. They come in several different sizes, from 1/4 oz to 1 ½ oz. The swimming action is really cool. The ones I have float, though Rapala makes one that sinks (and I think Bill Lewis does too). The only problem I've had is that they tend to get tangled when you cast, though removing the front treble hook helps prevent that a bit.
Rebel is a brand name that specializes in realistic crankbaits. They also have some other very effective baits that Eric swears by for smallmouth bass.
This is the Rebel crawfish (crawdaddy, maybe?). They float but will dive to about 3' when retrieved. Your best bet would be to jerkily retrieve it, like a crayfish swims.
This is Eric's #1 go-to bait for smallmouth. If you find a spot with overhanging vegetation that shades the water, try pitching one of these in, like it jumped in. Jerk it back slowly, so that it won't dive, just stay on top. I haven't had a chance to try mine, but I know they're good, at least for smallies. They'd probably be good for smaller largemouth and bigger crappies, if they are close enough to the surface.
Rapala is a brand name, the brand of lure that I own more of than any other. They are pricy ($4-$9) but you can sometimes buy many at a time on clearance. I'll go through the types of Rapalas with which I usually fish.
This is a lipless crankbait that is similar to the Rat-L-Trap, except that it sinks. They cast very well. The fin on the back is different that the Lewis bait. I have had good luck with these on walleyes by just casting and retrieving fairly quickly. Since these are based on the Rat-L-Trap, which is one of the all-time great bass baits, I'm sure this one works well for them as well.
This is the second-most used bait in my arsenal, in the silver-blue with the orange belly. I have two huge husky jerks in that color that I use to catch pike extensively. One size smaller than the one I use should be better for bass.
The trick with this bait is that it is neutrally buoyant. That means that it will dive when retrieved because of the lip. However, when you stop, it sill stay suspended at the depth at which it stopped. They don't sink and they don't float. The problem is if you alter them (like I nearly always do) like taking off a hook, using a snap swivel or a wire leader, these alter the weight and will cause them to rise or sink slowly.
I usually just retrieve this bait fairly slowly but constantly. The nice people at Rapala say that the way to fish this bait is to crank it down to a given depth, then let it sit. Every once in a while, give it a twitch. This will work better for bass than for what I fish for, because bass don't have teeth so you don't need a leader (which, you'll remember, makes the bait sink).
These are carved out of balsa, so they float. However, the lip makes it dive (deeply for the Shad Rap, not so deep for the Shallow Shad Rap). The faster you crank it, the deeper it will go (to a point).
The shallow Shad Rap (right, with the smaller lip) is the bait I use more than any other, in three colors: perch, crayfish, and shad. Many of them are chewed up as hell, big gouges and scratches everywhere from northen and walleye attack. I have two in the blue/silver above but I haven't had a chance to use them yet. If it swims and is big and predatory, it will eat a shad rap. They have a great action that looks like a real fish. However, they are the most expensive of the "regular" Rapalas, at about $5.50-$6 each. So if you use these for toothy fish, I suggest using a leader.
This is the first Rapala. It too is made of balsa. These things absolutely slaughter largemouth and smallmouth bass. Silver, firetiger, gold, perch, and minnow are all good colors that produce fish. I have had especially good luck on smallmouth in the 1-11/2 pound range with a tiny little #5 original Rapala in minnow (eighth from the left). They don't cast well (see below) unless you have an ultralight rod and reel.
The real trouble with this bait is that even the big ones are really, really light, and so they are difficult to cast far. In general I just retrieve these fairly quickly and smoothly. You can reel fast, wait, reel fast, wait, etc., which imitates an injured forage fish. An alternate method that gets around the weight problem is to peg a small piece of split shot 18" or so above the bait. That'll let you cast farther, and your bait will suspend 18" off the bottom. This can be an effective presentation if fish are deep in warm weather.
As you can see, they are also available in jointed. I've never used one (those never go on sale!), but I guess they drive inactive fish to strike. I'd like to pick some up some time and give them a shot.
This is an effective deeply-diving bait. My favorite is the silver and blue (imagine!) Rattling Fat Rap, a lure that was recently discontinued (I believe) and so I bought like half a dozen at a buck apiece. I really like them for walleye in this color, but they are designed for largemouth bass. The rattle is supposed to attract fish, and I suppose that it does. Again, this bait dives really deep fairly fast, so you have to be careful if you are fishing over structure. I've lost one or two of these by cranking just a bit too fast over cover and winding up in it instead of over it.
The countdown is the wooden Rapala that sinks. The neat thing is that it sinks at the rate of 1 foot/sec, assuming no snap swivel, leader, etc. so if you know fish are holding at 8 feet, you can cast, count to 8, then retrieve and pull the bait right through the school.
However, because it sinks, it's easy to get these hung up and lose them. If you get a Shad Rap hung up and snap the line, there's always the possibility that it will float to the surface. Countdowns don't. But it's a useful bait that I don't use a whole lot, unless I know specifically where fish are holding.
The nice thing about these is that they are heavier than most Rapalas, and so cast better. This allows you to use smaller baits (say, panfish-sized) than you would be able to otherwise.
This is the last Rapala I'll talk about, as a segue to topwater baits. This is the Rapala topwater. Topwater means that it does not dive, it just skitters across the surface, making a bunch of noise and splashing, begging to be eaten by bass, northerns, or muskie. The Skitter Prop is the same bait with a propeller at the tail.
I have one, but I haven't had much luck at topwater fishing. The trick, I am told, is to fish topwater when it is breezy and cloudy, or dawn/dusk. It also works better in moving water I think than in still water. In still water, you cast, but don't retrieve until the ripples stop. Then slowly retrieve, sputtering a bit, jerking randomly. Eric loves fishing topwater for smallmouth, and that's something that I think I could get into now that I'm someplace that will support such a pastime.
This is an all-time classic, the Hula Popper. You'll notice that all these topwaters have big open mouths to spurt water when popped back to the caster. I don't have any of these, but I am told they are very effective for largemouth bass.
This is the Jitterbug. The big aluminum mouth spurts water and makes a distinct (boink) sound when popped. I have a couple of these but not much opportunity to try them.
These are generic poppers. Rebel makes them, and Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops market knockoffs. These are usually balsa or basswood, and make quite a commotion when popped. I think these would be fun, if you could get into a spot or time when they worked. To see a big ol' largemouth take a topwater plug would be pretty spectacular.
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