13 Best Trout Lures Reviewed

Aloha! Welcome to my review of the best trout lures!

Wherever you are in the world, chances are, the nearest fishing spot near you has at least a couple of trout in it. With the diversity of trout species and habitats, trout can be found pretty much anywhere in the world. 

The problem is, some trout are more skittish than others, and some are more timid, like brook trout. That’s why you’ll need a variety of trout fishing lures to ensure that whatever trout you encounter, you won’t go home empty-handed.

With that in mind, these are the 13 best trout lures out there. Whether it’s cloudy weather, cold weather, or even surf fishing, we’ve got you covered.

Let’s begin!

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Best Inline Spinners

Inline spinners are one of the oldest fishing lures in existence, and potent trout catchers. The flash from the spinning blade imitates many trouts’ favourite meal – shiny minnows. This allows inline spinners to draw strikes from both aggressive and sluggish trout.

Best Overall

1. Panther Martin Inline Spinner

Kicking things off is the Panther Martin Inline Spinner.

As you can probably tell from the picture, the blade is extremely shiny.

More importantly though, unlike normal inline spinners, its blade is attached to the wire frame directly rather than via an extra swivel. This helps it spin way faster and reduces line twists and tangles. 

The fast-spinning action makes this lure look just like a shiny minnow. Coupled with the shine from the blade, the result is an inline spinner that shines brighter than the rest and gets trout attention like no other. 

That’s why this is my lure of last resort when all my other inline spinners fail. It may not do the trick for every trout, but it’s the lure to use when you’ve exhausted every other lure.

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Best For Surf Fishing

2. Blue Fox Classic Vibrax

Next up, the Blue Fox Classic Vibrax has no equal when it comes to casting distance.

Like the previous lure, it’s flashy and does a good job of mimicking a shiny minnow. The difference is, this lure has a free-turning brass gear that vibrates when it rattles to appeal to trout through sound too. So it is less flashy as it spins with less speed, but it makes up for it with vibration.

Weight-wise, this is the heaviest inline spinner on the market. This means you can fling it far out into the surf with little effort.

All in all, with its flash, action, vibration, and weight, the Blue Fox Classic Vibrax is the best trout lure available for surf fishing.

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3. Mepps Aglia Spinner

A classic lure, the Mepps Aglia Spinner’s bright colours makes it the perfect trout lure for bright light conditions.

With trout, it’s important that your lures look natural. That’s why on sunny days, you should go with bright-coloured trout fishing lures that don’t contrast too much with the water, but are still visible. Of course, that’s assuming the water is clear. A bright lure in murky water wouldn’t look very natural, now would it?

In short, if you’re looking to catch trout on a sunny day in clear water, there’s no better lure than the Mepps Aglia Spinner.

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4. Wordens Rooster Tail Spinner

Moving on to cloudy days and murky water, these conditions call for the Wordens Rooster Tail Spinner.

With this lure, you’ll have an array of different dark colour combinations to choose from. There’s even an all-black option. You can get a variety of dark colours to match the murkiness of the water and the weather’s cloudiness.

In the event that you have clear water and cloudy weather, the water clarity should be a larger factor in your lure choice. You’ll want to use a slightly less bright colour, considering the cloudy weather, but overall, the lure should still be brightly coloured. Similarly, for murky water and sunny days, use a somewhat less dark but still dark-coloured lure.

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Best Crankbaits

When it comes to trout fishing, most anglers overlook crankbaits. Don’t be like most anglers.

These rigid wobblers do an exceptional job of drawing reaction strikes from trout by appealing to their predatory instincts. And the best part about crankbaits is that they can imitate just about anything, from crawfish to insects.

Another reason to use crankbaits is that they tend to snag larger trout. While not always the case, the average trout caught with crankbaits is a bit larger than with other lures like inline spinners and jigs. This makes them the best lures when you’re on the hunt for a prize trout.

Best Lifelikeness

5. Rebel Wee-Crawfish

Starting the ball rolling is the Rebel Wee-Crawfish. Crawfish are the number one choice of food for large trout species like lake trout, brown trout, and rainbow trout.

To catch big trout like lake trout then, you’ll need a crawfish – or a lure that creates the illusion of one. And when it comes to lifelikeness, the Rebel Wee-Crawfish is unrivalled.

This lure’s wobbling action mirrors that of a fleeing crawfish, beckoning trout to come forth and claim a free meal. Even timid and skittish trout won’t be able to pass on such an irresistible treat.

Not all trout like crawfish, but for the ones that do, this lure is a guaranteed way to get them to bite.

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Best Crankbait For Cold Weather

6. Rapala Original Floating Minnow

When the days get colder, the usual prey for trout like worms, crawfish, and insects, become dormant. At times like these, trout feed mainly on minnows.

The Rapala Original Floating Minnow looks strikingly similar to actual minnows. Its realistic design and the field-tested Rapala action are sure to land you a trout in winter.

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Best Jig

Another commonly overlooked lure by trout anglers, jigs are a game-changer when it comes to catching trout. Nothing gets the attention of giant trout like the jerky “jumping” motion of jigs.

Best Jig

7. Strike King Bitsy Tube Jig

So far, we’ve covered lures for trout fishing at the top and middle sections of waters. This next lure was made for bed fishing.

Seasoned anglers should know that tube jigs are one of the best lures for targeting fish near water floors. The Strike King Bitsy Tube isn’t just any tube jig though. 

This tube jig is heavily salt-impregnated. This not only helps attract trout to bite, but sees to it that once they bite, they never let go. 

You should definitely have one of these in your arsenal in case the trout are lurking near the bottom on a particular day.

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Best Spoons

It’s easy to tell a good spoon from a bad one. As long as it’s big and flashy, it’s a good spoon. Spoons wobble and dart when you reel them in. This tricks trout into thinking they’re wounded baitfish. And as with any species, no trout can pass on a free meal.

Best Versatility

8. Acme Kastmaster

The Acme Kastmaster is the most versatile lure in the world. I’m not exaggerating. This spoon’s flash and action just can’t be missed. As long as a trout isn’t blind, it’s going to see this lure.

Other than trout, the Acme Kastmaster also works for musky, salmon, pike, bass fishing, and basically any fish that isn’t blind.

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Best Spoon For Cold Weather

9. Acme Phoebe

While the Acme Kastmaster works for a wide array of fish species, the Acme Phoebe was created with trout in mind.

As mentioned earlier, during cold weather, trout rely on minnows to survive. The Acme Phoebe doesn’t just give off flash, it also looks just like a shiny minnow, making it doubly effective. Among all the spoons on the market, this is the best trout lure for ice fishing.

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Best Soft Plastics

Worms and insects are a staple in minnows’ diets, so you can never really go wrong with them (unless it’s winter). They work especially well in clear water and fast currents.

Best Scent

10. Berkley Power Floating Trout Worm

First on the list is the Berkley Power Floating Trout Worm. Berkley is well-known for its irresistible scents, and this lure certainly lives up to the PowerBait name.

Berkley’s PowerBait scent is the best there is. Its ability to bring in trout with smell is unmatched. 

On top of that, the PowerBait flavour keeps trout biting, and is released into the water the longer trout bite on it. This helps disperse the scent, increasing the concentration of the scent in the water. Consequently, trout have an even harder time resisting the scent.

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Best Curly Tail Grub

11. Mister Twister Teenie Curly Tail Grub

Curl tail grubs aren’t deadly to trout, but they’re a good addition to any arsenal due to their versatility. Depending on the speed and action you give them, they can mimic worms or bait fish.

With its bright and natural colours and durability, this lure is one of my personal favourites to take trout fishing.

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Best Budget

12. Trout Magnet

Want enough fishing lures to go trout fishing for the next few years? This is it. 

The Trout Magnet Neon Kit, as the name implies, is a kit consisting of trout magnets, namely grub bodies – 70 of them to be exact. For just the price of a couple cups of coffee, this is the best way to maximise a tight budget.

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Best Jerkbait

Jerkbaits are minnow-shaped lures that get fish to bite with their fast-darting action. 

On some days, trout may prefer more predictable movements. But on days that call for erratic action, jerkbaits are the way to go.

Best Jerkbait

13. Rapala X-Rap

Last but not least, the Rapala X-Rap’s flash and action make it the best jerkbait for trout.

Aside from the hyper-realistic overall design, this lure gives off an impressive amount of flash. What sets it apart from other jerkbaits though, is its action. The Rapala X-Rap’s hard-cutting, aggressive darting action is the most erratic action among all jerkbaits. If trout are on the lookout for something erratic, this lure won’t let you down.

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Best Lure Types For Trout

Here are more detailed breakdowns of what makes each lure type so effective for trout.

Inline Spinners

Inline spinners, sometimes referred to as just spinners, catch plenty of trout. New anglers may confuse inline spinners with spinnerbaits, which are two different types of fishing lures. An easy way to differentiate them is by the number of blades. Inline spinners have one blade, while spinnerbaits have two.

Inline spinners give off lots of flash from their blade that spins as they travel through water. This flash is what captures fishes’ attentions and entices them to bite. 

Once again, inline spinners look like shiny minnows to trout, which is what drives them to go for these lures.

Crankbaits

There are two types of crankbaits – lipless and billed/lipped. Lipped crankbaits have a translucent duck-like beak at the front, and lipless ones don’t.

Both have their uses, and neither is better for trout. However, it just so happens that the two best crankbaits for trout are lipped.

These fishing lures are usually made with the intention of imitating a certain prey of the target species. The wobbly action of crankbaits imitates baitfish, which is how they get fish to take the bait.

Jigs

Jigs are meant to mirror the erratic swimming style of injured baitfish. As you can imagine, they’re one of the most efficient lures for going after the giants.

That’s not to say they don’t work for small fish like brook trout though. Even a brook trout that isn’t hungry won’t pass up a free meal, so the success rate of jigs are relatively high.

Spoons

Spoons are the shiniest lures in the world. That’s because they depend entirely on flash to be noticed by fish.

Spoons are designed to wobble and dart when being reeled in to mimic wounded baitfish. 

In essence, spoons get fish to look with the flash they give off, and then get them to bite with their action.

Soft Plastics

The soft bodies of soft plastic lures are quite a huge change from the usual hard bodies of most other lure types. These soft bodies offer a huge advantage – scent and flavour.

Soft plastics can take many forms, from worms to crawfish, and even frogs. 

Whatever the form though, the flexibility from the soft bodies means soft plastics can have more realistic actions. This, together with scent and flavour, makes soft plastics a must-have, regardless of your target species.

That’s not to say they’re the best lure type though. Every lure type has its use. For example, a soft plastic minnow may have more realistic action, but its colours are unlikely to look as realistic as a minnow crankbait’s.

PowerBait

Finally, I included PowerBait as a lure type of its own.

While PowerBait is more a feature of a lure than a lure type, it’s such a powerful scent that if a certain lure has it, it’s already on another level from other fishing lures of the same type. That’s why I classified it as a lure type of its own.

It’s also worth noting that PowerBait can also refer to the dough bait versions. I didn’t include them because I believe that sight and sound are important tools to attract fish. Dough trout bait depends solely on smell and flavour, which is why I’m not a fan of it.

For those wondering what PowerBait is, it’s a scent that Berkley spent years developing. This scent has a cult following for good reason – they’re the most productive scent out there. There’s simply no scent that gets fish to bite and hold on like Berkley’s PowerBait.

FAQs

At this point, we’ve covered the important stuff. If you still have any trout fishing questions though, you might find the answers here.

What Are The Best Colours For Trout Lures?

Natural colours like red, orange, and yellow tend to work best for trout.

Are Spinners Good Lures For Trout?

Inline spinners aren’t the first lure that comes to mind when fishing trout. 

However, they are versatile enough to work for both aggressive and lazy trout. The key to fishing with spinners is to find one with the right action for your target fish.

What Is The Best Trout Lure?

Every lure has its use and can be the star of a fishing trip depending on the conditions. I would say the Panther Martin Inline Spinner makes a pretty strong case for best overall though, because of its ability to perform when you’ve exhausted all other trout fishing lures.

Where Can I Fish For Trout?

The abundance of trout means you can find them in just about any freshwater spot. This includes fishing streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes.

My Verdict

Catching a trout isn’t hard, as long as you have the right lures. These 13 lures will have you covered on any day, under any conditions.

You’re going to need quality trout fishing tackle to go hand-in-hand with a good lure, so here are the best trout fishing rods and reels.