7 Essential Saltwater Fishing Lures That Catch Fish Pretty Much Anywhere

It’s lure time!

Would you like to know the only 7 saltwater fishing lures you would need to take with you to catch fish pretty much anywhere in the world?

The great news is they exist…

And the even greater news is you probably have a couple of them in your tackle box already…

So if you are traveling and want a simplified tackle box that is almost guaranteed to get you some strikes almost anywhere you can go saltwater fishing in the world (without having to haul along your entire garage full of tackle), here are the 7 fishing lures that you need to bring along.

Where Will These 7 Saltwater Fishing Lures Will Work?

Anywhere there is saltwater!

I have personally been saltwater fishing in over 10 countries, and I have seen many of these same lures below catch all kinds of species of saltwater fish.

And believe me, at least one of these seven saltwater fishing lures below will work on any and all of the 7 continents:

• North America
• South America
• Africa
• Europe
• Asia
• Australia / New Zealand
• Even Antartica!

Freshwater Bonus:

Most of these 7 saltwater lures could also help you catch fish in most freshwater lakes and large freshwater bodies in the world, especially for fish such as largemouth bass or pike.

7 Essential Saltwater Fishing Lures

(that will work pretty much anywhere in the world)

1. Gold Spoon

The gold spoon is a staple in more saltwater tackle boxes across the globe than any other fishing lure.

As you probably know, the “spoon” now comes in all sorts of shapes, colors (like the second most popular spoon, the Silver Spoon), weedless spoons, single hook spoons, treble hook spoons, etc.

And although there is no one spoon that will always work better than all spoons, it’s tough to wrong with the traditional gold spoon that has been known to attract hits from countless types of saltwater species.

The type of gold spoon that we have used the most is called the Johnson Sprite Spoon, and you can find them at some of their lowest prices here online.

2. Berkley Gulp Shrimp

There aren’t many saltwater game fish that won’t eat a shrimp…

And the best overall artificial shrimp that we have ever used is the Berkley Gulp Alive Shrimp.

You can use these shrimp in just about any situation from fishing the grass flats to jigging in deeper water.

Now these “Gulp! Alive!” shrimp come in a bunch of different colors, but the best two that we have found for consistent bites among most saltwater fish are the white shrimp and the “New Penny” color (below)

I personally order these Gulp Shrimp buckets from Amazon as they seem to be some of the best prices online. Click here to see the current prices for Gulp Shrimp buckets on Amazon.

Related Posts:

• How to rig a Gulp shrimp on a traditional jig head
• How to rig a Gulp shrimp so it’s weedless

3. White Bucktail

These days, bucktail jigs come in all kinds of crazy colors and crazy flairs!

But I recall the days of fishing down in Marco Island as a kid where all we needed for a fun afternoon of fishing was a Millies White Bucktail…

We would catch snook, redfish, speckled trout, and even tarpon all using the exact same white bucktail…

The great news is that these white bucktails still work like magic today.

Another option with these white bucktails is to add some flair (like the “Silver Flashabou” found in this bucktail video), or you can add a plastic tail that trails off the hook.

In regards to getting your hands on the best bucktail deal, you have two options:

1. Buy them. Here are some prices for some of the best white bucktails online.
2. Make them yourself at home. Here is the step-by-step tutorial video on how to make bucktails like a pro.

4.  Topwater Lure / Popper

It doesn’t get much better than a fish attacking a topwater lure…

And although there is what now seems like an endless amount of topwater lures to choose from, you can’t go wrong with the original Zara Spook topwater plug by Heddon.

We recommend either their 4.5 – 5 inch Spook topwater lure, and if you had to only pick one color, the Bone (white) is always a safe bet.

The other topwater lure that is tough to ignore (but pretty expensive) is the Yo-Zuri Sashimi Metallic Sardine Popper that can catch big game fish pretty much anywhere in the world.

These poppers are always a blast to fish with.

Here is the 5-inch bone Zara Spook at one of it’s lowest prices online.

And here is the Yo-Zuri Sashimi Popper online.

5. Soft Plastic Fluke (Jerkbait)

Freshwater, Saltwater, Brackishwater… the Fluke can attract a fish strike almost anywhere!

In fact, the fluke is probably one of the best overall artificial lures for both freshwater and saltwater fishing (and the company Zoom Bait does make them for both freshwater and saltwater anglers).

You can fish these flukes weedless, you can fish them close to the top, or even put a weighted hook on and fish them a bit lower. They are incredibly versatile lures.

Just a warning, Zoom has these Super Flukes is just about every color imaginable (over 25 of them), but you can’t go wrong with any of the “Watermelon” colors or the “White Pearl”.

Click here to see how to rig a Super Fluke

Here is a 5-pack of the White Pearl Zoom Salty Super Flukes online for under $4.

6. MirrOLure Suspending Twitchbait

If I were only able to bring one twitchbait with me, it would be this MirrOLure suspending twitchbait.

These twitchbaits are ideal to have because they are designed to mimic a glass minnow which is one of the most favorite natural baitfish for cruising coastal predator game fish.

These twitchbaits are very versatile as you can fish them many different ways and in a variety of water depths.

And just like all of the essential saltwater fishing lures on this list, these MirrOLures come in a vast variety of shapes and colors.

Here is the exact same black top with silver bottom MirrOlure twitchbait online.

7. Rapala X-Rap Jerkbait/Slashbait (4-inch)

What good would a must-have saltwater fishing lure list be without a jerkbait (or slashbait, or even a crankbait depending on where you are from).

These lures look so amazing under the water! Crazy darting action combined with a rattle make this a must-have saltwater fishing lure.

This awesome jerkbait by Rapala (the X-Rap series) is designed for optimal performance in the 3-8 feet depth range. Of course, if you know you will be fishing in shallow water (or if you need a hard lure to get down really low), you will need to try out a crankbait lure with a longer bill to get down deep.

My brother Luke fishes this Rapala X-Rap with and without the red feathers in the back in both fresh and salt water, but depending on where you are fishing (and what species) you can try it with or without.

Here is this exact same Silver Rapala X-Rap online.

Conclusion

You don’t need a tackle box full of hundreds of lures to catch saltwater fish around the globe…

And if you are ever going to be saltwater fishing in an area that you aren’t familiar with (anywhere in the world), these are the 7 saltwater fishing lures that you want to have in your tackle box.

Will all seven of them work all the time… everywhere in the world?

Of course not.

But more often than not, at least one of these essential saltwater fishing lures will be able to create strikes for you pretty much anywhere.

So what do you think?

Did I leave any essential lures off?

Let me know in the comment section.

P.S. – If you think your angler friends would like this, please Tag them or Share this with them. It would mean a lot to me.

Fish On!

Related Post: The Best Lures For Catching Redfish