Fishing Lures: Every Type Explained

By Alex Clayton · Updated 24 October 2026

A fishing lure is an artificial bait that tempts a predator through movement, flash, vibration or silhouette rather than smell. Almost all fishing lures sold in the UK belong to one of three families: hard plugs, metal lures and soft plastics. Which one you tie on depends on the species, the depth the fish are holding at, the water clarity and the temperature.

The tackle shop wall makes it look far more complicated. Most lures, after all, are designed to catch anglers first.

Lure fishing for pike and perch is a big part of my own fishing on Lake Windermere. This guide, part of our bait and lures section, explains each type, how to choose one, and the rules that apply to lure fishing in England.

Hard Lures vs Soft Lures: How the Types of Fishing Lures Split

Learn one split and the whole lure aisle makes sense: every lure is either solid or flexible.

Hard lures are solid baits, usually plastic or wood: crankbaits, jerkbaits and poppers, with metal spinners and spoons in the same camp. Soft plastic lures are flexible: paddle-tail shads, worms and creature baits, fished on a jig head or a weedless rig.

The split predicts behaviour. Hard lures give off more vibration and visual attraction, so they are good at covering water. Soft plastics feel more natural to a fish that grabs them, and they suit slower, finesse presentations.

Family	Examples	What it does best
Hard plugs	Crankbaits, jerkbaits, surface lures	Set running depth, strong action, searching water
Metal	Spinners, spoons, spinnerbaits	Flash and vibration on a simple retrieve
Soft plastics	Shads, worms, creature baits	Natural feel, slow presentations, weedless options

Before you buy more fishing lures, change how you retrieve the ones you have. Retrieve style often matters more than the lure.

If you are starting out, a few soft plastic shads and a couple of spinners cover most situations. Our guide to lure fishing for beginners walks through a first session step by step.

Hard Lures: Crankbaits, Jerkbaits and Surface Lures

Two hard lures can look identical in the packet and behave completely differently once retrieved. The lip and the body shape decide the action, so learn the three actions (wobble, dart and surface commotion) rather than memorising models.

Crankbaits

A crankbait is a lipped plug that dives and wobbles on a steady retrieve. The size and angle of the lip set how deep it runs. That wobble produces vibration, which is why crankbaits earn their place in coloured water.

Variants worth knowing:

Square-bills: shallow runners whose square lip tends to bump off snags rather than hang up.
Lipless crankbaits: no lip, often with internal rattles. They sink, so you control depth by counting down.
Jointed plugs: a body in two or more sections for a looser, swimming action.

Check the stated running depth on the packet before you buy. Some models only dive shallow, which is no use over a deep drop-off.

Jerkbaits and glide baits

Jerkbaits dart from side to side on sharp twitches of the rod tip, with pauses in between. They come in floating, sinking and suspending versions.

Suspending jerkbaits hold their depth on the pause, and that pause is when many takes come. The catch is that they take more skill to fish well than a crankbait.

On Windermere I’ve found a paused jerkbait worked slowly along a drop-off is one of the better ways to tempt pike in clear water and the colder months. Glide baits are larger, lipless cousins that swing from side to side on a slow, steady pull.

Surface lures

Poppers, walk-the-dog lures and prop baits all work on top, and hollow frogs slide over weed beds where nothing else can be fished. Takes are visual and explosive, best in warm, calm conditions. They are a poor choice for zander.

Best for: searching water, setting an exact depth, coloured water (crankbaits), clear and cold water (jerkbaits). Skip if: you want the simplest possible lure to fish. For a fuller comparison, read our guide to jerkbaits, crankbaits and spoons.

Metal Lures: Spinners, Spoons and Spinnerbaits

If you want a lure that catches without learning a complex retrieve, start here. Cast, wind steadily, and let the flash and vibration do the work.

Spinners are a rotating blade on a wire shaft. They are simple and one of the best lures for beginners, though depth control is limited. Their steady flash at close range suits perch and trout in rivers and small stillwaters. The blade can twist your line, so fit a swivel above the lure.

Spoons are curved metal that wobbles and flashes. They cast a long way, fish deep, and can be fluttered down on a slack line. Weedless spoons let you fish snaggy margins.

Spinnerbaits use a safety-pin wire frame with blades above a skirted hook, so they ride over weed and snags better than an open treble spinner.

Trout anglers should see our guide to trout lures. If you fish the fly, our guide to trout flies covers the artificials fly anglers use instead.

In England, before 16 June salmon fishing is limited to artificial fly or lure and any salmon caught must be returned (GOV.UK). Local byelaws can differ, so check the rules for your river.

Spinner or spoon? In a river or a small stillwater, pick a spinner for its steady flash at close range. On a big stillwater, pick a spoon, because it casts further and reaches deeper water.

Soft Plastic Lures and Jig Heads

Lead weights are restricted in England, yet the lead in a lure is exempt. Under the national rod fishing byelaws, lead weights are only allowed if they are 0.06g or less or over 28.35g, but lead in a lure or in weighted line is exempt (GOV.UK). Fisheries can set their own rules on top, so check before you fish.

That matters because soft plastic lures, the most versatile fishing lures you can buy, are usually fished on lead jig heads. The same shad fishes fast, slow, deep or weedless just by changing the head or rig.

The main types are:

Paddle-tail shads: the workhorse, with a tail that kicks on a straight retrieve.
Finesse worms: slim and subtle, for perch and pressured fish.
Creature baits: legs and claws that flap on the drop.
Large hollow swimbaits: big profiles for pike.

Their weakness is that they tear easily, especially on toothy fish, so carry spares.

Jig heads. Head weight sets the sink rate. A common rule of thumb runs from about 1g for small perch work up to about 28g for deep or flowing water, so treat it as a starting point. Tungsten is denser than lead, so the head is smaller for the same weight.

Rigs.

Texas and Carolina rigs hide the hook point in the lure, so they are weedless. They suit canals, rivers and overgrown stillwaters.
The Cheb rig uses a detachable, clip-on weight in front of the hook, so you can change weight without retying.
The drop-shot holds a small lure almost still above a weight near structure. See our drop-shot rig guide.

Drop-shotting is one of the methods I use for perch on Windermere. In my experience, a small worm held close to structure in the colder months keeps catching when faster lures have stopped.

For pike, go deeper with our guide to soft lures for pike, and see line-through lures for big soft baits where the line passes through the body.

If you only buy one lure type, start with a pack of paddle-tail shads and a few jig heads in different weights.

Which Lure for Which Fish: Pike, Perch, Trout and Bass

A pike lure is wasted on a perch, and a perch lure leaves you exposed to a bite-off from a pike. Species narrows the choice faster than anything else, because lure size, the need for a trace and the preferred action differ sharply between pike, perch, trout and bass.

Species	Lure types that work	Size guide	Trace or leader	Go deeper
Pike	Larger shads, jerkbaits, spoons, spinnerbaits, surface lures in summer	Large	Wire trace, always	Pike lures
Perch	Small shads, drop-shot worms, small spinners and crankbaits	Small (about a 5 to 7cm shad on a 3 to 5g head to start)	Wire trace where pike are present	Perch lures
Trout	Spinners, small spoons, small plugs	Small	Check fishery rules	Trout lures
Bass (sea)	Surface lures, soft plastics, metals	Medium	Check the guidance for your venue	Bass lures

Pike. Pike take big lures, and every pike lure needs a wire trace. On Windermere I tend to think in terms of large shads and jerkbaits worked around drop-offs and weed edges, with surface lures saved for warm, calm summer days.

Perch. Perch respond to small lures fished slowly. A 5 to 7cm shad on a 3 to 5g head is a sensible starting point, and a drop-shot worm takes over when they stop chasing.

Trout. Spinners and small spoons account for many trout. Check the fishery allows lures before you go, because many stillwaters are fly only.

Bass. Bass are a sea species, fished from the shore with surface lures, soft plastics and metals. See sea fishing lures for shore and boat lures generally.

Zander. If zander are the target, leave the surface lures at home.

Pick the species first, then the size, then the lure.

Choosing a Lure by Water Clarity, Temperature and Depth

The lure that caught last week can be useless today. Usually the fish haven’t changed. The water temperature and colour have.

Clarity, temperature and depth each push you towards a different lure family:

Condition	Try	Why
Clear water	Soft plastics, jerkbaits, natural colours	Fish see well, so subtle actions look more natural
Coloured water	Crankbaits, spinners, spinnerbaits	Vibration and flash help fish find the lure
Cold water (below about 8C)	Paused jerkbaits, soft plastics near the bottom, drop-shot	Fish are sluggish and won’t chase far
Warmer water (above about 12C)	Faster retrieves, surface lures	Fish are active and will hunt

The temperature figures are a rule of thumb many anglers use, not a fixed law. Colour advice works the same way: start with it, then let the fish tell you.

Depth is the third lever. Match the running depth of your lure to where the fish are holding:

On a crankbait, the lip sets the depth.
On a soft plastic, the jig head weight sets how fast it sinks.
Spoons and sinking jerkbaits can be counted down: cast, count, then retrieve, adding seconds until you find fish or bottom.

Note which lure, colour and size caught, alongside the water colour and temperature on the day. Patterns show up quickly.

When conditions change, change the action and the speed before you move swims.

Traces, Line and Rods for Lure Fishing

A lure is only as good as what it is tied to. A bite-off costs you the lure and leaves a fish with hooks in its mouth.

Wire trace. Wherever pike are present, use a wire trace for lure fishing, even when you are targeting perch. A pike can bite through mono or fluorocarbon in an instant. The Pike Anglers’ Club advises always using a wire trace for lure fishing (PAC guidance). Our explainer on pike wire traces covers length and strength.

Line. Braided main line is common for lure fishing because it gives better feel and longer casts, with a leader or trace at the business end. Use a swivel or snap with spinners to cut line twist.

Rods. Match the rod’s casting weight rating to the lures you fish: a light rod for small perch lures, a heavier one for big pike baits. My own Windermere setups follow the same logic. See our guide to spinning rods for what to look for.

Get the trace right first. The rest can be refined later.

Lure Fishing Rules and Fish Care in England

Lure fishing has its own legal pinch points, and treble hooks demand good unhooking habits. These are England’s rules under the Environment Agency’s national byelaws. Wales (Natural Resources Wales), Scotland (Scottish Government) and Northern Ireland (DAERA) have their own.

Rod licence: needed if you are 13 or over (free for ages 13 to 16), including on private waters (GOV.UK). See our fishing licence guide.
Close season: the coarse close season on rivers runs from 15 March to 15 June, which covers pike and perch. Most enclosed stillwaters and canals have none, but local byelaws can differ (GOV.UK). See our guide to fishing seasons.
Pike limit: the national byelaws let you keep 1 pike up to 65cm per day. Local byelaws and fishery rules may be stricter, and many predator anglers return every pike.
Foul-hooked fish: a fish foul-hooked on a river, stream, drain or canal must be released immediately, which matters with trebles.
Lead: lead in a lure is exempt, as covered under soft plastics above.
Banned methods: gaffs, tailers, snares, spears and snatching are all banned. Land pike with a large landing net.

The byelaw details above come from the national rod fishing byelaws.

Fish care is part of the kit list. Unhook on a mat, carry long-nosed forceps or pliers and a pair of wire cutters for trebles that won’t come free, keep the fish wet and return it quickly.

Check with the fishery before you travel, because many set their own lure, hook and trace rules.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best fishing lure for beginners?

Soft plastic shads on a jig head and simple spinners are the best starting points. Shads cover most depths by changing the head weight, and spinners catch on a plain steady retrieve. A few of each will cover perch, pike and trout on most UK waters.

Do I need a licence for lure fishing?

Yes. In England and Wales you need a rod licence if you are 13 or over, and the junior licence for ages 13 to 16 is free. Under 13s don't need one. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different arrangements, so check with the Scottish Government or DAERA.

Are lead jig heads legal in England?

Yes. The national byelaws restrict lead weights to 0.06g or less or over 28.35g, but lead in a lure or weighted line is exempt. Individual fisheries can still ban lead or set their own rules, so check before you fish.

Can I go lure fishing for pike in the close season?

Not on rivers. The coarse close season on rivers in England runs from 15 March to 15 June. Most enclosed stillwaters and canals stay open, but local byelaws and fishery rules can differ, so check before you go.

Do I need a wire trace for perch lure fishing?

Yes, wherever pike are present. A pike can bite through mono or fluorocarbon when it grabs a perch lure, leaving it with a hook in its mouth. The Pike Anglers' Club advises always using a wire trace for lure fishing.