Top 5 Inshore Lures

What are your top 5 go-to lures for fishing the Texas coast?

I went fishing for specs and reds for the first time ever a couple of months ago and we had a good time using down south lures. We caught lots of specs and few reds. My first red was a 42" 20lber. Talk about fun on a light tackle spinning rod. Didn't think I would ever get him in! Their swim baits worked great! They are really durable too. I would highly recommend them.

Im curious to what everyone uses... this is what i use, you can see them in action Below on this video.

https://youtu.be/X-tPkGs-hZ8

Norton Sand Eel.
Hogies Super Minnow.
Both rigged on Oldham screw lock head w/Gamakatsu hood 1/8 oz.
Weedless Spoon
Tsunami Top water.
In the winter fishing rivers for trout 3/4oz gold rattle trap.

great list
no Mirro Lures?

I'm a simple guy.
Those listed are what I use in Seadrift, my box for Mansfield might look a little different, but not much.
I don't have a ton of colors, sand eel in pumpkin and baffin magic
Super minnow in pumpkin or red glitter/white tail.

My next door neighbor is even more simple than I am, he used Norton bull minnow, plum/chartreuse. Period. And he catches a lot of fish, proof once again it's not the arrow, it's the indian.

1. Rattletrap Blue back Chrome 3/4 oz
2. Shedog Chart/chrome
3. Gulp Chart or White
4. Skitterwalk
5. Livetarget Fleeing Shrimp under 4 horseman popping cork

H&H 3" curl tail dark color with chartreuse tail on a screw lock 1/8 oz jig head
VooDoo shrimp in both dark and light colors
Trout Support Grasswalker in chicken on a chain or bone
Spook Jr
Buggs Curl tail

These 3 for me in Sabine lake area catch fish.
DOA shrimp behind Popping Cork
Vudu shrimp as jig or behind Popping Cork
Gulp 3" White on jig head 1/8 to 1/2 oz jigged or behind Popping cork

I have caught fish on these but not as reliable as above. I have full assortment of colors and still trying to see what works best.
A.M. Fishing Lure on jig head 1/8 to 1/2 oz
Trout Support on Trokar TK 140 4/0 or 5/0

Everyone should say where they fish, what works here might not be worth two dead flies there.

I fish from Aransas to Rockport and occasionally Matagorda east bay. I don't change much regardless of those areas I'm fishing. I may add a popping cork to my VooDoo or change speed/presentation depending on conditions but that's about it. I do focus more on reds than anything.

Si'
Thanks

I fish around the Galveston bay complex exclusively

This time of year:

Down South Tails
Slayer Inc Paddletails (standard and XL)(Norton or Knotty Hooker jigheads from 1/16 -3/8 oz.)
Mirrolure MirrOdines (Standard size and XL)
Spook Jrs and One Knocker
6th Sense HyperJerk (Borboleta Lele knockoff)

*Bonus lures*
Marker 54 Shrimp
Z-Man Ned stuff
Flat sided square bill crankbaits for Reds and Snook(Spring)

I fish for records in the bay, near shore, and offshore usually around Port Aransas or Port Mansfield. A 3/4 ounce Johnson gold spoon is hard to beat. I also use Mirro-lure She Dogs if there is topwater action. If the redfish are hungry, they will hit most lures that you get in front of them. Near offshore, Gotcha lures have been very productive. Free-lined soft plastics thrown in a bait-ball also work well. Under most conditions, I enjoy using live or cut-bait when I am after the big boys. Pitching a free-lined mullet to a tailing red will get your heart rate up lol.

I fish several plastics of various brands. All paddle tails with Texas Roach and Chicken on the Chain colors mostly.
My most favorite right now is the MirrOdine. Absolutely crushed them this last year in both the surf and bay with this lure.
Spooks are my favorite with right topwater conditions.

1. Paddle tail, your choice. SA, H&H, DSL
2. Topwater, your choice Rapala, Heddon, Mirrorlure
3. Suspending/slow sinker, your choice
4. Spoon, your choice
5. A lifelike shrimp/scented type, your choice.

That’s sort of a summary of what I read from the posts, although some like a fast sinking plug too.

Presentation normally trumps anything else such as color or brand, but that’s not always the case in my experience. But most of the time when I fish the same water with friends none of us are starting out with the same lure. We might only go, reluctantly, to the same thing if and only if one specific type is proving to be the one thing that will work.

Everyone has confidence lures and occasionally even those might not be the thing so it’s good to get some other things into action.

Ultimately, fish the lures you enjoy fishing. There might be multiple ways to get the fish on any given day, but you might enjoy bumping and jigging a paddle tail while your partner likes walking the dog with a topwater.

Me exactly. I have been using the Tsunami paddle tails lately, along with 4.5" H&H Cocahoes. Spooks, Johnson spoons, Mirrolures and Vudu shrimp are all go to lures, and always in my box as well.

I think the various paddle tails are interesting. They all have a little different action. The DSL, old hackberry hustler type vibrate a little different than some of the bigger type paddle tails. H&H Queen cocahoe tails have a big wobble. Norton, my friend fishes those bull minnows a lot. Working a paddle tail or a straight tail is fun, trying to get the pace and pauses right. I like Norton for straight/rat type tails, DSL is my little wobble paddle tail, Saltwater Assassin my medium wobble, H&H my big wobble. I usually start out with the assassins and see where that takes things. Sometimes, you can get dialed in on the presentation and if the fish are there...it makes for a extra fun day.

Aransas Pass/Port Aransas

Zman Razor ShadZ
Rapala Skitterwalk SSW-11
Norton Bull Minnow
Norton Sand Eel
Troutsupport Grasswalker

I prefer 1/8 oz jigheads for most applications. I've found the Bass Assassin jighead to be the most durable. Tandem rigging is always a great option if the bite isn't as hot as you'd like it to be. Color really doesn't matter IMO, just pick a couple you have confidence. If I could say one thing about color, its that I prefer ligher colors during bright conditions, and darker colors during darker conditions. But it may not matter at all. While you limited the list to 5, the 5 I listed are just what I throw most often. Any kind of Paul Brown (Corky) or weedless spoon is a good bet any time any place. Downsizing can be really effective too. Sometimes trout are on a glass minnow feed, and they'll turn their nose up at your best live bait offering. Try panfish soft plastics with 1/16 oz jigheads rigged tandem and thank me later.

Matagorda, Palacious, and Indianola. I throw a lot of different hardware, but three that will always be in my box are silver Sprite spoon, gold Sprite spoon, and a double-rigged Cocoho minnow in red and white. I guess these are my go-to "confidence" lures.