4 Best Surf Fishing Lures: Best of the Baits
Looking for the best surf fishing lures? The surf isn’t the friendliest of waters for lure fishing. With waves and currents, winds and weeds, fishing with lures in the surf can be highly intimidating. Confidence is the biggest factor in being successful with lures, and knowing you’re using a good lure is the first step there. So what are the best lures for surf fishing?
For a serious angler who knows what he’s doing, the best surf fishing lure changes per the conditions and per the structure. This is where we get into another debate: “Jerkbaits vs. Swimbaits“. I’ve already written about that topic and when to use which in the linked article.
For now, let’s talk about the best surf fishing lures out there (in no particular order).
- Lucky Craft CIF FM 110(jump to this section
- Keitech Fat Swing Impact jump to this section
- BioSpawn ExoSwim jump to this section
- Shimano WM 115 jump to this section
Lucky Craft CIF FM 110
Since I began writing more about surf fishing with swimbaits back in 2021, the local community has taken to swimbaits more-so than ever in a noticeable wave. Still though, no lure is more trusted and well-known than the LC FM 110 jerkbait. It’s a 4.5-inch (110mm), slow-suspending jerkbait that weighs 5/8 of an ounce. Like many jerkbaits, it dives upon your retrieve. Usually, the faster you retrieve, the faster it dives. The Lucky Craft FM 110 dives approximately 1-2 feet and of all the lures out there, this is certainly one of the best surf fishing lures.
Where should you fish the Lucky Craft lure? Technically, anywhere is good. Structure like troughs and holes is awesome. What’s better? Throwing it where you think you might lose it. Around rocks, reef and other hard structure. That said, I have certain zones that I like to use swimbaits and other I like to use jerkbaits. Usually if it’s more rocky than reefy, a jerkbait will do and vice versa.
Retrieve
In my experience, a slow steady retrieve has worked best. The thing about these jerk baits is that you don’t need to do much to make these lures look sporadic, injured, and attractive. I find that often times you’ll even get bites when you slow to a pause.
Up until 2022, I had yet to find a jerkbait that held its wobble (action) as well and as tight as the LC does (continue reading to find out which jerkbait may have topped the LC). The ability to work a slow retrieve while still maintaining attractive action is one thing that sets the LC apart from the rest. There’s one other jerkbait that holds a good wobble and it’s mentioned below.
Action
It holds a good, tight wobble and responds well to angler direction. The LC FM 110 has the second best action of any jerkbait I’ve used. I’ve compared it to the Calissa look-a-like, the Caivo, some Rapalas and even some lesser-known jerkbaits. None matched the tight wobble of the LC until I came across a lure by Shimano that I’ll mention later.
Casting
Solid. It beats the Calissa, Caivo, Rapala’s, but not Shimano’s WM.
Specs
- Length: 4-1/2″ (110mm)
- Weight: 5/8oz (16.5g)
- Depth: 1-2ft (0.5m)
- Type: Slow Suspending
- Hook Size: VMC #6, #6, #6
Keitech Fat Impact Swing
The lure I always come back to. The Keitech Fat Swing Impact swimbait has been a well-known lure for quite some time. But in the surf, it’s mainly gaines popularity since I began writing about it a few years ago. Today, it’s commonly known as one of the best swimbaits for surf fishing.
What situations would you use this over the LC? If there’s too much kelp or weeds in the water, or if you’d like to really work inside of rock and reef crevasses, that’s where swimbaits shine. They allow you to dramatically slow down your retrieve and drop your bait to the bottom, testing every little cut and hole out there.
Retrieve
My best advice for this one is to make it your own, use your imagination, and envision what your lure looks like while it’s swimming. Spend some time in shallow water, watching how the lure reacts to certain twitches and speeds and go from there. I always like a slow retrieve and sometimes I add some twitches and jerks. Many other successful anglers have differing views from on another, further supporting the notion to “make it your own”.
Action
The name of this lure says it all. Fat, Impact Swing. It’s a fatter lure and it’s got a really strong swing to it. More dramatic than most other swimbaits, the Keitech’s action is one of this lure’s best features. It will generally hold it’s desired action at slower retrieves than the LC can (mostly because it’s a swimbait).
Casting
Casting depends on the angler of course, but it also depends on what size jig-head you use. I used to like the half-ounce jighead from Warbaits a lot. At this point, I almost strictly stick to fishing the Texas Rig with a 1/2 oz or 1/4 oz bullet weight.
Specs
- Length: 3.8-inch to 4.8-inch
- Weight: 1/4 to 1/2 oz
- Depth: Top to Bottom… Sinking
- Type: Swimbait/Sinking
- Hook Size: 3/0 – 5/0
- Hook Pairing: See Best Jigheads and Swimbait Hooks for Surf Fishing
Catch Co BioSpawn ExoSwim Paddle Tail Swimbait
The BioSpawn ExoSwim is possibly my favorite swimbait for surf fishing. Its action rivals any other top swimbait out there and its durability is what I believe separates it from the pack. When the Keitech is getting shredded by bites and tail grabs, these BioSpawn lures hold up in most similar scenarios and get bit just as well.
The one thing I wish they had is more glitter in the color options. I think Keitech really nailed down the glitter to color ratio and I’m a big believer that glitter helps attract fish. With time, I hope they develop these options. But, for now, they’re still one of the best lures for surf fishing.
Retrieve
Like most swimbaits, I like to work these slow and close to the bottom. I’m typically not dragging it along the bottom, but at times, I’ll come to a stop and then bounce it off the bottom and let it fall for a little while before either bouncing it again or continuing a slow retrieve.
Take a moment to see how it swims in the clear water in front of you. Give it a slow retrieve and try a few jerks. Notice how it looks when you manipulate it in certain ways, then, visualize how it looks when you retrieve it after a cast. If it look like a baitfish, it’ll get bit.
Action
With such a thick body and fat tail, the BioSpawn ExoSwim actually has a fairly slender connection between tail and body. I believe this gives it the best action of any swimbait on this list.
Casting
Your range on these is pretty standard. No better or worse than the Keitech.
Durability
As mentioned above, these lures have solid durability and sacrifice no action to achieve that.
Specs
- Length: 3.75-inch to 4.75-inch (I use the 4.75-inch)
- Weight: Usually paired with 1/4 to 1/2 ounce bullet weight Texas Rigged.
- Depth: Top to Bottom… Sinking
- Type: Swimbait/Sinking
- Hook Size: 3/0 – 5/0
- Hook Pairing: See Best Jigheads and Swimbait Hooks for Surf Fishing
Shimano WM Jerkbait
Retrieve and Action
The swim action on this lure was what impressed me the most. I’ve praised the LC’s swim action in the past for its ability to maintain such a tight wobble even through slow retrieves. I believe the Shimano WM-115 SP holds as good a wobble as (if not better than) the LC 110.
It also practically never rolls. This is an area where the LC 110 is pretty good, but the LC 115 and others lag. Overall, I’m very impressed with the wobble and overall appearance of the lure when it swims.
Upon my mandatory “near feet shallow testing”, I’m very satisfied and upon seeing it in person, you’ll immediately gain confidence that you won’t be wasting time with this lure.
In my opinion, when you can look at a lure’s action in front of you in clear water, you should be able to tell immediately if it’s worth your time or not. Sometimes, you’ll have unproductive days even fishing great lures, so it’s important to maintain confidence if it looks like a good lure in the water.
Casting
The Shimano WM 115 SP is solid in terms of casting. I would put it right in line with the LC FM 110. I did notice, however, that it’s very worth-while to give it a little shake prior to your casting in an effort to balance the weights properly to allow for optimal casting. There was a noticeable difference between when the weights were vs. weren’t balanced.
Specs
- Length: 4.5 in / 110 mm
- Weight: 5/8oz
- Depth: 4-6 feet
- Type: Suspending
- Hook Size: Same as the LC
For Recommended Gear and Tackle and Recommended Rods and Reels, follow the links.
Great article. Any thoughts on the surf pointer vs flash minnow? I was wondering if the SP dives deeper, making it more attractive to halibut?
Hey Doug, sorry for the late response. I’ve tried the Surf Pointer and I just don’t think it’s as quality a lure as the Flash Minnow. It tends to have a tough time keeping its action without flipping on its side among other things. It could be my experience only, but I like the FM a lot more than the Surf Pointer.
Assume you’re using a drop shot or c- rig with those swim baits.
Nope, these are all tied directly to my mainline. Using a jighead.
Nice hook on the swim vs. jerk bait.. I’ll be waiting
coming tomorrow!