Looking to get your kids involved with bass fishing? I remember the first time I took my now 8 and 6 year old kiddos out to the lake with me and the frustration I had with trying to keep them interested and put them on fish in a way they could enjoy. Soon after I did my own research on what lures might be better for our next outing, and have since put together this list of my top 10 kids fishing lures to help others out who want to get their kids hooked on fishing!
Criteria we use to determine the Best Kids Fishing Lures
- Safe – First and foremost the lure needs to be as safe as possible. And in general (with one exception) to me that means no treble hooks.
- Simple – Each lure is relatively easy to rig up quickly, as well as fish easily with simple cast and retrieve methods for the kiddos.
- Fun – If your kids are like mine, they prefer to be actively fishing and catching, not waiting or they get bored.
- Effective – What good is all the rest if they aren’t proven fish catchers!
With that in mind, below are our choices for the best kids fishing lures for beginners in no particular order!
Top 10 Kids Fishing Lures
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Hook and Bobber
The tried and true hook and bobber is a great way to start off any age kid in fishing. You can throw on a live worm, crappie or trout nibble, piece of corn or any assortment of small baits that can have your kiddos catching anything from small perch to large bass or catfish in a hurry!
I’ve been outfished by my 7 year old daughter who caught a 4lb bass and catfish in 2 feet of water with a worm on a hook while I blanked trying every technique and lure in the book on the same lake so it makes for an amazing and easy beginner fishing rig to try! On the downside though, while you have the opportunity to catch tons of fish which the kids will love, it also means you or someone else will be constantly removing hooks and adding more bait so it may be hard to fish yourself at the same time.
Dark Sleeper
My top choice for an initial cast and retrieve lure that I tie up for my kids on the regular is the Dark Sleeper, basically a pre-made swimbait with embedded hidden hook.
This lure will catch anything from small bluegill to the biggest bass and has tons of color options and sizes to help you in picking your kids target wisely. It casts extremely easily, is naturally weedless and just needs a steady retrieve making it an easy top choice of all the kids fishing lures we suggest.
Chatterbait
When targeting specifically bass, I love throwing on a chatterbait for my kids. It does a good enough job coming through vegetation as long as its not a thick matte, and is easy to cast and retrieve for kids without any specific techniques needed.
With kids, we’re typically shore or dock fishing in shallower waters which is where a chatterbait shines as well, and with tons of color and size options available it makes for a good option not just for beginners but as a favorite for tournament anglers as well.
Texas Rigged Worm
A Texas rigged worm is a great option as one of the most weedless options you can tie on and being a good fish catcher anywhere on the lake or pond. You can put a screw on tungsten weight to get it down to the bottom of the water column for them on hotter days or weightless to catch those suspended fish on the edges of weed beds or docks.
With so many colors and being relatively cheap it’s fun to let the kiddos pick out their favorite colors as well and does a great job keeping them interested.
Casting Jig
If you’re wanting to try and hook your kids up with their first bigger bass, tossing a casting jig is a great option. It’s extremely weedless, casts a mile, and you can teach your kids to reel slowly and increase their chances of landing a big one. Jigs are known as big bass magnets even for seasoned tournament anglers.
Casting jigs are my favorite well rounded skirted jig, being a good jack of all trades in open water, on rocks or through weeds and grass equally. You can find them in tons of color and size options that are fun to have your kids help pick out. In general there are colors that make more sense, but won’t impact fishing a ton in most cases so better to let them have some input and have some ownership in their gear!
Ned Rig
The ned rig is a fun little lure to throw that has a great chance of catching both largemouth and smallmouth depending on what’s in your fishery, and kids love the smaller stick worms since they’re “kid sized” as I like to tell them. They can catch big bass though, so don’t let the size fool you.
Ned rigs are best tossed from a boat and may require a little more instruction on how to twitch and reel them slowly but the old cast and retrieve method works well enough for most.
Topwater Frog
There’s just something exciting about throwing a topwater frog, both for kids and adults. The good thing for kids is the lure floats and is great at avoiding vegetation and snags, is fun to reel in for them, and even more fun when they see a bass launch out of the water inhaling it.
I wouldn’t worry about teaching more advanced walking techniques early on but can be an eventual teaching point. The hookup ratios can be smaller even for experienced anglers, but the fun factor is unmatched and a great lure to work into your rotation with your younger fishermen.
Small Swimbait
I love tossing on a small swimbait as a kids fishing lure when fishing open waters or ponds with minimal vegetation. Generally a small jig or swimbait head paired with a soft plastic paddletail will catch fish and is easy to cast and retrieve. It’s hard to go wrong with a white swimbait, but other colors can work as well.
The smaller the swimbait, the more varieties of fish you could catch like crappie and bluegill and can help with “catching” more to improve their experience. Bigger swimbaits for bigger fish, pretty simple!
Mr. Twister Jig
A Mr. Twister tied to a small jighead is a great option for targeting crappie specifically, although bass and bluegill will hit it regularly as well.
Mr. Twister is a brand of grubs, and other grubs will work, but they can be fished vertically from a boat in a jig fashion or cast and retrieved so is a very versatile lure that will catch fish of all sizes, but are extremely effective for panfish, crappie and trout alike.
Johnson Spoon
Fishing spoons is the oldest known lure used for fishing and for good reason, it’s simple, cheap and effective. The Johnson spoons specifically use a single hook with a weedguard that you can attach trailers too making it very weedless, simple and fun to throw for kids to adult alike.
Johnson spoons are also super cheap, and come in tons of color options although a traditional silver or gold works just great with or without a trailer. They will catch almost any fish in existence depending on the size you tie on, freshwater to saltwater, so a favorite worldwide for all ages.
Mepps Inline Spinner
One of my favorite kids fishing lures to throw for trout, but also catch bass, panfish and other species depending on the size you tie on, the Mepps Inline Spinner is a classic both for kids and tournament anglers. It’s the only lure I’d recommend for kids that utilizes a treble hook, but it’s only one and small so can be a good lure to use as a teaching point for advancing to other lures like jerkbait and crankbaits that use trebles.
The Mepps Inline Spinners come in a variety of shapes and colors, and I’d highly recommend throwing on a swivel to avoid line twist that can cause kids issues. An easy to cast and simple retrieve lure, they are great for open clear waters and sure to land fish of all kinds!
There are plenty of other options we could add but these are our top 10 kids fishing lures we recommend on the market today. Let us know in the comments below what your experience with kids fishing and any tips or advice you’d share to help others!
