23 for 2023: Make This Your Best Fishing Year Ever

We're just a few weeks into 2023, and frankly, we could use a little less drama in this big ol' world of ours and a lot more time fishing with friends and family. So, to help get this year off to a great start, our team of fishing nerds and geeks put our heads together to create the Top 23 lures, jigs and line that you need to make this your best year ever!

(1) Rapala® Jigging Rap®

It's not just for ice fishing! The Jigging Rap is also highly effective on open water for deep water vertical jigging.

(2) Rapala® DT® (Dives To) Series

When you see fish hovering at a specific depth, kinda getting there won't cut it. This is where the DT series excels – DT lures are designed to hit a specific depth and stay there, and put the lure right in front of a fish.

(3) Rapala® Original Floating®

This is the lure that started it all. And, 87 years later, it's still the best-selling lure in the world and Rapala VMC's No. 1 seller. You will never go wrong with a No. 11 Original Floating Rapala in either Silver or Gold. They catch everything.

(4) Blue Fox® Classic Vibrax®

Bass, pike, musky, trout, crappie, walleye...there may be no more versatile, multispecies lure than a Classic Vibrax featuring its legendary Vibrax bell that drives fish to bite.

(5) Rapala® Rippin' Rap® Series

The Rippin' Rap features a lipless, deep belly profile designed to crank, swim and rip. Its tall, skinny body design creates an irresistible flutter on the drop and hard vibrating action on fast and slow retrieves. Featuring a loud, distinctive BB rattle, this lure drives bass crazy.

(6) VMC® Neon Moon Eye Jig

VMC redefined the traditional aspirin-shaped jig head with 3-D holographic eyes to create the illusion of a wider profile while adding realism. Featuring a VMC® Premium high-carbon steel hook and a wide range of colors including UV Bright finishes that means more fish in your boat.

(7) Rapala® Shad Rap®

It's the crankbait by which all others are measured. The ultimate multi-species bait. Constructed with premium balsa, the Shad Rap is just as effective at casting or trolling. Hand-tuned and tank-tested for perfection right out of the box. It's a must-have. Your 2023 will be much, much more fun when you use Shad Rap lures.

(8) Rapala® X-Rap®

The X-Rap is all about the action. Fish it using an aggressive slashbait technique or reel it back slowly to produce a classic Rapala wobble. Stop it, and watch it rise. The angler defines the cadence for maximum effectiveness. Loaded with features from tip to tail, a textured translucent body, internal holographic foil, an internal long-cast system, 3D holographic eyes, flash foil teaser tails, and more.

(9) Rapala® Husky Jerk®

Perfectly balanced, the Husky Jerk is the perfect jerkbait and that's why it's a favorite of anglers worldwide, year after year. It can be cast or trolled at any speed and still run true. The rattle chamber transmits sound waves that amplify through the water.

(10) Sufix® 832 Advanced Superline®

Perfectly balanced, the Husky Jerk is the perfect jerkbait and that's why it's a favorite of anglers worldwide, year after year. It can be cast or trolled at any speed and still run true. The rattle chamber transmits sound waves that amplify through the water.

(11) Rapala® Down Deep Husky Jerk®

When it's time to reach fish deep down, turn to the Deep Down Husky Jerk. With an oversized deep diving lip, the Down Deep Husky Jerk reaches depths of 20 feet when trolled and will run up to 10 feet deep when cast and retrieved. Neutral buoyancy allows the lure to suspend on pause in retrieve while an internal rattle chamber creates loud and rhythmic attraction.

(12) Rapala® Countdown®

Sinking at a consistent rate of one foot per second, the CountDown® allows you to easily target specific depths repeatedly. Whether the fish are suspended, at the weed tops or holding on bottom structure, the CountDown® can get you to them consistently. Trolled or cast, this weighted balsa lure swims with a slow-rolling Rapala action. Outfitted with VMC® black nickel hooks, each lure is hand-tuned and tank-tested to swim perfectly right out of the box.

(13) Storm® Largo Shad®

Originally developed for saltwater fishing, tournament bass pros discovered how great the Largo Shad catches big bass. Swims on both retrieve and free fall with an enticing slow body roll and exaggerated tail swing, its paddle tail creates a huge thump that drives bass crazy. Grooved at the top and bottom for a weedless hook rigging option, the Largo Shad offers a number of unique rigging options.

(14) Rapala® Jointed Shad Rap®

If you love the Shad Rap, you're going to love the Jointed Shad Rap, too. It features a wide swimming jointed action with a loud rhythmic rattle that mimics and exaggerates the action of a wounded baitfish. It's just too much for fish to resist. Another must-have for 2023.

(15) VMC® Ned Rig Jig

The Ned Rig Jig offers the perfect distance from the keeper to the jig head, which allows the plastic to remain in place on the hook shank by collapsing tightly in that area creating superior holding power.

(16) Rapala® OG Slim® 6

Born from the sawdust in Ott DeFoe's Garage, the Rapala OG Slim 6 is a flat-sided balsa bait with a medium wobble and tight side-to-side action. Designed by Rapala tournament bass pro Ott DeFoe, the OG Slim 6 features a lightweight circuit board lip that is extremely thin yet strong enough to provide a sensitive feel of bottom structure. A modern-day classic.

(17) Luhr-Jensen® Krocodile®

The Krocodile spoon operates on a simple premise: big fish eat smaller fish. Year in and year out, the Krocodile proves itself to be the most productive spoon ever built. It can be cast and retrieved, jigged over structure, or trolled.

(18) VMC® Bucktail Jig

The oval-shaped head design of the BKJ Bucktail Jig provides added control and balance for a variety of techniques, while the bucktail hair of the lure maintains its shape offering a larger profile presentation.

(19) Rapala® Scatter Rap® Minnow

Baitfish skitter and scatter when they are pursued by predators – this erratic and evasive action triggers the strike. Made of balsa, with a custom Scatter Lip, the Scatter Rap Minnow consistently swims with an erratic and evasive sweeping action – perfectly mimicking vulnerable baitfish. Cast or trolled, it is the perfect choice for any species of gamefish.

(20) Rapala® X-Rap Magnum®

A saltwater classic! The massive diving lip takes the X-Rap® Magnums deep... unassisted. Nothing to hinder the action. Built saltwater tough, each dives to its preset depth...the XRMag10 dives to 10 feet, the XRM15 dives to 15 feet, etc. Big water patterns compliment the X-Rap construction standards – textured translucent body, internal holographic foil, 3D holographic eyes.

(21) VMC® Moontail Jig

This VMC® upgraded version of the traditional Aspirin-shaped heads provides added control. 3-D holographic eyes create the illusion of a wider profile while adding realism. Assembled with a VMC® Premium high-carbon steel hook with top-of-the-line black nickel finish. The wide range of colors includes UV Bright finish colors that guarantee you catch more fish in all water conditions.

(22) Rapala® OG Tiny® 4

Building on the success of the OG Slim 6, the Rapala OG Tiny 4 is a thin, flat-sided balsa bait with a tight wobble and finesse-like action. Developed by Rapala bass pro, Ott DeFoe, the lure's thin design and lightweight circuit board lip moves less water and provide a sensitive feel of the bottom structure. Tie one on for hours of bassing fun!

(23) Rapala® Deep Tail Dancer®

When it's time to go down deep for walleye and bass, tie on a Deep Tail Dancer. This deep-diving, banana-style body balsa lure swims in a pronounced wide tail action without sacrificing the classic Rapala® "wounded-minnow" attraction. The Deep Tail Dancer® features an enlarged, extreme diving lip that plummets the lure as deep as 30 feet unassisted, getting this bait down where the big ones lie during the mid-summer and early fall months.