Surf fishing can reel in some big game fish from pompano to red drum, flounder, and striped bass, but you need the right lures to do it. What are the best surf fishing lures to add to your collection?
Here are the 13 top surf fishing lures for anglers:
- Last Cast Tackle Bucktail Jig
- Lucky Craft Flashminnow 110
- Acme Kastmaster Lure
- Rapala X-Rap Magnum Fishing Lure
- Keitech Fat Swing Impact Lure
- Dr. Fish Topwater Popper Saltwater Fishing Lure
- MirrOLure Mirrominnow Suspend Twitchbait
- Z-Man Diezel MinnowZ Swimbait
- Last Cast Tackle Chrome Diamond Jig
- Yo-Zuri Sashimi Metallic 3D Popper
- GOT-CHA Plug Assortment
- Gulp! Saltwater Jerk Shad Lure
- Sea Strike Surf Spoon
In today’s guide, we’ll take you through all 13 surf fishing lures on this list, which run the gamut from jigs to swimbait, plugs, and soft plastic bait. By the time you’re done reading, you’ll be readier than ever to catch the fish you’re targeting on the shoreline!
Related Reading: How to choose a fishing line for surf fishing on any beach
Visit Our Surf Fishing Page for More Great Tips!
1. Last Cast Tackle Bucktail Jig
Beginning our list is a three-pack set of lure jigs from Last Cast Tackle.
Each bucktail jig in the pack is ¼ to two ounces in weight. The jigs look like white fish with 3D eyes and flowing hair.
That hair also includes holographic strips designed to make the jig more visible as it floats through the seawater.
The eyelet is top-mounted, so you can easily go from casting to vertical jigging. The ultra-pointed hook is another exceptional feature.
Last Cast Tackle recommends these bucktail jigs for saltwater or freshwater fishing, especially for weakfish, fluke, bluefish, and bass.
2. Lucky Craft Flashminnow 110
The suspending surf fishing lure called the Lucky Craft Flashminnow 110 is excellent for its sweeping retrieve as well as its twitching and jerking.
The lure measures 4 ½ inches and weighs 5/8 ounces or 16.5 grams. Usable to depths of two feet, the lure includes a #6-sized fishing hook.
Featuring a weight shift system, the Flashminnow 110 improves your casting accuracy, including when making long-distance casts.
As the lure stops on the water after a retrieve, the bait stays suspended on the water’s surface and wobbles. That’s sure to get the hungry fish biting.
The Flashminnow 110 is excellent for catching mackerels, bonitos, and other fish that linger in flats no deeper than three feet. You can also use this bait in tiny coves, says Lucky Craft.
3. Acme Kastmaster Lure
If you’re looking for an ultra-durable lure that can stand up to the rigors of ocean fishing, the Acme Kastmaster is it.
This lure is constructed from solid brass that’s anti-corrosive. The single-piece construction is sure to keep the Kastmaster lure ready for all your fishing adventures for years to come.
Despite its machinated status, you don’t have to worry about this lure being too heavy. The Kastmaster weighs only three ounces.
The blue/chrome sheen doesn’t fade even after repeated dunks into saltwater as you fish and fish with this lure.
Although the Kastmaster doesn’t include a bucktail, it’s compatible with that surf fishing lure.
Aerodynamic and known for its great action, the Kastmaster is tested for big lake, sea, and surf fishing. Use it as part of your surfcasting or heavy spinning setup for up to 30 pounds.
You should catch more salmon, lake trout, jacks, and stripers!
4. Rapala X-Rap Magnum Fishing Lure
A highly renowned surf fishing lure is the Rapala X-Rap Magnum.
The diving-lip lure has a running depth of between 15 and 30 feet. The lure itself weighs a mere 2.5 ounces and is ready to use without any tuning. Just open the box, and you’re good to go!
Even if you’re fishing up to 13 knots, Rapala says the X-Rap Magnum fishing lure can handle it.
That’s due to the quality construction and the size of this lure, which is 6.5 inches.
A great trolling lure, you can select from a slew of styles for the X-Rap Magnum that are styled to look like various fish.
Your options include blue mackerel, bonito, dorado, green mackerel, and spotted minnow.
5. Keitech Fat Swing Impact Lure
The impact lure by Keitech is a well-designed lure to add to your surf fishing collection.
The lure measures 3.8 inches long by 0.2 inches wide and 0.2 inches tall and weighs 0.15 pounds.
With rigging down the centerline, rigging this bait in the correct position is easy. The ringed body and tapered design also make this bait an ideal choice when Texas rigging in weedless waters.
No matter your retrieve speed, Keitech promises a realistic, excellent swimming motion.
The action and balance combination is so optimal due to the construction of this impact lure. Keitech uses a two-tone color injection process with various salted plastics.
Choose from various impact lure styles, including bluegill, alewife, sun gill, silver flash, and shiner.
6. Dr. Fish Topwater Popper Saltwater Fishing Lure
The Dr. Fish topwater popper lure is a saltwater lure that weighs 4.1 ounces and measures 7.5 inches long.
Triple VMC treble hooks that are a size 6/0 are featured throughout this fish-shaped surf fishing lure.
The popper is recommended for both offshore and inshore fishing to catch everything from tuna to shark.
A weighted rattle charmer system will aid your casting, especially when casting long distances and improve the accuracy of your casts as well.
The VMC trebles are attached to a hyper-wire split ring that’s supposed to make it harder for fish to get away once they’re on your line. Stainless steel wiring elsewhere improves the durability of this lure.
The popper features laser holographic features on a ribbed, shaped body to make the fish lure look that much more realistic.
The 4D eyes also add to the realism while the curved back and flat belly help you walk the dog when fishing.
You can buy the Dr. Fish topwater poppers to one lure in a pack or three lures.
The lures come in various colors, including yellow, blue, and silver, blue and black, teal and yellow, brown, chartreuse, and more.
7. MirrOLure Mirrominnow Suspend Twitchbait
For ultra-reflective twitch bait, the MirrOLure Mirrominnow suspend lure is 10.67 inches long by 3.55 inches wide and weighs 0.02 pounds.
Produced in the United States, the MirrOLure is recommended for various fish species you’ll come across during your surfing fishing adventures. They include striper, snook, trout, redfish, and tarpon.
You can even choose from various colors for this shimmery surf fishing lure, including black and silver, chartreuse and pearl, and silver and clear.
8. Z-Man Diezel MinnowZ Swimbait
One of the more durable surf fishing lures you’ll come across that’s not made of metal, the Z-Man Diezel MinnowZ swimbait is a synthetic bait that’s also produced in the US.
The ElaZtech construction is ten times tougher than other similar swimbaits.
Z-Man says the Diezel MinnowZ bait can rip through surface cover and grass and that this bait won’t fall off your hook or degrade in quality!
No matter your retrieval speed, you can enjoy lifelike swimming action from the MinnowZ swimbait.
Its hook slot is molded in. You’ll also find an integrated dorsal fin hook pocket that helps with your hooksets and aids in the weedlessness of this bait.
Choose from three sizes: four, five, or seven inches.
You also have your pick of several colors, including pearl white, dark blue with glitter, orange, neon green, and gold with glitter.
9. Last Cast Tackle Chrome Diamond Jig
Another great surf fishing lure from Last Cast Tackle is the chrome diamond jig, a two-to-eight-ounce jig that comes in a pack of two. You can select from three sizes as well.
The hooks are authentic Mustad O’Shaughnessy 3407DT hooks, which are 7/0 to 8/0 hooks.
These jigs are ready to cast whether you’re fishing directly on the shoreline or from a boat.
You can catch more sea bass, tuna, bluefish, and striped bass with the diamond jigs says Last Cast Tackle.
10. Yo-Zuri Sashimi Metallic 3D Popper
One of the most beloved surf fishing lures is the Yo-Zuri, a metallic 3D popper lure weighing only 1 ½ ounces.
The wire and polycarbonate construction throughout makes this 4 ¾-inch popper durable. Triple hooks on the back and front of the lure are both #10 treble hooks.
New and improved from past iterations of the 3D Magnum, this popper has a harder body built from the aforementioned polycarbonate that can handle speeds of four to nine knots.
There’s no need to tune this popper; you can use it right out of the box.
Fish with a single-strand, cable, loop-knot, or crimp wire, as the Yo-Zuri lure works with them all.
11. GOT-CHA Plug Assortment
An Amazon’s Choice product and one of our favorite surf fishing lures as well, the GOT-CHA plug assortment will help in your fishing endeavors.
The 300 Series of plugs are between seven and eight ounces each. They’re heavier and thus not designed for topwater fishing.
A chrome metal body shaped like a simplistic fish is sure to stand up to the rigors of saltwater again and again.
Spanish mackerel is a common catch from anglers using these lures!
12. Gulp! Saltwater Jerk Shad Lure
From a very hard lure to a very soft one, next, we’ve got the Gulp! Saltwater jerk shad lure.
This soft bait is 6.75 inches long by 4.75 inches wide by one inch tall.
Much more than your standard plastic bait, Gulp! says that its jerk shad lures have 400 times the scent dispersion.
With such a great range of scent dispersion, your strike zone is wider than ever, so you can fill cooler after cooler with fish.
Tested to outlast the competition, you can trust this colorful plastic bait for all your surf fishing trips.
Pick from hues such as chartreuse, orange, pink, pearl white, and watermelon green with glitter.
13. Sea Strike Surf Spoon
The last surf fishing bait on our list is the Sea Strike surf spoon, which is recommended for beginner and seasoned anglers.
The craftsmanship and durability of this lure make it a winner, as does its featherweight status and moderate size. The surf spoon measures 1.8 inches long by 5.6 inches wide by 3.4 inches tall.
Using this lure will make fishing for an assortment of seaside species simple and efficient.
The Sea Strike surf spoon can withstand nearly any water depth and practically any ocean-dwelling fish species you want to catch.
It’s especially an excellent choice for long-distance casting to catch fish between eight and 15 pounds (at least!).
Final Thoughts
Surf fishing might be considered easy enough to learn, but your success depends on your tactics and the lures you choose.
If you’ve been searching for artificial surf fishing lures, our collection of 13 top lures will help you find what you’re looking for. You can pick from various lure types available at all sorts of price points.
Before you go shopping, check out our Ultimate Fisherman’s Guide to Fishing Lures!