The 3 Best Spy Baits for Bass Fishing

Spy baits are a very underrated lure in the bass fishing industry. They are a fantastic tool to catch very finicky bass that just won’t bite anything else.

And since the bass fishing industry is so competitive these days, there are a whole bunch of brands that each make their own spy bait. So to keep it simple, here are the 3 best spy baits.

Lure Rating Criteria

The criteria we used to rate the top spy baits is a value per dollar system. The highest performing baits for the price tag they come with.

All three of these baits are designed and manufactured by some of the most established and tested companies in the fishing market.

So all three of them are great baits, but we have rated them based on their price tag as well as their performance.

Top 3 Spy Baits

1. Berkley Spy Spinbait

The Berkley Spy Spinbait is on the more affordable side of the spy bait market. Designed and fine-tuned by Bass Pro Tour angler, Josh Bertrand, the Berkley SPY Spinbait delivers a new level of finesse and is built to perform in the toughest clear water conditions.

Crafted with a compact profile that resembles a wide range of baitfish species and offers bullet-like casts, the Berkley SPY Spinbait is fitted with two easy spinning props and a tailor-made tight shimmying action, which creates an ideal spybait action with an exaggerated flash on the fall and the throughout the slowest retrieves.

This bait comes in a slow sinking model which is great for the 1-8 ft depth zone as well as a fast sinking model which is great for the 8+ ft depth zones.

• Tight action and exaggerated side flash excels in tough conditions
• Continuous shimmy during the fall draws strikes from a distance
• Free spinning stainless-steel propellers for added flash
• Compact profile for bullet like casts
• Slow fall model designed to fish in shallower water than a traditional spybait
• High detail finish and cosmetics
• Equipped with sharp Fusion19 hooks

2. Duo Realis Spinbait Spybait

Duo Realis is the company that started the Spy bait category. It was originally designed by Duo Realis over in Japan.

Because this bait is the first and has had the most time to be fine-tuned and tested, it has become the industry standard.

Although finesse in nature, the Duo Realis Spinbaits are designed with reinforced internal framing that makes them capable of withstanding crushing blows from large predators.

As with any spybait, long-distance casts are imperative, which is why the Duo Realis Spinbaits are made with a precise internal weighting that delivers the furthest and most accurate trajectory possible.

Available in a number of highly developed finishes, the Duo Realis Spinbait Spinbait Spybait Series allows anglers to cash-in on the incredibly productive spybaiting technique.

• Type: Sinking
• Depth: 7 – 12 ft.
• Length: 80 mm
• Weight: 3/8 oz. (9.5 g)
• Hooks: 2 #8X treble hooks
• Rod: Light to medium light spinning
• Line: 4 – 6 lb fluorocarbon
• Compact low co-efficient body causes less drag linear tracing
• Specially designed propellers to initiate rotation more efficiently and faster with less inertia
• Angled ballast, strategically fitted increases undulation and improves trajectory

3. Duo Realis Spinbait Alpha Spybait

The Duo Realis Spinbait 78 Alpha Spybait joins the highly successful Duo Realis Spinbait family and offers a meatier profile that will grab the attention of big shad hungry bass.

Molded with a shorter and wider body than the original Spinbait, the Duo Realis Spinbait 78 Alpha Spybait is very heavy for its size, giving anglers phenomenal casting distance and an increased rate of fall to target fish in deeper water or strong river current conditions.

The propellers on the front and the back also produce the signature “spybait” action, which generates a heavy body roll and strong pulsation that is unlike any other lure on the market and triggers aggressive bites from fish.

On the sink, the Duo Realis Spinbait 78 Alpha Spybait features an internal fixed ballast, which allows the bait to produce a tight wobbling action as it descends through the water as well.

• Spybaiting lure for this underutilized niche approach when hunting bass
• Spybaits produce at almost anytime when the water is clear, catching the eye of suspended and highly pressured bass
• Sauntering swimming motion and shimmy when paused
• Designed to increase casting distances with both small or large diameter lines
• Perfectly matched propellers
• JDM colors

Best Colors for Spy Bait Fishing

As for most lures, the best rule of thumb is just to try and match your spy bait colors to the baitfish in your body of water. With that being said, there are a couple of color designs that have worked the best for me.

• Translucent Colors: Pretty much every company makes a bunch of translucent colors in their spy baits. These baits are best used in very clear water, so just like jerkbaits, translucent colors work the best in ver clear water. The translucent design makes it harder for the bass to get a great look at the spy baits and masks some of the unrealistic qualities that all hard baits have.
• Black Colors: This is the exact opposite side of the spectrum. Solid black spy baits work great, especially when fishing for smallmouth bass. Smallmouth are angry hunters. So when the see the clear silhouette of a solid black lure from a distance, they come flying in to eat it. Of course, black spy baits will still work for largemouth and spotted bass, but it seems to work the best with the smallies.

Reeling this In

If you haven’t gotten started spy bait fishing, you are really missing out. They are terrific clear water lures that get bites when no other bait will.

Above are the 3 best spy baits that we have tested out, so rest assured that one of them will get the job done for you.

If you’re just getting started with spy baits, i recommend going with the Berkley Spy Spinbait so that you can get a few different colors without breaking the bank.

Either way, make sure you take advantage of these awesome lures before they get too popular.