Pete Robbins holding a 5-pound bass caught at Alabama's Lake Guntersville on a Rat-L-Trap

I’ve owned bass boats since 1996, and I was fishing for a couple of decades since then, so I’ve had a chance to test, try and dispose of a lot of supposedly “game changing” products. On top of that, I’ve made it a lifelong mission to try new gear and I’m always looking for a better solution.

Nevertheless, there are certain items that precede the start of this century that remain part of my game plan. Twenty years is a somewhat arbitrary number. Before that point I probably wasn’t using lures like the Chatterbait or techniques like the dropshot, even though they may he been around. There are still some lures from the 90s that I won’t include in this survey because I started using them frequently within that two decade time period. For example, I never really fished a Fat Free Shad until my first trip to El Salto in 2009. Other categories that are now essential don’t make the cut because they came along after that date – like tungsten worm weights.

With that as a preface, here are 20 generally unchanged lures, pieces of terminal tackle, boating tools and fishing accessories that I started buying before 2004 (and in most cases much earlier than that) that I still use every year, without having to force it. They may get varying levels of playing time, but all of them get valuable minutes.

24 ounce bottle Bass Boat Saver — **Bass Boat Saver**

Three different baitfish colors zoom super salty fluke — **Zoom Super Fluke**

Mercury Quickleen fuel additive — **Mercury Quickleen**

Charlie Brewer finesse spider slider head — **Charlie Brewer Slider Head**

1/2 ounce Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap chrome black back — **Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap**

Texas Tackle Split Ring Pliers Orange Handles — **Texas Tackle Split Ring Pliers**

Zoom Baby Brush Hog Creature Bait — **Zoom Baby Brush Hog**

Lucky Craft Pointer 78 suspending jerkbait JDM — **Lucky Craft Pointer 78**

Rite Hite floating propeller wrench — **Rite Hite Prop Wrench**

Berkley 7" Power Worm scented powerbait — **Berkley Power Worm**

War Eagle Tandem Willow mouse spinnerbait piano wire — **War Eagle Spinnerbaits**

Roboworm ReBarb Light Wire #2 Gamakatsu worm finesse hook — **Roboworm Rebarb Hook**

craw colored #7 Rapala original balsa wood Shad Rap — **Rapala Shad Rap**

Firetiger Norman Middle N Crankbait glitter — **Norman Middle N Crankbait**

Zoom Centipede Watermelonseed — **Zoom Centipede**

Lobina Lures Rio Rico Citrus — **Lobina Lures Rico**

Zoom Bait Company 6-inch lizard soft plastic — **Zoom Lizard**

Yamamoto Double Tail Grub 4" smoke purple — **Yamamoto Double Tail Grub**

Just about all of them can be purchased for less than $20 – so if you’re looking for a stocking stuffer or another can’t miss gift, consider one or more of them. If the recipient doesn’t like it, I’ll gladly take anything from this list.