Looking for a few small items for an angler. Stocking stuffer gifts for anglers are perfect. Little things mean a lot if they are thoughtful and practical. There are many small gifts available to put a smile on any angler’s face.
Choosing the right stocking stuffer gift is easy. Look to buy species-specific lures, terminal tackle, or fishing tools. Anglers often overlook the tools to make parts of fishing easier.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes, 42 seconds. Contains 1743 words
There are release tools for getting hooks out easy. Pliers for repairing or adjusting lures. The number of gadgets for fishing is a long list. Then kits are available for making lures. Anglers enjoy making a lure and catching a fish on their creation. This is thinking outside of the box time.
The majority of these items cost 5-10 dollars. You can buy a few or more. It will be used by the angler. These are the items anglers are always adding more of or replacing.
Stocking Stuffer Gifts for Trout or Panfish Anglers
Trout and panfish use many of the same lures. These are small spinners or jigs. Each lure is effective for both species. A few spinners will add flash to your angler’s tackle. Jigs will provide a slower style for the days fish are being finicky.
Lures for Trout and Panfish
Trout and panfish anglers use small spinners. There are a few good makes on the market. Quality matters with spinners. The cheap lures often do not work properly. It is only a dollar more for quality with spinners. Look to buy a few colors in the 1/8-3/16th ounce size.
Panther Martin is a good quality spinner. This pack gives an angler 3 colors and 2 sizes. This gives anglers options for water clarity and depth. These lures are proven to produce with trout, panfish, and other small game fish species.
Blue Fox and Mepps are two other good spinner combo packs. They have a nice choice of colors. The weights are well suited for panfish and trout. These are proven lures also.
Looking for a larger selection of spinners. Check out Bass Pro for more kits with high-quality spinners for trout and panfish. The kits are economical for getting 5-6 lures in various colors and sizes.
Jigs for Panfish
Jigs are an exciting and productive way of catching panfish. They come in several styles. Marabou jigs have feathers. The feathers have a unique action in the water. There are soft plastic bodies for jigs also. These come in several shapes. The soft plastic gives a stiffer action to lure.
Bass Pro has a few kits with jigs and soft plastics to choose from. Any of the recommended kits will catch panfish and other small species.
Stocking Stuffer Gifts for Bass Anglers
Having a bass angler in the family means getting some soft plastics and top-water lures. All bass anglers use both types and always need more. They are a lure that wears out or gets snagged and lost. The soft plastics come in a number of sizes and creature types.
Top-waters have a few that are highly desirable. They come in a soft body or hard body. They can mimic frogs, spiders, and other injured prey. When a bass hits a top-water it gives a thrill nothing else can achieve.
Soft Plastics
Soft plastics come in many shapes and sizes. They also come in different rigging styles. Anglers use the Texas rig and Wacky rigs most of the time. The drop shot and Carolina use the same hooks and soft plastics. Buying some Texas and Wacky plastics with a few hooks lets an angler go with a lot of options. In terms of color; pumpkin, black, and a bright color cover any situation.
The selection at Bass Pro has quality and quantity. A few pouches of worms, Senkos, and creatures will fit into any bass anglers tackle box. Look at different sizes and colors of each. These are a few bucks for a pack. That makes buying a selection cost-effective.
Amazon carries soft plastics also. The above photos show a few popular choices for bass fishing.
Top Water
Bass anglers view a soft body frog and Whopper Plopper as the must-have lures. These lures catch a lot of fish starting in the summer and into the fall. The frog can be worked slowly or at a moderate retrieve. It is the lure for heavy cover. The Plopper is for faster retrieves. This lure works in light cover or open water areas. An angler needs both to cover all situations on the water.
Crankbaits
Crankbaits are search baits. They are designed for various depths and come in many colors. Anglers can find bass in deeper water with these lures. The depth is usually specified, but a long bill dives deeper than a shorter bill. These lures will work in 5 feet to 25 feet of water. Choose a few for various depths.
Jerkbaits
Jerkbaits are great when the water is cool. These lures are jerked a few times then paused. This allows fish a few seconds to strike. When water is cool fish tend to slow down. This lure fits the situation. They are good for spring and fall fishing but work in the summer also.
The lures come in floating, suspending, and sinking versions. A few suspending or floating will be best. Choose length and colors to add variety in the selection.
Spinner baits
Spinnerbaits are another search bait. The spinnerbait gives off vibration and flashes. These features help in stained or muddy water conditions. The sound draws a fish into the bait. Then the flash gives a visual target close up. Spinnerbaits work well in clearer water conditions also. As with other baits, they come in many colors and sizes.
The 1/4 and 3/8 ounce sizes work all-around. Fishing deeper or faster uses the heavier 1/2 or 5/8 ounce size. Any fish will hit the smaller sizes. The larger sizes tend to produce fewer but larger fish.
Stocking Stuffer Gifts for Musky Anglers
Musky anglers can be tough choosing a gift. They have fanatical preferences with lures and tackle. A musky lure is like a prized possession. This is an opportunity to expand or provide back-ups of their favorite lures. The options are numerous with a few used by all anglers. Check the angler’s tackle box and find the color and type of lure. Then make the buy.
Bucktails
These are large spinners with bucktail covering the hooks. There are single and double blade models. Plus the color of the blades varies along with the bucktail. Popular colors include black, orange, and yellow or chartreuse. Then the blades come in many sizes ranging from size 6 to magnum size. There are double 8s and 10s blades which are very common. In general, bigger is better but sometimes the smaller ones work best.
Big Rubber
Commonly called Medussas or Bulldawgs the lures are big soft plastic baits. They look odd but do catch fish. The lures come in many sizes so use caution, some are a pound. The 4-8 ounce size is what most anglers use. Colors tend to be fewer but black, perch, and a few other colors are popular. It varies by region an angler lives.
Jerkbaits
A versatile musky lure. They can be fished slow or fast and a few are trolled. The sizes range from 6 to 12 inches. A 7-8 inch is a good size for most applications. The perch, walleye, sucker, and two-color models are preferred.
The bigger lures are trolled 9inches or longer. These lures will have lips and a few do not have lips. The lipless is a glide bait. They are used in cooler or cold water. Great spring or late fall lure.
Top Water
Top water lures are good for summer and early fall. The musky has its eyes towards the top of their head. It is easy for them to see everything above. The hits are viscous and exciting. It is common for a musky to come 2-3 feet out of the water hitting a top water lure. These lures add another level of excitement for an angler.
Stocking Stuffer Gifts for Anglers Tools
Anglers need tools for weighing, measuring, and removing hooks. Some anglers overlook these items. Having the proper tools makes fishing easier and enjoyable.
Stocking Stuffer Gifts for Anglers Summary
Anglers enjoy having more lures. Bass angler rarely thinks there are enough lures in their tackle. Make your angler in the family happy with a few lures. They will enjoy these thoughtful stocking stuffers.
Look for a few sizes and different colors. A bright, dark and natural fish pattern covers all situations. In some waters, the bright colors work. Then in other waters, dark or natural fish colors are better. A variety is a key to success for every angler.
John McIntyre