Some lures come and go from the box over the years. Others earn a permanent place. The Samson Shad Compact Mini has become one of my go-to bass lures for searching water — versatile, easy to work through the entire water column, and consistently effective across a wide range of marks.

If there’s one rod that just screams “right, we’re going long today”, it’s the Samson Longcast Expanse 12ft 15–60g.