Top 5, truthfully this changes per body of water, but here my general 5
favorites.

1. Swim Jig: Favorite colors: Black/Silver, White/Chartreuse: Once the
weeds are up , and I cannot throw a crank bait on a lot of flats I like
to fish I just switch to a swim jig and never seem to miss a beat. This
bait fills a niche, where spinnerbait blades get fouled up too much, and
you have to cover to much water to fish a worm, that is when this bait
shines.
2. Tube jig: Favorite size 2.5", favorite weight 1/8(Blacks and browns).
I haven't met a smallie that didn't like crayfish.
3. 6" Producto paddle tail worm (vibrator worm). This worm is so
versatile. I can straight retrieve it with no weight or a very small
weight and the tail vibrates really nicely. I can cut an inch or two off
of it and flip and pitch it for finicky bass, and another way I use it
is to retrieve it over slop.
4. Rapala DT6 in Ghost or Black/Silver. In cold water these baits
suspend(actually rise really slowly) on their own without any added
weight, and that seems to be the key as I drop (or rise) below 50
degrees. This bait seems to match the most common size of the shad I
see bass puking up.
5.Spinnerbait: White with a Colorado blade, the darker the water , the
bigger the blade :-).
Bob La Londe wrote:
Here are mine.

1. Rooster Tail 1/6 oz in powder blue w/ silver blade. 1/16th oz for trout.
I caught my first bass ever on an inline spinner in moving water.

2. Zoom U-Tail worm in watermelon seed rigged on a 2/0 worm hook behind a
1/16 to 1/8 oz bullet weight. Can also be drop shotted very well. This is
the first bait I ever felt like I mastered or atleast caught fish because of
my abilities rather than just blind luck.

3. Storm Thin Fin Silver Shad in Chrome and black or gold chrome. (no longer
made) I caught my first fish over ten pounds (a 12 lb striper) on this
bait, but also it consistantly would produce decent bass slow cranked on
days when nothing else seemed to work.

4. Popper... Almost any color. Small or medium size. Popper. Yeah baby! Did
you see that one blow up on it!?

5. Little bent metal fish shaped spoon. This is the second bait I felt like
I mastered or atleast caught fish because of my abilities rather than just
blind luck. I had two or three patterns with this bait.

I would like to note that my largest numbers of bass and my largest bass
were not caught on any of my favortie baits listed above. Largest numbers
were easily caught on live threadfin shad freshly netted.

Largest were all caught on plastics, but not the one listed above.