A fishing lure has a body and a hook. The hook has a shank that extends from the body, a bend and a point. The hook is lying in a hook plane. A brush guard has bristles that extend from the head to a blocking position in front of the hook point. The bristles are spread apart to either side of the hook plane. An elastomeric band around the lure body retains the bristles in a spread apart configuration. The spread apart bristles create a laterally wider brush guard so as to prevent snagging of the hook point no matter what the orientation of the lure in the water might be.