The MirrOlure...quite possibly the most versatile and effective lure you can have in your tackle box.  MirrOlure and L&S Bait Company have been around for over 65 years and counting. L&S was founded in 1937 by Harold LeMaster. His innovative approach to lure manufacturing and the unique mirror like insert in his lures, give them a flashing, lifelike appearance underwater that is virtually irresistible to most game fish. Given their longstanding commitment to quality and the ability to catch fish, even under tough conditions, it’s no wonder they are still used the world over by anglers today.

Two of their most popular and what I believe, most productive lures are the 52M and 7M. The 52M is a slow sinking twitch bait. What I mean by twitch bait is that the plug does not have a built in action, such as a lipped plug does. In fact most of the MirrOlure lines are the same in that respect. They are a work of art and it is an art to master them.

You need to impart the action that the lure makes by making various twitching or short tugs on the line, using short, flicks of your wrist. The important thing is to “feel” the lure working. This helps you fine tune what the lure is doing without seeing it. Tackle plays a big role as does an “educated feel” for the lure.

The best tackle to use for MirrOlures are a 6'6" or 7' medium action spinning or casting rod with a reel that can hold at least 120 yards of 15 lb mono. The exception recently is the use of the new super braids that are out on the market. Not only is the line stronger, but much more sensitive due to the very thin diameters for a given test, you can feel every “bump” and “tick” of the lure, working it more effectively. The capacities that a given reel increase as well. For example,  A reel spooled with 20 lb test Power pro( that has a diameter of 6 lb test) holds almost double the amount of line as the same reel spooled with 20 lb test mono. You get the most out of your fishing all around using the braided line.

The 52M and, my favorite, the 38MR (a shorter, version rigged with 2 hooks instead of 3) are usually used in water that is 3 to 8 feet deep. They have a sink rate of about one foot per second. I like to use these over deeper grass flats for big trout during the day, after they move out of the shallow water or for snook in the swash channels and beaches on an in coming tide and the passes on an out going. I make my casts to areas that have some kind of transition, the edges of drop offs, sandy holes on the bottom, places where the water turns from murky to clear and where the grass meets large expanses of sandy bottom.

After the lure hits the water I will start my count down, “one thousand one, one thousand two, etc.” until the lure reaches the desired depth. Then it’s ready to work back to the boat. If you don’t catch fish on the first few casts, try varying your retrieve by working it slower or faster. Sometimes that makes all the difference to the fish, making them strike.

Another popular MirrOLure that has just recently come out on the market is the 20MR and the 22MR, also known as the Catch 2000 and the Catch 2000 Jr. They are similar in weight to the 52M and the 38M, respectively and are fished in much the same way, but can be fished in shallower water, a depth from 0 to 2'. The difference with these is the fact that they suspend, much like a real fish does. This allows you to work shallower water with a slower and more realistic presentation. Both the 20MR and 22MR are deadly over shallow grass flats and Mangrove lined banks.

The 7M is one of their oldest and in my opinion, most productive lure in the MirrOlure product line. I have caught more salt water fish with a 7M than any other lure in my tackle box and it is usually one of the first baits I throw. You can cover a lot of water in a short period of time, making it a great “search bait” as well.

The difference with the 7M is that it floats, rather than sinks like the aforementioned plugs and is fished a little differently and in many ways. The 7M21 (black back, silver sides, white belly) looks a lot like finger mullet or a wounded sardine when you get it working on and below the surface. One of my favorite and most entertaining ways to fish is to cast it out then wait a few moments, give it a sharp twitch of the rod tip then let the lure come back to the surface, twitch it slightly a few times so it leaves ripples on the surface then a few more sharp twitches. What happens next if somebody is home can be likened to throwing a hand grenade into a garbage can, then jumping in and closing the lid!

You can also reel and twitch it just under the surface to make it look like a fleeing bait fish. Sometimes this will work better than the latter. The key is to try different presentations until you start getting fish to respond.

Next in the surface lure line up is the veritable 5M. The 5M is strictly a surface lure. It comes out of the box with a propeller, fore and aft, and is a lot like the Devil Horses that you may have used in Bass fishing. The 5M creates a surface commotion that calls and irritates the fish into striking with a murderous rage! They are best suited for use during low light conditions and when the water clarity is poor. I fish them with short but sharp twitches of the rod tip, about 3 seconds apart, to produce that “slurp” noise that the trout and snook can’t resist!

A note about the 5M’s…Most anglers chose to remove the front spinner as it has a tendency to snag the leader. Doing this also makes it a little tail heavy, improving the action and commotion this lure makes.

The 5M and most of the MirrOlure line up, comes with three treble hooks. Three trebles dangling from a lure can do a lot of damage to fish that you wish to release plus makes for some very “anxious” moments at the boat side with your hands dodging the flying steel. I like to take the center hook off of all of them. Only remove the center hook so the balance and action of the lure is not adversely affected. Removing this hook makes it a lot easier on you and the fish. Don’t forget to mash the barbs on the remaining hooks.

Last is a group of new, but already legendary top water lures:  The 94MR Top Dog, 84MR Top Dog Jr, 74MR Top Pup and just recently, the 83MR She Dog.

Top Dogs are worked in a “walk the dog” fashion, a side-to-side, darting action that imitates a stunned or crippled bait fish. The trick to walking the dog is to get the lure started with a slight twitch of the rod to the right, slack briefly to allow it to slow momentarily, and then bring it back with a sharp twitch to the left, followed by another moment of slacking, then to the right, slack, left twitch and so on. The reel is only used to take up slack line, not to move the plug. Some get good enough at it that they can keep the lure jumping back and forth even though they twitch only to the right or to the left, which is less tiring.

The “Dogs” are best used in low light and poor water clarity conditions. They are probably the noisiest of the walking plugs on the market. The loud sonic “click” produces explosive strikes. When worked properly, this lure is deadly on trout, snook and even redfish. Remember to vary your retrieve until you start getting strikes.

A lot of people ask, “How do I know what all those numbers and letters mean?”  I have to admit, it took me years of using and buying their products to know it all by heart. A lot of newbies often are at a loss as to what the hieroglyphics of MirrOlures really mean.

The first numbers are the model number. “M” means MirrOlure, if it is followed by an “R” that means it has rattles inside the body. The last two numbers are the color code, 18 means green back, silver sides, white belly. While a 808 is a black back, fluorescent orange belly, gold sides. There are up to 39 color combinations to choose from. You won’t remember them all but you will remember your favorites.

As with any lure, the more you use em’, the more you learn about them. The more fish you catch.

Merrill says- “Keep a fishin’!”
(So we do)
Dirty Dave

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