Last night I went to a spot that I did not mark fish but have still caught them from time to time. A couple of us were jigging with slabs and I was running the mepps method that Dennis Christian teaches. 1st cast I caught this beauty. It was a 16" white, pulled drag and everything. We did manage to catch several on slabs too, mostly unders. But the bigger fish love this thing. I bought my first bait caster specifically for this and it makes it quite fun rather than just slabbing all the time. It is so much fun that I am going to do a project with my 6 year old daughter where we make the spinners.

I love to use slabs for fish don't get me wrong. I just picked up a couple dozen slabs from Phil at RSR. In my opinion the best slabs around for RC. But this gives me another option if I can't get them to bite. You should try it out!!

Thanks again Dennis!!!

Nice Fish, You can use Dennis Christian's technique with numerous lures, Meps, Kastmaster, roostertails. It just plain works!!! Thanks Dennis!!

Good deal! I think I was next to ya in the green Epic, about 10 minutes before y'all pulled up I was catchin em almost every cast on a Mepps #4 chartreuse but then they moved on me..

I like the chartreuse better than silver because the powder coat seems to hold up better, the silver gets scratched up pretty bad after a couple hundred fish.. lol

You're welcome! BTW, to get kids or others started (who can't or won't try bait casting reels due to backlash possibility) I use the Johnson Maxum spin-cast reel. It has a high retrieve ratio so you don't have to crank it like mad to move Mepps fast enough. Just make a few casts to see how fast fish want it and demo it to your guests. Tell them it's very important to make sure the bait reaches the bottom (show them the slack in the line), then point the rod toward the line and take up the slack. THEN start reeling fast about 8 turns. Stop and repeat. I used this set-up with a 13 year old girl who had never fished, and she was catching fish like mad. P.S. Spinning reels (not spin-cast) don't do very well in my experience.

Dennis, I have read as much of what I could find that you wrote on about the mepps technique. I sure hope you are right because you got me hooked good. I now have a ton of #2, #3 and #4 mepps aglia and can't wait to try em out. I even bought the wire former and built a bunch of 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 oz chartreuse spinners. In other words, I went all in. Is there anything secret that I should know or is the instructions above pretty much describe the process. I think I saw at one time where you cast it out, let it sink to the bottom, and then raise the rod tip quickly. Let it sink back, repeat. Just wondering, how often do you get hung up and lose one. I made a bunch just in case.

This recent post shows all the details:
http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/11107092/Re:_Fall_fishing_for_whites_in#Post11107092

That was the one I had read and couldn't remember where it was.

Thanks Dennis
Tight lines Bud....

His technique works great , and I get better at it every time out. Yes slabs and other lures work , but it seems the bigger ones can't resist it vs others . Dennis have you ever tried a jig head weight 13" above w/ anything instead of crimp on weight.

No. I like catching one fish at a time because fish aren't fighting against one another. It seems more sporting to me, and I do catch and release any way.

Green Epic Ross: That was us for sure. We were in the Tri-toon. Next time you are out, you should stop by. I will give you one of the in-line spinners that I made. It looks just like the mepps #4 except I put a bigger 3/4oz chartreuse weight instead of the brass weight. The heavier weight might act a little differently, we will see. Its good to hear the fish were hitting over there. That seems to be the one of the only place I find them in the evenings that is close to the marina we are in.

Dennis: I was wondering if I could use a spin cast reels to be able to let my 6 year old daughter try to use them but sounds like the spinning reel might be the way to go. Gander mountain has stuff 50% OFF and I bought the rest of the mepps aglia #2's. Pretty sweet deal. I had a couple guests with me that were using the same method with the spinning reels and seemed to like it too. I will have to remind them they will have to retrieve faster then I am on the bait caster, thanks for the tip!

Do you think a 3/4oz weight on the spinners I made will effect the fall too much. They will be quite a bit heavier, but since I do not have a trolling motor, I was wanting to be able to cast further and the bait to get to the bottom a little quicker. Right now, I just anchor and cast but I do not always like to anchor since it takes too much time. Might be time to get a trolling motor.

I highly recommend going ahead and getting the iPilot when you get a trolling motor. It works like an anchor - you tell it to stay in one spot and it does. If you get hung up just go to manual on your remote hand-help control and move over the bait, jiggle it free and then hit return and it goes back to where you were. I rarely lose baits now because of this.

Re making your own version of inline spinners: I've had a least 3 friends and associates make them and they can't make them work as well as Mepps. They give me some to try and I can't make them work as well as Mepps either - and I really try. I can't explain why other than Mepps must have put a lot of research into "tuning" their product.

First time I went out to CC lake I used the mepps method while my other two buds slabbed and they were catching more but all of mine were much bigger fish

Windbreaker: Thanks for the offer, I'll definitely stop by and give one of your spinners a shot!

I gave one a test run and it seems that the weight is so big that the blade bumps it. It gives off a nice vibration....spns well....but bumps the chartreuse weight. This could be good, could be bad. I ordered some smaller weights and will try a couple different weights. We will see how they work. The one from the pic above was actually on a wal-mart knock off of the mepps. They are $2.66. I have made mine for just under $2 each.