Last summer I introduced a white bass lure called the MAL Lure. It is an in-line spinner specifically designed to be fished vertically (although it is certainly effective in other presentations, as well).

Since that time, folks like you have purchased several thousands of these lures. Based on re-orders, I was easily able to see who was working these lures effectively and getting the full potential out of them. I sought input from many of these fellows and, as a result, worked once again with Mepps to develop the second generation of the MAL Lure, called the MAL Heavy.

The single most common input I received went something like this, "Bob, this lure is awesome. If there is one tweak I'd suggest, it would be to get it to sink a little quicker."

What resulted was the MAL Heavy. This lure is 1/4 oz. heavier than the original and is 3/16" longer than the original. The silver body is longer and of greater diameter than the original, as is the white or chartreuse-colored tail. We kept the very effective blade size and the #4 treble exactly the same.




I immediately sold out of the first order of 600 lures which I had produced after running a "pre-order special" which I offered specifically to those who had purchased the original from me over the course of the past several months. The feedback I got was overwhelmingly positive, so I knew we were headed in the right direction and had "scratched where folks were itching".

I now have the stock from the second production run sitting on the floor in my house after setting aside another 70 of these to be sold retail-style by Tommy & Kay Thornton at National Athletic Supply over in Belton, TX.

I have now added the new MAL HEAVY to my online store at https://whitebasstools.com/.

Here are the details:

The MAL Heavy is a quarter-ounce heavier than the original. It weighs approximately 7/8 oz. versus 5/8 oz. The metal body is longer with a greater diameter, thus, the overall length is about 3/16-inch longer than the original.

The MAL Heavy will be the same price as the original MAL, which is $7.55, through at least the end of 2021. It will be available in the same two colors as the original: white and chartreuse.

The original MAL Lure will continue to be available.

I guide primarily on Lake Belton and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir running ~200 paid trips per year. We use the MAL Lure so long as the water temperature is above 58F (and on occasion even when it is cooler). I routinely have groups of 3-5 anglers aboard and have noted how one angler in the group either does exceedingly well or, conversely, struggles to keep up. Having a chance to observe what he or she is doing differently from the others has prompted me to produce a short, tutorial video to help get someone new to fishing the MAL Lure off on the right foot. Here is a link to that video:

Tutorial video: USING THE MAL LURE CORRECTLY

Finally, a few observations about this new version of the MAL Lure...


PROS and CONS of the MAL HEAVY

PROS

-MAL Heavy sinks faster. Testing with 20-pound braid and a 25-pound fluorocarbon leader showed a full 2 second faster sink rate through 20 feet of water versus the original MAL.
-MAL Heavy’s larger profile discourages strikes by “dinks” in the 6-9” range
-Lighter braided mainline and/or lighter leader material will improve the sink rate even more.

CONS

-MAL Heavy incurs more “blade strikes” in which fish bite at the blade without getting hooked. This is because the blade is a slightly greater distance away from the hook on the MAL Heavy.
-Some smaller (6-9”) fish will shy away from this larger profile lure, so, if you are fishing with kids or otherwise just want a lot of action from smaller fish, the original MAL Lure is still a better choice.



LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE LAST YEAR WITH THE ORIGINAL…

As I have collected valuable input from MAL Lure users like you, here’s what we have learned:

1. The “magic” temperature at which the MAL Lure really turns fish on is 58F and warmer. After the water dropped below 58F here in Central Texas this winter, slower retrieves with slabs did better, but, as we warmed back up over the last 2 weeks of March, the fish turned on to the MAL Lure once again. In fact, on April 26th, 2021, fishing a half-day trip on Lake Belton with just 4 clients aboard, I enjoyed my single most productive half-day trip in 15 years of guiding. We caught and released 364 fish in just 4 hours. The MAL Lure caught every single one of these fish.

2. Turning your reel’s handle hard and fast for one (or, at most, two) full cranks to get the spinner’s blade spinning is absolutely critical. I put together an instructional video to help anglers through this process. Simply go to the video link provided above.

3. Using a pair of curved-tipped forceps to remove the hook from deeply hooked fish will reduce wear-and-tear on your MAL Lures. If you bend the wire shaft, just use both hands to bend it back straight. Using an MAL Lure with a crooked shaft can make it difficult to get the blade spinning as quickly as desired.

4. If you manage to mess up your MAL Lure’s treble hook, don’t worry. A number of anglers have found that using the MAL Lure with just 1 or 2 points left on the hook is excellent for sight-casting to topwater fish as the reduced number of hook points makes it quicker to take fish off and execute another cast. The original treble may be replaced by attaching with a split ring, but, the additional length will cause you to incur more blade strikes which do not result in solid hookups.

5. Use a swivel. The MAL Lure is designed to spin. It will cause line twist, especially with spinning reels. Using a swivel will prevent line twist. I recommend the Invisaswivel (35-pound test version) from aquateko.com. If you use coupon code MALLURE, you can buy one pack and get one free for a limited time. This swivel is made of fluorocarbon and will not damage the top guide of your rod should the swivel make contact with it. This is not the case for metallic swivels.

ORDER HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

For those of you who trusted me enough to lay down your hard-earned money to buy your first MAL Lure and try it, I want to say I thank you very much for doing that. I trust you were not disappointed.

I can't wait to try mine out this year !

Great lure and man can you cast this thing a mile!!

I fished Lake Belton today with one of these from 7 AM to 10:30 AM and caught and released 87 whites. I left them biting and could have made it a 100 except I had an engagement for lunch at 11AM. This is a great lure choice.

Hybrids love them too!

I love these lures! I've recently experimented with building my own lures and have to admit, I keep coming back to this MAL lure as my go-to lure. Works very well and was catching fish when the bite was tough the last few trips I went. The fish would barely hit the store bought lures or the ones I made one day, so I put the MAL back on and caught several fish back to back to end the trip on a good note.

Clay, thank you for the "proof is in the pudding" post you made here. Coming from a fellow guide, that is especially appreciated!

--Bob

Bob,

I have been blessed over the last two weeks to get under a ton of spawning or maybe post-spawning white bass. Your MAL Heavy has been the superstar "Go-To" bait for me. When the fish are active, getting the bait down there fast is critical to keep them under my boat. The MAL Heavy does the trick. Also, some days they seem to want my slab, and some days they won't touch it no matter how many different ways I try changing my presentation. Your MAL Heavy keeps them biting on days they won't react to the slab.

I have also had an interesting thing happen on a few occasions. The smaller fish were closer to the bottom and the larger ones were suspended 10 to 15 feet above them. I was able to figure this out by seeing what fish were hitting the lure at what depth on my LS. After seeing that, instead of taking the lure all the way to the bottom, I started the quick reel up further off the bottom. In doing that the lure was starting its full spin just below the larger suspended fish and it helped me target them more effectively.

Definitely having fun with the MAL Heavy!!!!!

Thanks,

David

I will be trying both MAL's out Memorial Day weekend up at Ft Cobb Lake for Saugeye and Hybrids. Can't wait to see how they work. I did have good success on sandies on Grapevine a few weeks ago witht he std MAL. I just got the Heavy so I will hold off till next weekend to use them for the deep bite Saugeye.

Love the lures, I use one every time I fish. Any chance of a heavier tungsten version? I know it is expensive, but I would pay the premium. I bet it would be great when fishing >40ft. I have experimented with adding tungsten barrel weights to other inline spinners. Love the way they sink, but can't get them to spin reliably right off the bottom.

David, I agree. The Garmin LiveScope & MAL Lure combination allows near-surgical precision. That is a neat thing you observed there. The LiveScope makes observant anglers able to be more observant. Thanks for the comment.

How do they do on striper?

Although I have not personally landed stripers on this bait simply because I do not fish waters that have them, a number of clients on Lake Buchanan, Lake Texoma, and Lake Whitney use these very successfully for stripers. If you are interested, I have a few experimental baits to which I have attached #2 trebles instead of the standard #4 trebles. These were intended for use on Texoma for a number of the fellows who specifically requested them. You can either call me or PM me if you are interested, as these do not show as options at www.whitebasstools.com.

Thanks for asking!

Had a few folks ask, "How do I tell the original and the heavy apart?"

I included an "out of the package" photo in the original post in this thread, above.

For lures still in the package, the very bottom of the package will read "HEAVY OVERSIZED BODY" for the new, heavy version. The very bottom of the package will read "LongCast" for the original.

Since these are custom-made, there will be no barcode or SKU, etc. on the backside of the package, as Mepps does not stock these items.

Here's a comparison photo. Thanks for asking (and ordering!).

Order in.

Just ordered a few myself. For FYI some of the links you posted are bad. By putting a "." behind the link it throws the location off. I too catch a lot of Whites. The last several outings everyone in the boat limited out. Went this Saturday and could have caught over a 100 just by myself. Went Sunday and fished hard. Only 5 fish. Saturday was hot and sunny Sunday was overcast and comfortable. Same lake same places just no explanation as to why there were no fish there. I use a Cabelas Mean eye blade bait most of the time, but there were no fish to be caught. "Livescope" Any ideas?