Has anyone ever tried Mepps on Lake Conroe....similar to Cedar Creek style? Seems like Conroe should have pretty good populations of Hybrids.

YES! Mepps heavy (MAL) worked vertically has worked well for me. Follow instructions by Holding the Line here on TFF. (get blade turning ASAP!) This was in December and early January... I'll be out there Tuesday to see if water temp change has made a difference. I have not tried a regular Mepps, but would think it would be just as effective. It's just waiting... for... it... to... sink.

I tried both lures from Holding the line just recently....literally would go right through Hybrids, ask how I know...all the other poles had minnows and they were getting slammed...had 15+ fish hit the minnows. Tried pulling minnows out and just the lures..zero bites...put minnows down and slammmm. Just wasn't a lure day.... will try again.

I would start fishing those in March/April when the water warms up a bit. May and June are prime.

Jan and Feb flukes are king!

Wug, Bob Maindelle here, the designer of the MAL Lure. While the MAL can be effective in the winter when the fish are really aggressive (for example, under birds, right before a front, etc.), the truth is, most of the winter doesn't produce such ideal days. For this reason, in all of the literature I've published concerning my lure, you'll find 58F is the general cutoff for it to be more effective than standard presentations. Below 58F, and the speed at which the MAL (or other spinners) must be retrieved to keep the blade spinning is generally too fast to interest the gamefish, and faster than the speed at which threadfin shad are typically moving in such cold water.

Right now, and after "Winter Storm Landon" departs, I'm using Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and (nearly) dead-sticked soft plastics. The Bladed Hazy Eye Slab incorporates a small willowleaf spinner blade on the treble to add flash and vibration, but, it is fished with typical, vertical presentation (easing, slow-smoking, and snap-jigging).

I'll have my MAL Lure rods on the boat, but, they won't get much use until mid-March.

Once the water warms to 58F, and throughout the entire warmwater period until we cool to 58F again in Dec. or next Jan., I think you will find the MAL Heavy to outperform whatever else you try throwing for whites and hybrid. The MAL is specifically designed to get to the bottom quickly, which is its major advantage over standard Mepps spinners, like the Aglia. The Aglia is effective, but, as another member indicated, "It's... just... waiting... for... it... to... sink" while all the time knowing if you got to bottom quicker, you'd be on more fish.

Good luck, sir!

Put the science behind my generalities! lol

Mal lure is great and effective no doubt. Extremely easy to fish as well for beginners. A burned and paused long bodied lead for numbers and a sassy or crankbait for size are hard to beat. However I'd probably take a Mal if I could only choose one lure for the average fisherman on the average lake.