State of the Art for the Mepps (Inline) Spinner Technique
for White Bass on Lake Structures

By Dennis Christian
Summer 2024

I. Introduction
II. Original discovery and much later publish date
III. Developments by Mepps since 2009
IV. Major complaint about Mepps Method
V. Cloning attempts
VI. Advances within the past couple of years

I. Introduction

We went public in the summer of 2009 sharing the Mepps inline spinner technique on the Texas Fishing Forum, on Mepps website, and through an article by the late Ray Sasser, outdoors editor for the Dallas Morning News. Since then, the Mepps Technique has gained a large following, and improvements have been made.

What is the Mepps Technique? Here is a quote from one of my 2009 posts:

"After casting, let the spinner free-fall to the bottom. Then point the rod toward the line and take up the slack. Then raise rod slightly and hold steady while cranking the reel at the same time. Crank from 3 to 6 turns for 5 to 1 gear ratio or higher. Keeping rod as still as you can helps you feel the bite. Making sure all the slack is out of the line and raising the rod as you start cranking gets the blade spinning immediately. However, with a #4 Mepps, keeping the rod generally pointed toward the line will get you more strikes. Using a #2 or #3, moving the rod up or sideways suddenly to give the bait a jump start seems to work best. Most bites occur immediately after you start reeling. If you don't get a bite after cranking the reel 6 turns, stop, release the line, and let the spinner free-fall back to the bottom, then take up the slack and crank it 3 to 6 turns again, repeating this all the way back to the boat.”

II. Original discovery and much later publishing

I discovered the technique in the summer of 1976 fishing with my father-in-law on Lake Livingston. The article I wrote describing the discovery can be found at this part of Mepps website: Mepps website ArticleThe Fishing Discovery of My Lifetime - Mepps Tactics.
Prior to 2009, I had only shared the technique with friends and family. Realizing (finally) that the technique was too good not to share with everyone, I wrote the article at the Mepps website. I then shared it with Ray Sasser, the Dallas Morning News Outdoor Editor in 2009. I invited him and his wife to come to Cedar Creek Lake and I would demo the technique to him. They came and caught fish, and he wrote his article soon after. His article was also published at: www.golaketravis.com/news.php?id=229.

III. Developments by Mepps since 2009

So far as I know, besides adding more color options, the two developments at Mepps since 2009 are (1) the Long Cast Mepps 4 and (2) The Bob Maindelle signature Mepps 4. The Mepps Long cast added more weight so the lure could be cast farther and easier and sink faster. Bob Maindelle, working with Mepps, made some changes to the Long Cast in an attempt to make it more effective for catching white bass.

I tried both of these when they came out. In my opinion, neither worked as well as the original Mepps 4 Plain Aglia spinner. They did sink faster and were easier to cast, but it was harder to get the blade spinning compared to the regular Mepps 4. However, Maindelle’s version was a definite improvement over the Long Cast, and I know quite a number of anglers who like them. You can order Maindelle’s Mepps from Holding the Line Guide Service at 254-368-7411.

IV. The Major complaint about the Mepps technique – The lures are too light

If one is used to casting slab spoons, which is a popular way white bassers like to cast for fish, then the Mepps 4 is way too light, hard to cast, and slow to reach the bottom. The Mepps 2 and 3 are even lighter and require a weight up the line to make them castable. My answer has always been – just get used to it – the method catches more fish. Recent developments, covered below, have caused me to rethink the weight problem.

V. Cloning attempts

Since I first showed the technique to fishing buddies in the 1970’s, some began trying to clone the Mepps 4. They would make them and give them to me to try. Initially, they just tried to emulate the Mepps 4 exactly – not trying to add weight. But none of the clones could match the fish-catching ability of the real Mepps 4. Typically, a buddy would fish along side me and use his clone while I was using the real Mepps. And, typically he would not catch nearly as many with his clone and would end up switching to the real Mepps. I personally have not tried to clone a Mepps but would reconstitute them using old Mepps parts. However, recent developments by three of my buddies have changed my thinking.

VI. Advances within the past couple of years

The HeyBUD: Eric (Windbreaker) read about the Mepps technique on the fishing forum, tried it, and liked it. He decided he would make a clone and make it heavier. Here is a picture of a regular Mepps 4 (first) and of a HeyBUD (second).






I got to fish with him and he gave me a HeyBUD to try. I noticed that it did spin readily and was heavy and easy to cast. On that day, we were fishing Lake Tawakoni, and for whatever reason the fish wanted the real Mepps 4 -and he couldn’t catch nearly as well with the HeyBUD. He was frustrated that day, but since then his lure has proven itself. He named it HeyBUD because people kept seeing him catch fish after fish and would say “Hey Bud, what lure are you using?” He started making these to sell and you can get them by texting 816.215.2500.

The HeyTODD: Within the past year, another buddy Todd Tran (SeaPro Todd on the Forum) took Eric’s HeyBUD and upsized the body, blade, and treble hook. He gave some to me and our other buddies to test and the results are really good. They get to the bottom fast and the fish like them. Here are pictures of some HeyTODDs:



The most recent clone is the HeyCLIFF made by fishing buddy Cliff Holubek. Rather than emulate a Mepps 4, he has emulated a Panther Martin inline spinner, which does not use a clevis to attach the blade to the wire. His lure weighs a full ounce. I tried it and it caught a fish every cast. Here is a picture:




At present, the HeyTODD and HeyCLIFF are not made to sell.


The BoBlade phenomenon: Last August I got a chance to fish Lake Tawakoni with expert anglers George (Fastguy) Malek and Gene (CHAMPION FISH) Reeves. At that time of the year tiny shad are in the lakes and I downsize to a Mepps 2 or 1 to catch white bass. I have been doing this for years during August and September. On that day both Gene and George were using yellow or lime BoBlades both medium and large size. Picture of BoBlades below:


To my amazement they were catching white bass with them. In fact, while I worked my #2 Mepps slowly and was catching one about every other cast, they both were working their BoBlades fast and catching fish almost every cast. I borrowed a BoBlade and joined in that action. The thing is, I can’t explain why the whites were biting those large lures when the shad were so small. When I got back to Cedar Creek Lake, I was able to reproduce the same results. I still can’t explain it and am looking forward to August this year to see if it repeats.
You can order BoBlades from Mark Bovee at 512-796-1895.

Rethinking the inline spinner technique: After experiencing the recent successes with heavier inline spinners (The BoBlade is an inline spinner behind a slab), I have a clearer philosophy for catching white bass down on structure. The philosophy is to use the heaviest lure that will catch a fish every cast. Many, many times the regular Mepps 4 Plain Aglia has caught a fish every cast – that’s why many have switched to it. But, if I can catch fish every cast with a much heavier lure, then at the end of the day I will have caught a lot more fish. So, I am now making inline spinners finding various ways to add weight and not mess up their fish attractiveness. If I come upon fish that won’t take a heavier spinner, I always have the Mepps 4 to fall back on. But, lately, with the HeyBUD, HeyTODD, HeyCLIFF, BoBlade, and some of my own creations (pictured below), I have not had to fall back to a Mepps 4.



A-—Created a BoBlade clone by using an old slab and a #3 Mepps blade.
B---This is a Mepps 4 blade with a Mepps 5 body.
C---This is a Mepps 4 with two Mepps 4 bodies.
D---This is a #5 blade with a Mepps 5 and a Mepps 4 body.
E---This is a #5 blade with a Mepps 4 body and a HeyTODD body.

These all tested well today.

Good write up Dennis. I'm sure this will help those that don't understand all of the options.

Good write up, read and good (Netflix) sequel on the inline spinners. It got my head spinning in a good way of course.

Not sure if I sent you the article on the American soldier that came back from Europe in WW2 and brought this French spinner back to the state with him. He was up north and used this spinner for walleyes and northern species. I love it when we all share ideas and creativity

BTW, the HeyDC's look great!

Windbreaker and I wore ourselves out on "Heybuds" last Saturday evening while up on Waurika Lake. I tried other baits during the evening off and on but that bait was more consistent on Hybrids than I was with slabs. I landed more Sandies with the slab but he was landing Hybrids. Just one observation and the first time using them, But I will try a morning bite soon to see how it goes.
I will be more prepared the next time having a HeyBud, Mal & Bo Blade ready.

Dennis, this is a great summary. I appreciate you including my own contribution to this ongoing evolution of white bass lure development in your chronology.

--Bob Maindelle

what is the function of the plastic sleeve on the treble hooks?

Easeup: That is a good question. I have always assumed it was to catch the fish's eye or to make the lure appear a little longer. I do know that from experience early on the plastic sleeve was better at catching fish than the dressed (bucktail) version. I have fished with the plastic missing and it didn't seem to negatively affect the results. Maybe someone who knows the answer to your question will enlighten us.

Great write up Dennis!. I don’t even have enough words to say thank you for the amount of fish you have helped me catch through the years! And because of your technique, and the success I’ve had with it is the very reason I started making the HEYbud.

Just to add a little on the HEYbud….I started using the Mepps in 2013, and then started making the HEYbud in 2015. I made them heavier because the Mepps fell to slow. It wasn’t until 2021 that I upsized the blade and the hook. The average fish are just bigger on Waurika and I’ve always heard “the bigger the bait, the bigger the fish” and so I upsized them. I started selling them last summer (2023) because so many people on Waurika wanted them.

The best part about making them and selling them is the friends I’ve made, and fished with along the way. So many people that have purchased them, have reached out to me and have come fishing with me. I love it and it’s the reason I will continue to make and sell them. It’s not a lucrative business for making money by any means. It is however a lucrative business for meeting great people and avid fisherman!!

Easeup, as I worked through the development of the MAL Lure with Mepps, I found some of the first versions we made without the plastic tubing would draw what we began to call "blade strikes" wherein the white bass and hybrid would nip at the spinning silver blade, but not get hooked.

The MAL Lure is necessarily a bit longer than other spinners (like the Aglia) because the added weight in the brass bodies (for the Original and the Heavy versions) and in the lead bodies (for the Dense version) had to go somewhere. This increased the spacing between the blade and the hook.

So, in order to create a "focal point" at the hook end of the lure, we added tubing. Specifically, on all of the MAL Lures except the MAL Mini, we added glow tubing. If you take the lure into a dark place you can see the soft, white-green glow it gives off.

After doing that, the frequency of "blade strikes" drastically reduced and we felt we'd overcome the issue.

On the MAL Mini, which is intended to be as small as possible and still be castable, we skipped the glow tubing because the lure is so compact, fish tend to see it as one, small object, thus, blade strikes never arose as an issue.

The MAL certainly isn't the first spinner to use tubing on the hook. Many of the smaller spinners intended for trout use bright colors in red tones to mimic salmon eggs which trout are fond of.

Here is a photo of the entire, current line of MAL Lures:





The entire family of MAL Lures is found here:

MAL LURES

Thanks for that explanation. Mepps 2 through 5 Plain Aglias had the tubing as far back as I can remember. Mepps did a lot of testing of their products, so I wonder if they put the tubing on for the same reason. Maybe, some TFFer will do an analytical evaluation of Mepps with and without the tubing and see how much difference it makes in fish catching ability. Heck, maybe I'll do it.

Nice article

works for me!!!

Mr. DC and all,

Appreciate your sharing and your work. Nice write up and fun "engineering".

Keep up the good work.

Ken