Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » My Top 5 Mepps Inline Spinners
Related Products...
My Top 5 Mepps Inline Spinners
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
I've been using Mepps inline spinners for just on 56 years now and recently a subscriber asked me, on my YouTube channel, "If you had to choose only one spinner, which would you consider the best? Please give a full description or even better you could make a video on your top 5 trout lures, PLEASE, that would be great."
Well, he couldn't have given me a tougher question than that because they all do a great job on the majority (95%) of trips to a river. Back in 1964, when I had my first trip to the Finniss River in South Australia, it was the silver #1 Mepps Black Fury that I caught my very first trout on and I've never changed to another brand of spinner since that day.
Back in those days that was the only Mepps spinner size and colour available in South Australia. They weren't really heard of all that much and only a few tackle stores stocked them. Over the years, things changed when they developed new models, sizes and blade colours and there was a larger variety of spinners to use when chasing the trout and redfin perch in the small rivers that I fished.
Today, with the massive variety that's now available, it's certainly given the spin fisher a much better choice of lure to use when fishing for trout, perch, callop, jungle perch, bass, etc. here in Australia, let alone the other countries around the world where the Mepps brand is very well known.
They not only catch fish in freshwater, they also work on a variety of saltwater species too. When I'm in a river some days it may be a Bug spinner that gets the trout from the start, then the following trip it doesn't get a trout and it will be the Aglia or Black Fury lure that the trout will go for. I've had days when I started off with a Gold Aglia Mouche Noire and caught trout on it from the start, just like I have with the Bug spinner and never had to change it. That's what makes it hard for me to select one spinner that I would consider being the best I've ever used.
After going through my trout diaries, I have come up with several top Mepps inline spinners, where I feel there's only a small margin between them in relation to being the best lure. So, what I'll do is name the ones that are right up there and these are the main ones that I have had the most success on in sizes #00 (1.5gm), #0 (2.5gm) and #1 (3.5gm) as I have never had the need to go any heavier in the rivers that I fish.
The Black Fury in all of its four blade colours (black, silver, copper and gold) is a lure that's served me well since day one. The plain Aglia (in the four colours), Aglia Mouche Noire (gold, copper and black), Bug spinner (Stone Fly and March Brown) and Aglia Furia (only comes in the one colour). So, there's my top five Mepps inline spinners that I've come up with, now which one came out as the number one spinner and where did the others finish up...
After looking through years of trout reports and giving it a lot of thought, my number one lure of choice is the Aglia Mouche Noire inline spinner. It is a great allround spinner, which lured in trout at all times throughout a full trout season, whether it be in slow/medium or fast flowing waters.
It's a tie for the second best lure, which are the Bug and the plain Aglia spinners. They're followed by the Black Fury and just behind it is the Aglia Furia. As I stated earlier, they all do a great job on the trout and there's not a lot between those five great inline spinners. There are also a few others that aren't far behind them. These work well early and late in the trout season, when water temperatures are in the 3-10 degrees range. They are the Aglia Fluo. The only sizes that I use are #0 (2.5gm) & #1 (3.5gm), with the colours that do well Tiger, Rainbow Silver (rainbow trout) and Brown / Gold (brown trout). The brown and rainbow trout colours also work well throughout the trout season in tannin waters.
There's also a newer model inline spinner that's more recently been on the market and that's the Aglia-e Brite inline spinner, which comes in sizes #1, #2 and #3. I have a few in the #1 and have picked up a few trout early in the season. With trout fishing it's also up to what mood the trout are in, as trout can be quite fussy. So much so that they will frustrate the daylights out of you. Some days they'll take whatever you throw at them, while on other days you just have to continually keep changing lures. You may catch one or two on a Mepps Aglia Gold and then that's it, they go off it and the next trout will take a Stone Fly coloured Bug spinner.
Sometimes it's only the spinner blade that makes the difference, such as the Aglia, which has a larger blade that rotates wider than the Black Fury does in slow, medium and fast waters waters. The wider blade sends out more vibes than the smaller Black Fury, which rotates closer to the body of the spinner.
In fast water runs it doesn't matter too much as the trout will chase whatever goes past them most times because they only have that one chance of grabbing a feed before it goes with the flow. The Bug spinner also has a larger blade than the Aglia and the Bug's blade rotates much wider and slower than both the Aglia and the Black Fury lures. The Bug spinner does work well in fast, medium and slow flowing waters.
There's just one thing that I do with all my lures and that's to put the treble hooks off centre so that when a trout hits the spinner, nine times out of ten it does get hooked. The best blade colours are gold, black and copper in the fast/medium and slow waters, for the Aglia and Black Fury lures. The Bug spinners in the Stone Fly, March Brown and White Miller colours all catch their share of trout throughout the season and the Aglia Furia is a good colour, that can produce a lot of trout any time of the season in medium/fast water runs. The Fluo models are great early and late in the trout season, when the water is very cold.
There are also a few others in my tackle box, that I use every now and then and they too catch trout. These are the Comet, Aglia TW, Streamepps, Aglia TW Streamer, Winner and a few small Aglia Long spinners. Like they say you can never have enough lures!
Trout fishing is never the same each time one hops in a river. Weather conditions can play a big part on the day as it has many times that I've fished for trout. Early and late in the trout season the water temperature can be quite low and the trout are sluggish, so they have to be stimulated into taking a spinner and that's where the silver, gold and Fluo (bright and fluoro) colours come into it. Those colours will get you a fish.
Bright sunny days during Summer, with warm water temperatures, will see the trout holding out in fast water and shaded areas along the river. Black and copper colours do well when fishing during those months. Dull humid days, with a light drizzle, are my favourite days to be in a river chasing trout as they are normally spread out in most areas along a river and I've always found them to be in an aggressive mood. This is where my five top lures are evenly matched and it doesn't matter which one you start off with, they all work well on the trout.
Trout fishing, whether it be with Mepps inline spinners, trout flies or hardbody lures, is about the challenge of outsmarting the trout, with what and how you present it mattering most. Get it wrong and you will go home empty handed. I always release my fish, so I always go home empty handed anyway. Remember to wet your hands before handling a fish and then release it as quickly as possible. The less a fish is handled, the better its chance for survival.
For more info on the use of Mepps inline spinners go to www.tackletactics.com.au home page, click on the "Tips & Techniques" section and then onto Adrian Webb's Trout Tips where you will find all you need on spin fishing with Mepps lures.
Adrian (meppstas)
Adrian (meppstas) Webb's Top 5 Mepps Inline Spinners
1. Mepps Aglia Mouche Noire
2. Mepps Bug
2. Mepps Aglia
4. Mepps Black Fury
5. Mepps Aglia Furia
Honorable Mentions - Mepps Aglia Fluo (Fluoro) & Mepps Aglia Fluo Micropigments