When it comes to iconic fishing lures, the name Mepps has been fully cemented into angling history as one of the best fishing lure companies ever. The original inline spinners made by the company were developed by French engineer Andre Muelnart in 1938, and the spinnerbaits first came to the United States and revolutionized the world of artificial lures in the 1950s. Since then, literally millions of Mepps lures have been tossed by multiple generations of anglers who filled their limits on trout, walleye, bass, bluegill, muskie, northern pike, trout, and more using the lures.
Today, Mepps still assembles lures by hand at a plant in Wisconsin, and the lures are as popular as ever. That's mostly because they've been proven to catch practically anything that swims in both freshwater and saltwater. Today, we'll recommend some of our favorite Mepps spinnerbaits and give the situations where we feel they will be most effective. These are lures you need to have in your tackle box regardless of the seasons you fish or the species you like to target.
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1. The Best All-Around Option
Mepps Aglia, $5.99, Amazon
Pros:
- Simple and easy to use
- Multiple color and blade configurations
- Effective on a range of species
Cons:
- Not the most weedless lure in the world
According to Mepps, the Aglia is essentially the original French spinner design from 1938, and Mepps has changed little about this lure in the decades since. It's hard to improve upon perfection. The company has introduced a bevy of blade variations over the years in everything from a simple gold to black, yellow, chartreuse, hot firetiger, hot pink, and almost every color in between. If one color doesn't work, keep swapping until you find one that does. Mepps builds these in-line spinners with either a single hook, a plain treble, or a dressed treble hook. The plain ones may look rather bland, but all these spinners offer an excellent amount of flash and vibration to resemble a wounded minnow. Odds are the plain one is all you'll need. But for more stubborn fish, switch over to one of the dressed ones; it will offer an excellent bit of pulsating action that will trigger bites in fish that have seen it all. This lure will quite literally catch almost any freshwater species in North America. Every time I've thrown one, I've never known what I was fighting until I got it close. The small ones will land everything from panfish to bass quite regularly. However, the Mepps Aglia spinner is probably most famous as a trout lure, specifically for big rainbow trout. You can buy these separately, but it's not a bad idea to pick up one of their pre-packaged "trouter kits," which include six spinners in differing configurations for a variety of scenarios. The only real downside I've encountered with these over the years is that they aren't the most weedless lures on the planet.
2. The Best for Low-Light Conditions
Travis Smola
Mepps Black Fury, $5.99 - $7.99, Cabela's
Pros:
- Tight action and vibration
- A variation for multiple species
Cons:
- The darker coloration is most effective in low light
- Painted blades don't offer a lot of flash
The Black Fury is a classic lure I've been using for years. As you can see from the beat-up condition of two of mine in the photo above, these lures will take a beating and keep on catching fish. Mepps again makes many different variations of this bait. It recommends a dressed version for bass and panfish, and an undressed version for trout and salmon. I've personally had some nice success using the black and fluorescent red dot for largemouth bass. The black blades of these fishing spinners are ideal for low-light or night conditions. Mepps designed the blade of the Black Fury to rotate slightly closer to the body, producing a tighter action and vibration. It's a little easier to work this bait in shallow and weedy areas as a result. Mepps touts them as weedless. The treble hook designs are not quite that, but they are better than the Aglia plain in that department. Mepps does design a combo version that features Mister Twister trailers for a slightly different variation on your traditional soft plastic presentation. These Mepps spinners are available in six different color variations for the blades and four different hook setups. There are also six different sizes and a double blade variation for a little extra vibration. Mepps also offers these spinners in lure kits so you get more for your money.
3. The Best for Pike and Muskie
Mepps Musky Killer, $14.99, Bass Pro Shops
Pros:
- Proven track record for muskie and pike
- Bevy of variations and color schemes
Cons:
- Price
If you're looking for a quality bucktail inline spinner for big pike and muskie, it's hard to go wrong with a Musky Killer. Mepps built these lures to be heavy duty, with beefier components than many of their other lures to withstand the hard thrashing of a big pike or muskie on the end of the line. There's some nice versatility here, as these baits are designed for either casting or trolling scenarios. Mepps offers these spinners in literally dozens of different colored bucktail and spinner blade combinations that will allow you to match up the lure to the natural forage of the waters you're fishing. In fact, they have a variant "bait" series line that's specifically colored to resemble everything from shad and trout to walleye and perch. There is also a tandem fishing hook setup for scenarios where the pike and muskie are just taking a swipe at the tail end of the bait. It will greatly increase your odds of hooking those fish. For those looking for truly big muskie and pike, consider throwing the Magnum muskie killer, which is available in huge, 1¼- and 1¾-ounce varieties with huge, #7 brass blades providing the flash and vibration that drives big fish wild. The only real downside is the price. With big baits comes a big price tag of $14.99 each for the standard Musky Killer and $28.99 for the Magnum versions.
4. The Best Fast-Water Spinner
Mepps XD, $5.99, Cabela's
Pros:
- A different style of vibration from other spinners
- Perfect for faster-moving rivers
Cons:
- Slightly less effective in ponds and placid waters
The "XD" in the name of these spinners stands for extra deep. Mepps designed these spinners specifically for deep waters or extremely fast-moving waters such as what you might encounter in some of the best trout streams in North America. The most notable part of this spinner is the blade design. Rather than being attached via a brass clevis component, the XD uses a blade that goes straight through the stainless steel shaft of spinner. This results in a type of vibration that's distinctly different from their other spinners. But it also allows retrieval of the lure at a variety of speeds from fast to slow. That's also what helps the bait to work effectively in faster rivers and streams. The manufacturer added a small red bead between the spinner and the hook. It just helps add a wounded baitfish element to the setup. Like all the other options on this list, Mepps has dozens of variations on color and hook setups. Pick up a plain version for trout in streams and high-elevation lakes, and a dressed version for fast-water river smallmouths. They're slightly less effective in quieter waters such as farm ponds, but I suspect it is because it has a little too much vibration. For fast-moving, noisy rivers, this is one of the best options out there.
The Most Realistic Inline Spinner
Travis Smola
Mepps Comet Mino, $9.99, Amazon
Pros:
- Realistic soft body combined with a spinner
- Effective on a variety of species
Cons:
- Price
- Soft body can get torn up by toothier fish
The Comet Mino has been a personal favorite of my family for decades now and is one of our go-to lures when all else seems to fail. We really like this one for multi-species fishing trips to northern lakes. I've personally always had a lot of success with the classic shad color scheme. Mepps also has color schemes that resemble rainbow trout, baby bass, and yellow perch. It also builds a larger-size "Giant Killer" variation that's dynamite on pike and muskie. It only recently introduced a Black Fury variation that combines the soft body with the Black Fury blades to create a wonderful low-light combo. One downside to the Mino is that the soft body can get torn up by some of the toothier species. My dad had one where a pike literally bit the body in half during a northern fishing trip. However, I'm happy to say that is a rare occurrence. Most of the Minos I have used have withstood years of abuse from a variety of species. My only other con is that the Comet is slightly more expensive these days. I suspect it's a supply chain issue plus the cost of labor of hand-assembling these things in the states. However, a Comet Mino is well worth the price of admission for how many times they have salvaged what otherwise may have been an unsuccessful day of fishing. This is truly one of my favorite lures of all time.
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