A Mepp's #2 spinner was one of my favorite lures for years. I have caught everything from bass to catfish on them. I always had several in my tacklebox and still keep a couple for those days when fishing is tough and I just want to catch something. A jar of white pork rind fly strips is also handy to enhance the action of the spinner.
The biggest bass I ever hooked hit a Mepp's #2 rigged with a trailer. During a college fraternity party at a private lake, Linda and I were fishing while the rest of the folks partied. We were in a canoe and the bream were bedding. We caught bream after hand-sized bream by casting the Mepp's around the beds. I did not have any pork rind with us so I cut small strips of skin from the first bream we caught and used it.
We were having a great time and the bream were putting up a good fight on our Mitchell 300 reels rigged on fairly light six foot rods. As I reeled my lure back from a deep bank, it stopped. I saw something dark in the water and thought I had hooked a stump. Then the stump moved!
When I set the hook, the canoe turned toward the monster bass. I could see my spinner in the corner of its mouth, the tiny hooks stuck in the lower lip. The bass slowly moved down the bank a couple of feet and then turned toward me. When it turned, the hooks let go. I guess the small hooks had not gone in deep enough to hold at the different angle.
Back on the bank, after telling the owner my tale of woe, I was informed a 17 pound bass had been caught - and released - the summer before. I have no doubt the bass I hooked was at least that big and maybe the same one!
An uncle living in Newport News, VA showed Linda and me another use for Mepp's spinners many years ago. In his jon boat, we went up a tributary of the James River not too far from his house. The creek was affected by the tide and we got upstream as it started to drop. The outgoing water drifted the boat downstream at just the right speed to fish.
Casting Mepp's with pork attached to the marsh grass, we landed large numbers of channel catfish. The tide was pulling minnows out of the grass and the catfish were waiting on them. We also caught some bass and bream but the catfish were what we wanted. I had never caught so many catfish during the day before.
To rig a Mepp's with porkrind, use the small strips about 1 1/2 inches long. Hooked to one of the treble hooks, it wiggles very seductively as the spinner turns. Very few fish can resist it.
As I said earlier, if you don't have any pork, cut a strip of skin from the first fish you catch. Light belly skin seems best. The strip should be about 1 1/2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Taper the ends and hook one to the hook. It will increase your catch rate dramatically!
This is a great lure for young anglers and those without much experience. All you have to do is cast and reel. No special action is needed. You can keep the lure near the surface and see strikes. All kinds of fish will hit this bait. All the action is guaranteed to keep up the interest of any fisherman!
A spinning reel or spin cast reel with six or eight pound line is just about right. A six foot light action rod will enhance the fight but shorter rods might be better for the beginner. Either way, it is a lot of fun!
