Superlatives rolled off the tongue of a veteran saltwater fisherman, one who makes his living at catching speckled trout and redfish, the other day when he talked about a soft-plastic prototype designed specifically to catch redfish and big speckled trout.
Words such as “beautiful” and “fantastic” were used often by Bill Lake of Houma, a charter boat captain who owns Bayou Guide Service in southcentral Louisiana, while he was being quizzed the first week of December about the potential of the 5-Inch Mullet. It was scheduled to go on the market within 30 days, John Dean of Stanley Lures in Many said on Dec. 7.
Dean had shipped some early models to Lake knowing full well the new swim bait already was in a few choice hands and tattooing big speckled trout and redfish in the late fall and early winter in Calcasieu Lake and other saltwater fishing hotspots around Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas. Lake got his hands on them Dec. 3, and couldn’t wait to try them out in his favorite fishing holes from Sister Lake to Last Island.
“They look very good. The paint job on them is fantastic. It’s one of the best paint jobs I’ve seen on artificial lures,” Lake said.
Stanley Lures is proud of the paint job, as well. The manufacturer raves about the “new diamond” finish designed to mimic a true scale pattern. The hand-painted models start with a diamond pattern soft plastic, then the manufacturer paints on top of that to create unique patterns that incorporate flash and sparkle in the water.
“It’s a winning combination, and fish can’t resist the lifelike profile,” Dean said.
One of the main reasons the swim bait is producing so well is because of the action to the 5-Inch Mullet, he said.
“The tail has very good vibration and wiggle to it. That’s what triggers bites. The attractive wiggle will trigger the bite,” he said. “This bait is trying to target big fish. Big bait and big bite.”
Lake agreed.
“It looks like it’ll have plenty of action,” he said. “I think it’s going to work for us.
“Like I told (Dean) yesterday, I think a 5-Inch swim bait certainly will work well for catching big speckled trout and redfish,” he continued, noting that probably wouldn’t happen as far as speckled trout are concerned until after the winter gives way to spring. Speckled trout munch on smaller baitfish and such during the winter, he said.
Dean said he understood the reasoning.
“Bill and I talked about it last night. The Bayou Chub Minnow is his go-to bait. He said ‘Well, John, it (5-Inch Mullet) looks great. But when the water temperature starts to get cold, they prefer a smaller bait, like the Mud Minnow.’
“I would say in the spring it’ll really shine. It’s going to be a killer on big trout in the springtime when the big sows come in.”
Lake said he can see plenty of target-rich environments for the 5-Inch Mullet later in 2011 He’s dreaming of fishing it along the beaches of Last Island, like Raccoon Island, where “they’ve got a lot of mullet and a lot of sand eels come out. It’ll be a fantastic bait to use, for sure.”
He plans to use the swim bait in other prime areas, as well, such as over the shell reefs of Sister Lake and Lake Mechant “when the fish are real aggressive in the spring and feeding on mullet. Anywhere the mullet are on the surface, I think the 5-Inch will be fantastic. It will weed out a lot of small trout, the little 12-inch fish. You’ll catch some (small fish) I’m sure, but mostly big.”
And Lake envisions some exciting hookups in near-offshore waters around oil-drilling platforms.
“I’d like nothing more than to get the sucker down in 20, 25 feet of water, like we do with Chubs, and jig it,” he said, looking forward to those balmy summer days at his favorite Ship Shoal structures and other near-offshore hotspots, he said. “You look at the features and beautiful colors, I think it’s going to work for us and catch bigger fish. Some customers want to catch large trout.”
Stanley Lures says its new swim bait can be rigged several ways. Anglers can use a (Stanley V-Lock) 6/0 swim bait hook with a locking spring, and Dean advises “for best results, lay the hook point on the back of the lure (alongside the fin). You can skin hook the point if you need a weedless presentation.” Or, the manufacturer said, “Use a standard jighead (1/4- or 1/8-ounce) and expose the hook point. We recommended a wide gap hook.”
Knowing the ingenuity of saltwater fishermen along the coast, Dean realizes other techniques will develop.
“Popping cork? I’m sure they will. I know fishermen will find all kinds of things they can do with the lure,” he said, recalling the early days of the ultra-popular bass artificial lure the Stanley Ribbit, which eventually started catching bass Carolina-rigged and deadsticking in addition to the conventional way.
The color combinations include white diamond/chartreuse tip; white diamond/black/chartreuse tip; white diamond/green back/chartreuse tip; chartreuse diamond/black back; white diamond/purple/chartreuse; white diamond/brown/chartreuse tip; white diamond/hot pink/chartreuse, and white diamond/blue smoke/chartreuse tip.
“There will definitely be some crossover colors,” Dean said, knowing bass fishermen will pick out some 5-Inch Mullet colors to offer bass.
For more information contact, Stanley Jigs Inc., P.O. Box 1327, 107 N. Main St., Huntington, Texas 75949.
