Feathers and Fur: MirrOdine Update

Thursday, August 21, 2008

MirrOdine Update

While fishing in saltwater with artificial lures isn't exactly new, it is a relatively recent phenomenom for me. I cut my teeth on fishing the Texas bays using shrimp and cut bait.

The decision of what to use wasn't "natural or artificial" it was "live or dead".

Since the revival of my fishing obsession in the past couple of years, I have been introduced to the concept of trying to fool specks, reds, and flounder with a piece of plastic and some action imparted by the design of the lure or by the fisherman.

Regular readers of this blog have heard me talk about twin shad rigs, spoons, spinners, "Flounder Pounders", "Gulp Shrimp", "Redfish Magic", and a long list of other plastic and metal creations all designed to trick a fish into striking.

My latest "hot" lure is the MirrOdine. This flashy suspending twitchbait is appealing to the fisherman as well as the fish. And thankfully, it is made in several colors! The design includes a liquid filled shell that slows down it's sinking action and causes the minnow shaped lure to suspend between 1-2 ft.

I had an exceptional day of fishing recently where I caught every fish on a 'Dine. Following that trip I was putting together a few lures for some midweek fishing friends to use and found the lure leaking the oil that causes it to suspend.

I called the manufacturer and sent the lure to Florida. While I was waiting for their response, I tried to figure out if it was the fish that had damaged the lure or if I had contributed in some way to the failure.

I had purchased a few more (read "several") MirrOdines in different colors and a new plastic box in which to arrange and house them when I noticed that the front treble hook could rotate back and one hook point could rest right in the spot where the lure had leaked. It was concievable that if stored incorrectly, this could cause a failure.

Before I could contact the manufaturer to report that this was likely my fault, I received a package in the mail. Not only did the good folks at L&S Bait Company replace my MirrOdine in the hard-to-find color but they also included a new release - the MirrOdine XL.

Many thanks to Jennifer and the L&S staff for excellent customer service!