# Mirrolure 101



## taosx (Sep 27, 2007)

Interesting info on another forum, I thought may be useful here, although I tend to fish them a little different then suggested, then again sometimes not. 









gottaflylee

Join Date: Apr 2006

Location: Wrightsville Beach, NC

Posts: 1,474



MirrOlure 101 simplified

MirrOlure 101 simplified...I hope...



In starting off I want to say this thread is for only MirrOlures in the "M" series and NO other brand! I will do another thread on the "Catch 2000" and Catch JR. If you would like to discuss another kind of Lure please start another thread as I want to help people with how to choose and use MirrOlures. With that being said, I want you all to know that what I say is for my area here in North Carolina and no where else, but I feel that what I do, will work in many other places. Please feel to hop in and let us know what you use in your area and how you use it, as this is only how I do it and nothing is set in stone in Trout fishing. I am not sponsored by MirrOlure or am I given anything to say what I am saying...I'm just a MirrOlure Junkie...



A little history about MirrOlure before we start. MirrOlure has been around since 1937 and many fish has been taken on them. It is said that it was invented during the Great Depression when Harold LeMaster stumbled over the Idea for the MirrOlure. LeMaster tripped over a fallen Walnut tree on his way home and took a good section of the tree with him to whittle the first version of the MirrOlure. MirrOlure is now made by L & S Bait company which also makes Iland Lures®, what most of us calls Islanders. MirrOlures are partially assembled in Costa Rica, Designed, Molded, Packaged and Tank Tested in the USA.





For many people, MirrOlure fishing seems to be a mystery. I can only guess that when a person looks at a display rack in the store, they are overwhelmed by the choices you have to choose from and I hope in this thread, I can help simplify this for you as well as help you decide what to buy for you area or at least give you a place to start. For this I will start with the standard "Classic MirrOlure", the 52M, or "M" series as it is called. Here some notes to help you out.

The 51MR, 52M and 52MR sink at a rate of one foot per second... "R" stands for "Rattle"

This is what Mirrolure suggests for depth to fish them at...





Model Length Oz. Hooks Depth

51MR 3-5/8? 1/2 3 1-4'+

52M 3-5/8? 1/2 3 3-8'+

52MR 3-5/8? 1/2 3 3-8'+



There are also these in the "M" series and they have all the great features of the popular 52M series, but heavier. "The 65M and 77M are ideal for Tarpon, Striper, Bluefish and Snook. The 65M Deep Runner is a compact lure which casts like a bullet, making for longer casts. This lure is great for vertical jigging or use in deeper waters." The 65M is my choice for fishing in the surf when the wind is up or blowing right on the beach.





Model Length Oz. Hooks Depth

65M 3-1/4? 1 2 10-20?+

77M 4-1/4? 1-1/4 3 5-10?+



You will also find the "TT" series and the Series III ( with reflective holographic foil ) are the same as above but the "TT" has spots on the lure or in the "Series III, holographic foil' all the rest of the speciation's, weight, length and depth fished is the same as the "M" series' so now all you have to remember is "TT" stands for spots..."R" stands for "Rattle" ...now isn't this getting easer...



Now for the hard part...how to choose a color to fish with. If you look at the picture below you will see on the left side, starting at the bottom , colors I use @ night, keep in mind that some are what you may call cross over colors, that may have other times when I fish them in the day. On the right and middle are day time colors



Night time colors...All White 53M51, clear with silver body "TTS" series, clear with gold body "TTRG`" series, "Purple Demon", Pink gold & black "TT809"series, Pink silver & black back (very hard to find) 52M706, "TTRT" white pink with olive back, white, silver & black back "TT21"series, Black silver black back 52M56 series and last but not least, clear chartreuse 52MCF...oh ya!

NOTE the ones you see the most of in the picture !!! I never have just 1 of a color...you may lose one...



Day time colors...look at the water...muddy, can't see much at all (CRFS), Stained...clear (Tannic, can see your lure down a couple of feet), Stained cloudy (less than a foot) Clear green, Clear cloudy (wind blown...sandy, surf conditions) and clear.



For muddy, can't see much at all (CRFS), or Stained...clear (Tannic, can see your lure down a couple of feet), I like most anything with Gold, yellow, pink, red, orange, chartreuse & black in it... Gold for me seems to be very important!!!



In the muddy water I will use lures with yellow & pink 52M 704 (electric chicken) orange & black 52MR 730 or 808 color and red & white also in the series III "S 52MR" and "S 52MR26".



In the stained clear I will use pinks, black & pink 52M706 & TT809, orange & chartreuse, dark green & gold 52 M 22 & "TTR 22" and clear chartreuse 52MCF and red & white also in the series III "S 52MR" and "S 52MR26".



Stained cloudy, green (less than a foot) dark green back & gold 52M22 & TTR22, red head, gold body 52M805 Cloudy day, hot pink or orange head gold body 52m804 of 52MFGO Clear hot pink 52MPF and clear chartreuse 52MCF



Clear green...All white or red head white & silver body 52M51 or 52M11(the old standby), red & white with silver body series III S52MR26 or red white belly silver side 52M26

Clear cloudy (wind blown...sandy, surf conditions) go back to gold's...black gold side pink bottom TT809, dark green back & gold 52M22 & TTR22, red head chartreuse back silver side 52MCH11, Hot Pink silver side TTHP, clear hot pink 52MPF and clear chartreuse 522MCF



Clear water...early season (end of Sept to second week of Oct. ) I like the blues 52M24, TT24, 52MSD with gold bottom and in series III STTRCHBL. After that...Olive back pink side white bottom TTRT, olive back silver side white belly 52M18, clear silver sides TTS, old stand by red head white body silver side 52M11, white with silver side 52M51, clear chartreuse with silver sides white belly TTCFPR and in the Series III...black back silver side bone belly S52BNSBO, clear chartreuse silver side white belly S52MRCFPR, olive back silver side white belly STTR18.



Print this information out so you can take it to the store with you and then you will see what they look like. With this information, you now have a place to start with MirrOlures as far as what kind of water, day or night. Here is the link to MirrOlure's color chart http://www.mirrolure.com/classics/colorchart.html so you can see the colors. Oh one more thing...take a $100 bill with you to your local tackle store...you'll need it...



Now that you have a basic knowledge of the MirrOlure...how do you fish it. You know that the "M" series sinks at a foot a second so it is easy to count down to the depth you are fishing in. Remember that the heaver your line the slower your sink rate. Most fishermen I fish with prefer 6 or 8 pound test mono to fish MirrOlures with. I like and use"Braid". 20 pound is about the same diameter as 6 pound test...I add 2 to 3 feet of 12 to 20 pound test fluorocarbon to it for stealth. I also can't see much difference in the high vis yellow or the green. I like the "no stretch" of the braid..I feel the bite better.

Remember they are a "Twitch Bait" so when I fish them I reel VERY SLOW and then slow down some more...giving it a bump or "Twitch" with the rod every so often. Do NOT pull the lure with the rod tip...rod tip should NOT move more than a few inches (4 to 6") at a time...think of jigging a "Grub". When it is windy I tend to keep the rod tip down and hold it up on still days. I also like to fish them down wind whenever I can...again, I feel the bite better.

As far as a rod I like a stiffer tip than most. 6' 6" fast tip action, for the surf a 7' medium action because of handling them through the breakers.The softer rod is more forgiving.

I hope I have given you a good place to start with MirrOlures and you understand what I have said above. Feel free to ask questions as well as chime in with your 2 cents worth and may you catch the Trout of your life!

__________________

Capt. Lee Parsons

910-540-2464

www.gottaflyguideservice.com

Be safe on the water!


----------



## JLMass (Oct 1, 2007)

no 85m the holy grail of the mirrolure line the best Tarpon and king catching mirrolure i have ever seen.


----------



## Ez2cDave (Feb 7, 2015)

Capt. Lee Parsons,

Here is a PDF of that MirrOLure article, plus the color chart . . . Even though it's 9 years later !

Tight Lines !


----------



## CalvinandHobbes (Jan 25, 2014)

wow you did some digging to bump that old thread......


----------



## Ez2cDave (Feb 7, 2015)

CalvinandHobbes said:


> wow you did some digging to bump that old thread......



I'm pretty sure that people still use it as a reference . . .

In fact, here's another similar article in PDF. ( Below )

Tight Lines !


----------



## SHunter (Jun 19, 2009)

I don't have experience with Mirrolures but I find this thread informative and after reading the 2 articles I want to try out several kinds. This is the kind of info that I search for when trying to increase the tackle box. Otherwise I find it overwhelming when I go into a store and look at all the possibilities. Maybe some other members who use these lures regularly will chime in and tell us the colors that have been successful for them before I purchase and say Merry Christmas to myself.


----------

