If you have been fishing very long at all, you will probably have seen this week’s lure, The Mepps Aglia French Spinner. In terms of spinners, there are endless colors and variations, body styles, and blade shapes. Many have short bundles of hair tied around the treble hook to imitate fish fins and hide the hook, while others have long shafts hosting an array of beads or metal imitation body. The Mepps Aglia, however, does away with much of the ostentatious extras and focuses on a sleek deadly design. Preferred by many, this particular spinner hosts a bare treble hook, always sharpened upon purchase, and a simple silver cylinder body with off-color horizontal grooves, topped by a silver spinning blade. No tassles, not really any fancy paint, just a hardy, hefty lure.

The Mepps Aglia boasts itself as the “worlds #1 lure,” I don't know if it is #1 at catching fish or just selling lures, however, I will admit that it gets the job done. It comes in five sizes; numbers zero through four, which essentially dictate their size, four being the largest. According to their advertising, this lure is good for “slab crappies…large and smallmouth bass, salmon & steelhead. Northern pike and musky….” And for those of you who pay attention to where products come from, the Mepps are assembled in the U.S.

The advertising would certainly have you believing their lure is nothing short of a fish magnet, but I would have to throw in a few points for clarification. While all of those fish are certainly catchable on this lure, it depends on obvious factors such as where you are fishing. In a couple of local Pennsylvania lakes where I’ve spent time with this lure, I’ve caught crappie, bass, trout and pike. I’ve also caught panfish with this lure like you wouldn’t believe. Bluegills and sunfish will go after this lure just as much as the any of these other fish if not more. In fact the Mepps Aglia #2 can be very strike heavy with what I would call nuisance fish. I won’t contest that you can catch fish on this lure; the fact of the matter is that you almost certainly will catch fish no matter your skill level with it.

Panfish and Pike in particular will hit the Mepps Aglia nearly regardless of weather conditions. Just last night I took the Lure you see pictured above and threw maybe a dozen casts from the shore at Duck Harbor in PA. Five minutes in I got a huge strike from a Pike which had to be around two feet long. Not wanting to waste time with teeth on the other end of my line, I got him to the surface and began to swing it towards shore when he snapped the line and made off with a new lip piercing.

Therein lays my warning. If you want to catch fish and you don’t care what they are, use this lure. Especially on Sunny days when fish are lazy and not biting much else, this lure really does produce. But be aware that although it can catch trout, bass, and a number of other desirable fish, it may just as easily give you nuisance fish like sunnies and pike. As far as using it, it couldn’t be simpler. Just tie it on, cast it out and reel it in nice and evenly. For better results I’d try to cast parallel with structure or lily pads. It gives you a better chance of raising an ambush fish lying under cover.