I used to do a lot of smallmouth fishing in the upper James River in SW Virginia.  At that time, 1960s & 70s,  Mepps spinners seemed to be the top artificial bait.  Anyone still using them for river smallmouths?

I use them and similar spinners regularly when fishing the Susquehanna. They work especially well when the fish are not committing to hitting other lures.

Yup

Yes,  definitely a good smallmouth bait.

Yes

Yep

The little river smallies around here love em. 

One of the all time great lures - unless you’re around weeds. 

I use to sell Mepps squirrel tails back when I was a young teenager.. between using a spinner & a regular ole crappie maribou jig, both worked great. 

Mepps Bronze Slammer gets it done 

I once caught over 500 smallies in two days on a brass Mepps spinner. I have no idea why they loved that lure so much. My fishing partner caught perhaps 50 over the same two days fishing various lures from the bow of my canoe. So, yes, a Mepps can be THE lure. 

Mepps Black Fury ... 1/6oz and 1/4oz red dots and dressed and not dressed for largemouth bass.

Good Fishing

Mepps and Rooster tail spinners for river fishing.

1/4 oz. Homemade inlines

On 4/29/2025 at 2:48 PM, Jar11591 said:

The little river smallies around here love em. 

In my river, the big ones like them too. That smallie in my avatar was caught on a Mepps.

In the river you'll catch everything and it's non stop action but bring pliers.

Caught my first pike when i was 13 on a plain size 0 agailia (?). It was 4.5" long. 54 years ago. Geez. That's a long time ago. Yikes! 

In line spinners are more than meets the eye. There are differences with weight of the lures and angles of the blades giving a performance that differs in different depths of water. In other words, the Rooster Tail, Panther Martin, Blue Fox and Mepps all have their unique designs and fish differently.

Good Fishing

On 4/29/2025 at 12:22 PM, Tennessee Boy said:

Yes,  definitely a good smallmouth bait.

 

They catch everything in the waters I fish. 

Totally forgot about the Mepps. Used them all the time on the rivers and gravel pits in upstate NY. My dad always swore by the Comet. The thunder bug and Aglia were awesome too. 

I've even trolled with Mepps.

• Used to use them for trout in the streams in MT in the early 60s.  Used Rooster Tails for bass but didn't have any Mepps when I took up bass fishing.

BTW I took up bass fishing in the late 70s.

Thanks to all that responded.  Good to see the Mepps is still alive and well.

12 hours ago, learnin said:

Thanks to all that responded.  Good to see the Mepps is still alive and well.

 

I fish only the brass-bladed Mepps and I keep steel wool handy for the blades tarnish quickly.

53 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

I fish only the brass-bladed Mepps and I keep steel wool handy for the blades tarnish quickly.

You should try Earth Brite to get the tarnish off. It's clay based in a brite yellow and green container.