“Chuck Byrd Investigates the Mister Mino for Catching Freshwater and Saltwater Fish”

Part 2: Why Mister Twister Created the Mister Mino

Editor’s Note: Chuck Byrd, president of Mister Twister (a division of Sheldon’s, Inc.) in Minden, Louisiana, is an avid fisherman and recently conducted field tests on the Mister Mino, a new Mister Twister lure. Byrd and other fishermen have had phenomenal results using the Mister Mino. This week, Byrd will tell us how to fish the Mister Mino, and why it was created.

Question: Chuck, how and why did Mister Twister decide to create the Mister Mino?

Byrd: One trend that’s really hot in the bass-fishing world right now is the paddle-tailed, hollow-bodied swim bait. Everyone has one. I like the hollow body, but the straight-tailed minnow type lure looked better and attracted and produced more fish. Too, the straight-tailed, hollow-bodied lure is much-more versatile and can be used to catch a wider variety of fish than one with the swimming-tail. The straight-tailed minnow also can be used on a drop-shot or a Texas rig. It can be fished with an umbrella rig with two or three hooks tied onto the same line too. You also can rig the straight-tailed minnow, so the bait will fall slow or fast. To make the bait fall fast, you can insert a tube-type jig, and to make it fall slow, you can put it on the hook and let the weight of the hook cause the Mister Mino to fall extremely slow.

Question: Chuck, how many crappie did you catch on the Mister Mino before you had to put a new Mister Mino on your hook?

Byrd: I caught 13 crappie with two Mister Minos. I lost one Mister Mino when a crappie chewed the bait up and spit it out of its mouth, as I brought the crappie up to the boat. If I hadn’t lost that Mister Mino, I could have caught all my fish on one Mister Mino.

Question: Chuck, what color did you have the most success with on the day you fished?

Byrd: On that day, the goby-green and the baby-bass colors seemed to be the most productive.

Question: What pound-test line did you fish with, Chuck?

Byrd: I used 6-pound-test line.

Question: What was the water depth?

Byrd: The bottom was at 35 feet, and we caught our crappie in 15- to 20-foot-deep water.

Question: How big was the crappie you caught?

Byrd: The larger crappie were in the 2- to 2-1/2-pound range.

Question: On what lake were you fishing, Chuck?

Byrd: We were fishing on Toledo Bend on the Louisiana/Texas border.

Byrd: We’ve developed the 4- and the 6-inch Mister Mino, so bass fishermen can use this bait in more ways and in more places. We’ve discovered that many of our bass fishermen cast a 2-1/2-inch Mister Mino out in deep, clear water and let the bait free fall with just the hook to take it down. That slow fall has produced a lot of suspended bass in those deep, clear lakes. We’ve had other bass fishermen put two hooks on the rig, one at the bottom of the line and another up 12 to 18 inches above the hook at the bottom of the line, bait with the Mister Mino, cast this two-hook rig out and let it fall to look like two minnows that have been injured or hurt on the surface and are falling back to the bottom. Using this rig, they’ll often catch two bass at a time.

We’ve learned that Mister Mino is a fantastic lure to use for suspended bass not only in clear water, but also in any water you want to fish where you locate suspended bass. When the weather gets hot, the bass often will suspend and hold in the mid-water range. The Mister Mino is hard to beat in this situation. Too, the Mister Mino rigged this way can be extremely effective when fishing for schooling bass.

Question: Each one of these Mister Minos is hand painted, right?

Byrd: You’re exactly right. We custom designed the paint job on the Mister Mino. We have people who hand paint the baits to give us that back-light realistic look.

Question: Chuck, if someone can’t find Mister Mino in their local tackle store, can they visit your website to purchase the Mister Mino?

Byrd: Yes, visit www.mistertwister.com. We’re having a special on the Mister Mino right now.