# Mike Williams on Mirrolures



## JimD (May 25, 2004)

You do not hear of many people throwing 51/52s much any more for some reason. I also have the articles he did back in the 90's for a local mag of the time on 51/52/ and spoons from the old days.

Found this old group of posts from before the last time the board crashed years ago. Capt Mike Williams did a lot of the orig 51/52 colors according to him.

Below is a hodge podge of a big thread on the board on what colors work best in what bays for winter fishing. Boadr did not have spell ck at the time. 

MIKE: One of the best lures I FOUND for dity water in our area was the work horse RED AND WHITE 51M11 "'WOODY ""MIRROLURE ,HOWEVER THE RED AND WHITE 51 M 26 WORKS great in very clear water ... I RAN alot of the test I RAN in that pass and ALL the waters around that pass........... ---WHAT I LATER FOUND WAS --it was not the colors --IT WAS --the way the colors were broken on the two different lures------------------- 

MOST PEOPLE just don't understand ,how the color of WATER and SUNLIGHT can change over the PERIOD of time from dawn to dust,bay to bay and season to season ... and sometimes HOW light even changes at night in certain locals in many different clearities of waters and seasons .....IT'S NOT real important that you UNDERSTAND all this ,I WILL BE the first one to tell you ,that some of this ""light factors "' ---------- "'water clearity factors "'' --------- ""water temprature factors --------- ""season factors ""--AND local factors can get ABIT out in left field for most people ------------but it is a FACT ,that those factors DO 
FIELD TEST REPORTS from the logs the Mirrolure field tests -----BEST COLORS FOR WINTER AND COMBONATION OF COLORS ---area -GALVESTON BAY COMPLEX AND SURF ----NOW ,I'M NOT SAYING you can't catch trout on other colors than the ones I have listed ,*WHAT I'M LISTING HERE are the colors that produced best in the test I RAN . ------best colors WINTER daylight --shades of pearls ,chartruses,whites ,off whites ,bones ----GOLD SIDES or reflectors ---------------------LATER SEASON ,shades of pink ,hot pinks ,clear pinks -GOLD SIDES OR REFLECTORS ----------------------VERY VERY CLEAR WATER ---shades of pearl ,whites ,bones and the color red,,,,,,also clear --SILVER SIDES OR REFLECTOR -------- COLOR times GOOD from DECEMBER 15 TO ARPIL 15 --ALL BAYS AND SURFS of *

 51MRCHG MIRROLURE - ---THIS LURE IS ""DEADLY"" ON BIG TROUT IN WINTER ------ALSO where two lines cross north and west or ""NORTHWEST ""-----OR in plain english ---THIS LURE IS DEADLY ON BIG TROUT IN THE NORTHWESTER END OF MOST BAYS IN THE WINTER TIME ,ESSPECIALLY AFTER the wind has been out of the NORTH OR NORTHWEST for a day or two ----

GOOD colores FOR WINTER IN CLEAR WATER IS THE COLORS OF RED AND WHITE...THE BEST TWO LURES FOR OUR AREA THAT ARE GOOD PRODUCERS ARE THE WORK HORSE REDHEAD , WHITE BODIED ,SILVER SIDED IS LEGENDARY ""*WOODY "" THE 51MR11 ...ANOTHER RED AND WHITE LURE THAT IS AN EXCELlENT LURE IN WINTER IS THE REDBACK ,WHITE BELLIED ,SILVER SIDED MIRROLURE 51MR26""THE WEST BAY SPECIAL""...THE WORK HORSE ""WOODY "'works well in ALLBAYS and SURFS year round of the GALVESTON BAY COMPLEX ,however the ""WEST BAY SPECIAL ""works best in WEST BAY IN THE CLEARER WATER OF WINTER ...*
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SOME LOCALS are just better for wading at night than others and like in the daytime conditions play a major factor ...ALOT of trout are taken at night on the warming tides of spring ,but some BIGGER fish are taken on nights that produce some of the lowest ,if not the lowest temperatures of the year ..
Mike:

O.K., here goes. All of these combos I list are not selected w/ Trophy Trout in mind - just fishing for food.

1. Silver Spoon (Tried & true Nationwide in Bay and Surf)
2. Mirro Lure - Very Sloooow sink w. Black Back & Silver Sides. (Can be used in both shallow flats and the surf. Acceptable Imitation of both Mullet and Pinfish.)
3. 5" Bass Assassins with Gammakatsu Hooks and Lead Worm weights. (Silver Flake w/ a Black back is the color. Good for bay and surf. Relatively weedless.).
4. Speck rig. (One white and the other Chartruese. Good in surf and flats for the smaller trout)

WELL ,THERE ARE NO WRONG ANSWERS HERE ,because the right answer is what YOU have confidence in and without any doubt the classic "'WOODY"" 51MR 11 Mirrolure is a true trout taker and one of most most used color patterns in the world ---HOWEVER to date the plastic BASS ASSASSINS is the most deadly trout lure EVERMADE that could be used on a 365 day basis........ NOW ,with that said -if I HAD to make a rescue package for a person stuck on MATAGORDA ISLAND for 30 days and I could only put one trout lure in that rescue package it would be the most versertile lure ever made by man ,the plain jane "'SILVER SPOON""'...
THE COLORED SPOON --Spoons come bisically in gold or silver ,in some cases one side of the spoon may be colored or in some cases the whole spoon is painted or were painted ..LIKE KENNY (our OLD Kenny) said the red and white spoon was a true classic ,as was the chartruse and hot orange .......WHY don't more people throw spoons TODAY is because most fishermen are like a rollin marble in a small boat in 6 foot seas ,which ever side the boat pitches that the side the marble rolls to OR IN OTHER WORDS people throw what they hear about and if they don't hear about a lure alot ,in most cases they SIMPLY don't throw it .------------WILL a red and white spoon catch trout NOW?-try one sometime,you might be surprized .///THE SECOND BIGGEST TROUT I ever saw come out of WEST GALVESTON BAY hit a spoon ....
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*OF ALL,the MirrOlures EVER made one of the BEST that I ever field tested for MirrOlure was and STILL IS the 51 MR SHP ----51 STANDS FOR THE SERIES AND THE 51 SERIES WAS DESIGNED ESSPECIALLY FOR THE WADEFISHERMEN AND WADING .......* -The 51MSHP ""THE TROPHY TROUT KILLER*"" is deadly on big trout esspecially in late winter through early summer ,both bay and surf .....I know of serveral double digit trout that came from the GALVESTON BAY COMPLEX on the 51MR *------------------- 








*Re''******"'the SURF RUNNER* 
​ ANOTHER great lure or color pattern for winter "'wades"" is the 51MR51 MirrOlure ,""****** "'the SURF RUNNER.---THIS LURE has a white back and belly with siver sides and also comes with gold sides ,but the gold sided versions may be hard to find ..THIS COLOR PATTERN also works well in the MirrOlure surface runners and walker series .. THE 51M51 MirrOlure ALSO EXCELS IN THE SURF ON clear GREEN INCOMMING TIDES OF LATE SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER


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## SpottedAg (Jun 16, 2010)

Mike Williams...lol. That was a classic thread that got locked.


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## V-Bottom (Jun 16, 2007)

Good info......then, and now


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## Flounder Face (Jun 20, 2012)

That guy was an avid fisherman. Lots of knowledge in his head. Thanks Jim, for posting this.


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## Mr. Breeze (Jan 6, 2005)

Love the way trout hammer them in the surf. Corkies also. They will rip the rod right out of your hands if your not careful. Tight lines and thanks for sharing JD.


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## Haute Pursuit (Jun 26, 2006)

I'd like to hear him tell some tales from the old Bar at Teakwood... :cheers:


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

I wonder what Mike is up to, these days...


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## jdot7749 (Dec 1, 2008)

guiding tarpon and bull reds


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## speckcaster (May 5, 2012)

can't beat the ole 51/52 series for quality trout......takes a brave trout to tackle those sets of trebles!!!!:wink:

speck


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## JimD (May 25, 2004)

Speck- Takes a brave man to get a good fish off a 51/52.  

No one has really jumped up and says I love them more than my corkies. 

Seems 10 years ago a lot of people talked about throwing them all winter and not just in the surf.


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## ddakota (Jun 28, 2009)

caught a lot of fish on those...spent a of of time moving the eye from the top to the nose on the 52 before you could buy a 51


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## troutomatic1488 (Jun 18, 2006)

I have fished with many guides a lot of were better entertainers but none understand fish better in my opinion.


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## davembehr (Aug 10, 2012)

I still fish and rely heavily on some of those mirrolures to this day. And I've been using them since the mid 80's when i started fishing saltwater. That was a fantastic post. I still enjoy listening to Mike "Super Trout" Williams when he calls in to the 610 Outdoors Show. He's always got something to say. I hope he'll write a book of the stories he could tell. Love those mirrolures. To add to Mike's post, the 51MR19 (green back, gold sides, yellow bottom) is a real killer in green water when it's warm. 

Thanks for posting that.


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

Yep, even in the early 1970s when we could only afford one or two Mirrolures, the 52M in that color was our go-to plug. And it really worked. Of course we used them at the jetties or in the bay.


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## V-Bottom (Jun 16, 2007)

and one that I used in the 80's on the East Coast was the Red/White/Silver Side Speckled Series.......still have a selection


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## pickn'fish (Jun 1, 2004)

Mr. Breeze said:


> Love the way trout hammer them in the surf. Corkies too...


 No doubt. Great sport with surfrunners on a moving tide along the beachfront. At times, they will eat it as soon as it hits the water. Be ready... I love the 51mr28 in the surf. 
We used to lineup for that double- pump along the flats when water temperatures moderate later in the year, also. Great plugging in the fall for solid trout.
Wear em down before you reach for a fish. A green fish could inflict a painful lesson.
I try to remember to mash all barbs down...


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## chicapesca (Jun 7, 2004)

Great read, thank you for posting! I still have some of my grandfather's red/gold I think 52MR with teeth marks on them. Always have at least a 51MR or two in my box of red/white or red/gold. And I usually catch fish with them.


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## JimD (May 25, 2004)

I threw a few this weekend for old time sake. Those 3 sets of trebles still look at bad as ever flipping around.

Learned a good trick from a buddy while back who mainly boat fishes. He uses a boga and a cheap Berkly to grab the fish out of the water and not have to use the net or uses the boga to get a big fish out of the net so you do not handle them. 

I took my old berkley with float and put a long cord on it to attach a set of needle nose pliers. I need a place to hang it but it does a great job and will keep hooks out of your hand.


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## wallhanger (Apr 10, 2009)

Love those 51M's. It's like trying to avoid the mouth of a barracuda once you land the trout and he starts flopping with a mouth full of trebles still looking for something to latch on to. I was catching big old trout in the surf last year with a pink top, silver side, yellow belly and had my fair share of hooks in the hand. The worst was a deep hook gouge and then having the trout squirt out of my grip and start thrashing around while I'm hooked in the hand. OUCH!!!!!!


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## JimD (May 25, 2004)

Pretty simple with the fish being held by a boga real or fake. Still a lot of hooks.


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## capt. david (Dec 29, 2004)

The Texas Chicken, great lure Wallhanger. Also one of my favorites was the Tahiti Sunrise.


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## Bonito (Nov 17, 2008)

Silver 51M is still one of my favorite lures. Been throwing miro-lures sinced the 70's. Will continute to throw them.


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## Captain Dave (Jul 19, 2006)

Yup, I was forturnate enough to meet and chat with Capt Williams for a short time as he alwasy has another place to go..lol 

Tons of info in that 10 mins.. How he worked with the innovation of the lure and what to expect. like that the lure is stil in production , but not many feech it.. Mirror Lures and others that in my box fall in to this category .. But you did not hear this from me.

Feech do get immune to same ol same ol.. Sure Trout are impact strikers , but if they see a lure too much, they tend to see the fake in it.


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## Blk Jck 224 (Oct 16, 2009)

Can't believe the CH11 didn't fake the fav list. The red head char/gold/char is killer in the Winter when fishing deep.


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## JimD (May 25, 2004)

Here is Mike's org article. In adobe so hope the jpeg will show.
Hopefully I can post this from the old 95 article if not we need to take it down. I also have part 2 of this article.


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## capt. david (Dec 29, 2004)

I remember this article. I grew up just a few miles from him. After I got out of college we became friends. Fished together and he encouraged me to start guiding. I have seen fish photos that most people would not believe. Still talk to him often but we don't see each other that much. Need to change that this year.


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## laqua (Jan 9, 2006)

51 MR 751 was a color that disappeared a few years back that was a killer. White top and bottom with iridescent Chartreuse sides. Still believe a trout hits a mirrolure harder than any other bait. Love em.


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## Capt Jim West (Feb 24, 2010)

This fish (A skin mount) I caught in East Galveston Bay in 1983 she is 31 1/3 long. I caught her on a 51 MR SHP mirrolure.


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## bubbas kenner (Sep 4, 2010)

My pb speck was caught on a ttr28 it was my favorite from 70s n 80s.I still carry them .


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## indaskinny (May 25, 2009)

That ttr28 sure is a texas trout *****.


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## phanagriff (Dec 23, 2011)

This is probably one of the greatest post I have read.
Really would like to see the other installment.


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## That Robbie Guy (Aug 11, 2009)

Mr. Breeze said:


> Love the way trout hammer them in the surf.


Yes!


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## WadinCajun (Oct 20, 2011)

Back in the 80s before top dogs came out my dad would fish the Chandeleur chain using these 51s and 52ms short under a popping cork. Caught his two best trout (29-30") using this method.


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## JimD (May 25, 2004)

The other part


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## phanagriff (Dec 23, 2011)

You da man!
My sincere thanks.


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## JimD (May 25, 2004)

Part of the old article from when 51/52's were the bait.

What I did find was taking the middle treble hook off did not affect the bait's action out by the pool last year.

Maybe when the surf starts up I will start throwing the ones that I have. I tend to always grab my corkies during the winter and not a 51 wading.


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## RogerTherk (Aug 24, 2011)

Seasoned fisherman no doubt


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## Jetty Rat (Feb 16, 2015)

My favorite to this day. This old battle scarred 52MR has caught more fish than I remember. It is now retired.


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## cpthook (Jan 16, 2008)

I can't count the number of trout I've caught on a 52 woody woodpecker (Seabrook and Silvan) out of the boat back in the 90's. The only mirolure I use now is the 32M for winter out of the boat. The 51 & 52 have 3 trebles, the only reason I don't use them now. but in the day mirolures were the corky.


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## OMAS (Jun 20, 2012)

I still throw them a lot and not only in the surf. I prefer the 51s, chart/gold/chart, pink/silver/pink, electric chicken, and green/silver/white (a killer in clearer h2o and winter). I remove the front hook from mine, 3 treble hooks on a lure that size is over kill IMO.


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## iamatt (Aug 28, 2012)

JimD said:


> Pretty simple with the fish being held by a boga real or fake. Still a lot of hooks.


Or a huge spanish mackerel is worse than flailing trout. I usually take out middle hook on those lures!

They always seem to find their way to get in the nylon webbing of a drift sock or PFD too.


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## JimD (May 25, 2004)

There is another post of Mike's that I brought up. Good info. I went to the pool and the action does not seem to change with the middle hook gone nor does the sink rate.


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## ATE_UP_FISHERMAN (Jun 25, 2004)

Great stuff Thanks JimD. the 51MRCH is still one of my favs for the Surf.


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## braidnhook (Jun 14, 2014)

I wish mike would join Mickey on the outdoor show once a month. I love to listen what he has to say. If you listen close you can pick up a lot of information from mike. It seem like he thinks about more than the average person does. Really smart guy!


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## SurfRunner (May 22, 2004)

I think to this day the mirrolure 51 is the best bait for the surf! Not only does it catch fish, it is aerodynamically shaped to cast like a bullet into the wind. I use the mirrodine more now only because I like it's sink rate, but the 51 series is built to be a true surf plug! I used to read a lot of Capt. Mike's articles years ago! Priceless information!


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## redfish bayrat (Feb 17, 2006)

ddakota said:


> caught a lot of fish on those...spent a of of time moving the eye from the top to the nose on the 52 before you could buy a 51


Same here, and painting with florescent pink spray paint that the surveyors used. We did this for our wades in Cedar Bayou.


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## Reel Screamer (Jun 8, 2004)

The TT series has always been my "go to" when the surf gets right.


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## BigBay420 (Jun 20, 2005)

How do you find a job testing all of these lures??


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

Mikey paid his dues out there, that's for sure. They should have the Mikey and Mickey show.


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## reigningreds (Oct 1, 2014)

Reading those articles was like watching a movie you don't want to end.


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## ATE_UP_FISHERMAN (Jun 25, 2004)

Then you have people trying to tell you color doesn't matter. I does..


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## spiwonka (Jan 29, 2009)

Trouthappy said:


> Mikey paid his dues out there, that's for sure. They should have the Mikey and Mickey show.


I would have to quit listening to the outdoor show then! Thank god for the podcast, as i can fast forward through mike williams repeats.


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## MikeS2942 (Mar 5, 2010)

I've been trowing the same mirrolure for the past 30 years. I have to totally agree with Mike, they work great.


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## barronj (Sep 30, 2013)

*somewhat related to the 51/52MR discussion*

We were visiting family in Kemah this Easter, saw this on the wall & had to take a pic:


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## cpthook (Jan 16, 2008)

*rarely*



ATE_UP_FISHERMAN said:


> Then you have people trying to tell you color doesn't matter. I does..


very rarely does color matter. at least in my experience. It's location and not presentation. now everyone has their favorites they swear by, including Mike, but find the fish, put a lure in front of them, and chances are they will eat. notice how lures brands, colors and styles change with the wind.


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

One afternoon at the jetties we kept having trout follow our gold spoons, sometimes 3-4 of them, the water was clear green. And we'd caught many a trout there with those spoons, in years past. So we tied on pink Mirrolures, and it was on! Almost every cast. Strung about 25 fish in the three-pound range and headed home. We might have been skunked without those lures. We never did use many plugs at the jetties, there were too many mackerel with sharp teeth. If we had it would have been expensive. But we'd have caught bigger trout.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

ATE_UP_FISHERMAN said:


> Then you have people trying to tell you color doesn't matter. I does..


They are deaf too...


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## JimD (May 25, 2004)

Did find out one thing since this was brought up and that is the mirrolure fishes just a well with the middle hook removed for me.The other thing people used to do is buy the 52's and then drill a small nose hole so in a bind you could move the tie eye to make a 51 or 52 when the need arose.Kinda like buying floating corkies for down south and carrying that 1/32 wt to make the corky into a sinker when needed.
This is the same thing Paul was doing when he first came out with the jointed FB. Idea still works well if you get a new Fat Boy that will not sink at 1ft per second or if you need one to sink a little faster.


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## fishing83 (Mar 24, 2010)

JimD said:


> Here is Mike's org article. In adobe so hope the jpeg will show.
> Hopefully I can post this from the old 95 article if not we need to take it down. I also have part 2 of this article.


Do you by any chance have the rest of the article? Page 28. Thanks for posting this!


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## JimD (May 25, 2004)

I think that I have both articles on this old computer. 

PM me your email and I will send both articles to you "mighty mighty ML and the other part or do you need a specific page?


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## fishing83 (Mar 24, 2010)

JimD said:


> I think that I have both articles on this old computer.
> 
> PM me your email and I will send both articles to you "mighty mighty ML and the other part or do you need a specific page?


PM Sent. Thanks!


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## JimD (May 25, 2004)

Here is what I have


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## JimD (May 25, 2004)

I found this old site that I had saved a few years ago. It has over saltwater articles that are good reading and it has a good section of fresh water articles too. It is a midcoast site but the articles have a lot of good information in them for saltwater fishing.

Below points to the saltwater section but kick up to the home page to see all the fresh water and other sections.

Jim

http://texasweekendangler.com/sw_articles_3.htm


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## 1TroutTodd (Aug 15, 2017)

Thanks for the bump.
Never would of saw this without.


Any idea what bassassisan he was referring too on page 1?


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

An old friend in Vidor had a bunch of old Mirrolures, I cleaned 'em, kept some and returned the rest. Walked the jetties and did pretty good with them. He said Hurricane Harvey washed away his boat shed and tackle, when the Neches River destroyed the Beaumont Yacht Club.


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## JimD (May 25, 2004)

YOu may has well send them to me since you will not find many fish out in those corn fields.


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## ReedA1691 (Jan 29, 2018)

Trouthappy said:


> An old friend in Vidor had a bunch of old Mirrolures, I cleaned 'em, kept some and returned the rest. Walked the jetties and did pretty good with them. He said Hurricane Harvey washed away his boat shed and tackle, when the Neches River destroyed the Beaumont Yacht Club.


I'll take that Cotton Cordell broken back off your hands. Haven't seen that color in a long time. Some really nice, fat, night-time East Bay specks have fallen to that one.


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## mertz09 (Nov 15, 2009)

had to turn my laptop upside down to read that.


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## JimD (May 25, 2004)

Fig for a 1995 article that I got back in the early 2000's it is still worth reading.


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