southernswimbait.com proudly presents, an inside look at Mickey Ellis and the 3:16 Lure Company. I was in Southern California the Summer of 2011, and had a chance to reconnect with Mickey Ellis while I was there. I hadn’t seen or talked to Mickey in almost 10 years. I sat down with Mickey and got a lot of his perspectives, insights, and thoughts on a range of topics. The first and most important thing I realized, was an attempt to educate folks on who is Mickey Ellis and the 3:16 Lure Company? How did he start getting into creating swimbaits and why? The Mission Fish is a literal product of this journey as you’ll hear.
You will have to be patient, because there is a lot of footage I’m trying to process and synthesize that I’m going to be including in my future projects. For example, wouldn’t it be interesting to hear Mickey Ellis, Ken Huddleston, and Scott Whitmer respond to the same question(s), to get 3 different points of view from 3 very accomplished bigbaitsmen? Or is that too dramatic and controversial? There are other folks I’d like to engage, but I haven’t gotten there yet. These things take time.
My 2012 tournament season gives me a great opportunity to focus on some things that have been on my mind for some time. Add the 8″ Huddleston Deluxe Weedless Trout (I hope) and Mickey’s Version 2.0 Mission Fish (I hope), and we are on new ground. Whether or not you believe in salvation, or believe in the idea of ‘Providence’ —it doesn’t matter, what matters is the conversation about catching more and bigger fish and taking bigbait fishing to new places, or applying bigbaits in new ways, and contributing to the “conversation”.
How can I have a conversation about bigbait fishing, realism, softbait vs. hardbait, grass swimbait fishing, baby bass, bluegill, frogs, terrestrials, trout baits--- and not include 3:16 Lure Company and Mickey Ellis? "He who does not see the hand of God in this is blind, sir, blind!" Confederate General Stonewall Jackson.
The 8 inch Triple Trout, showed its strength in the Ozarks section of Southern Trout Eaters. Good bait for covering water and seeing what happens when you are on a lake where 20 pounds is a good sack. How about those Owner ST-36 Stinger Trebles? That fish is punk rock with all those piercings.
The 8” Triple Trout is probably the most universal of the Triple Trout family in that it is a bigbait, and able to get big bites, but at 8 inches long, this is a good search and destroy bait in lakes that aren’t known for big fish. But the 2-5 pounders will attack the 8” Triple Trout, given the right circumstances.
The 8" Triple Trout is not just for 'trout eaters'. The bait is the standard for chasing the elusive blueback herring eaters of the South. Lake Murray, South Carolina, and a May stud off a point, fishing with Chris Koon.
The 8” Triple Trout is part of our ‘trout eater’ toolbox, and was featured in Southern Trout Eaters in the Ozark section, where we were documenting our first attempts at bigbait fishing in the Ozarks. We were fishing a lake not known for double digit fish, had never fished the lake much and needed to cover water and see how the fish would react. We ended up with multiple 15-20 pound sacks and we were able to document most of it on film and in photos.
Before Brad Rutherford could drive, he was throwing the 8" Triple Trout, a testament to Brad's fishing and where he is going in this sport.
The 8” Triple Trout is also a staple in the blue back herring assault we have been exploring for years. Clarks Hill, Lake Lanier, Lake Murray and Lake Hartwell have all seen plenty of 8” Triple Trouts courtesy of our crew (Chris Koon, Brad&Bob Rutherford, Robert Malcom, and myself). There is no question the 8” Triple Trout is gets bit when you get around blue back herring chasers.
Clarks Hill, Fall of 2008. Working on the blueback herring bite around long sloping red clay points.
Strengths:The 8” Triple Trout can be fished fast or fished at a steady grind, but you can cover water with the bait and get a feel for how the fish are reacting. The Triple Trout excels in warm water. Anything above 60 degrees, and especially as the water gets into the 70s and low 80s, the Triple Trout is a good call in warm water. Since you can start and stop the bait and make it do 180 degree turns and pauses, you can create a bite with your retrieve, so its a good bait for making fish that only follow a swimbait actually eat. The 8” Triple Trout only weighs approx 2.5 ounces and is far less a workout to fish than the 10” Triple Trout. It’s a good ‘starter’ bait for those just getting into the Triple Trout family of swimbaits.
Lake Guntersville, 8 inch Triple Trout fished over shallow grass.
Ideal Conditions: Anytime you can fish a bait with hanging trebles over submerged grass, we recommend the Triple Trout. Anytime you are fishing a blue back herring lake, we recommend the Triple Trout fished around docks, off points, around brushpiles, off man made structure like breakwaters, rip rap, barge tie ups, etc, and certainly around laydown trees. Lakes with that are trout fed are a no brainer for the Triple Trout, and as the water temps warm up, use the 8” Triple Trout to call up active fish and get them to eat even in the summer swelter. You don’t need trout or blue backs to catch fish on the 8” Triple Trout, anywhere you are targeting 3-5 pound fish and know where they live, put on an 8” Triple Trout and see what happens.
Brad Rutherford, the first day we met, Clarks Hill, a little more grown up, giving me his "Matt Peters" pose...damn kids. Brad throwing a custom painted 8" Triple Trout blue back herring color.
Notes: Tie directly to the bait. Don’t use a snap to tie to. Just tie directly to the bait and make sure you retie often. The weight of the bait combined with big casts and repetitive casting make this a classic example of the physics of bigbait fishing we touched on in Southern Trout Eaters. Carry spare tails, because if you get onto a good bite, there’s a chance a fish can rip or wreck your tail so don’t be unprepared.
8" Triple Trout, light trout and an Ozark Trout Eater in bronze. When you are on a new lake, warm weather and water, need to cover water and have the highest odds of getting a bite, bust out your 8" Triple Trout in light trout and go to work.
Chartruese bass 8" Triple Trout. Lake Seminole sand bar fishing, the mouth of Spring Creek.
