At Minda Lures We Think Like Fish

Minda Lures has come a long ways. Over 16 years ago, John Guerin, President of Minda Lures, was inspired to build the Injured Minda when his eldest son was feeding his tropical fish with a bottle of Tetra. Watching his son’s tropical fish dying, Guerin saw they would float to the surface then flip their tail pushing themselves downward. It was this dying, fluttering action that Guerin spent numerous hours on trying to recreate. The biggest obstacle was designing the tail section. After trial and error it came to him; why not have the tail section connect to the head section? It worked. After two years of working with 2x4’s and a sinking wood blank, Guerin finally had a functional, fishing catching lure. “It’s the perfect predator lure for big fish; big fish don’t like to chase down their meals and the Injured Minda can just stay in one place,” explained Guerin. Guerin had at last designed a full functional lure that represented the dying tropical fish.

For Guerin, making and designing fishing lures comes naturally. He is a skilled carpenter by trade. This talent gives him the ability to shape and construct lures. Not only has Guerin designed the first stationary topwater lure, he also has a line of soft plastic baits, and crankbait tails. Spear Worms was another idea that Guerin had. “I wanted to build a soft plastic lure that would displace a lot of water, but I did not want just another run of the mill plastic worm,” said Guerin. With that in mind, he went to the kitchen and got a knife and began working on his prototype lure. After getting the shape of a spear, he added a worm style body to it. Sure enough, the prototype Spear Worm worked just like he wanted it to. “The Spear Worm can be fished as a jig trailer, spinnerbait trailer, buzzbait trailer, or even by itself on a Texas rig, Carolina rig, or drop shot rig,” revealed Guerin. The Spear Worm comes in 14 different color patterns and three different sizes including 4-inch, 7-inch, and 10-inch. Another unique product by Minda Lures is the Crank Bait Tail. The Crank Bait Tail fits on most crankbaits and is made from durable, PVC based materials. “I designed the Crank Bait Tail to give lures more of a swimming action and lifelike appearance,” said Guerin. The Crank Bait Tail does not interfere with action of the lure and can be used with soft plastic baits, jigs, or spinnerbaits. The Crank Bait Tail can also be modified to fit smaller crankbaits by rutting the strands or removing every third strand.

Not one to be happy with three extreme productive fish catching lures. Guerin has a new soft plastic crawdad to be released soon. The body shape makes it perfect for punching or flipping. It is 5-inches long, 1-inch wide, and ¾-inch thick with a concaved bottom that allows it to glide through the water.

Guerin’s theory on catching fish is bass feed more by their lateral lines then by scent or sight. So, Minda Lures (www.mindalures.com or phone (866)649-2941) are designed to displace water and have lifelike movements, but not be exceptionally loud. “I spend a lot of time thinking about how a lure should react in the water; does it look and sound real?” Guerin continued, “That’s why at Minda Lures our motto is we think like fish so you don’t have to. That is the reason why Minda Lures are quickly becoming the hottest baits in tackle stores everywhere. They think like fish, so you can catch fish.

Brad is a professional fishing guide on Beaver Lake and a freelance outdoor writer.  Contact him at (479) 756-5279, www.bradwiegmann.com, or by e-mail at bwiegmann@bradwiegmann.com.