Please select your home edition
Edition
Maritimo 2023 S-Series LEADERBOARD

Fishing: Mullet made for bass

by Northland Fishing Tackle 1 Aug 19:14 UTC

 

Instant Demand Expands Range

Northland® Fishing Tackle adds colors and sizes to summers hottest hit, the Minnesota Mullet

BEMIDJI, Minn. (July 31, 2024) Hair jigs have been a bass secret for years, with some companies even offering their own commercial versions of what top-finishers secretly tie on when its time for a kicker fish.

The problem? Most largemouth-intended bass hair jigs are too stiff, with more feathers than fluff. Northland took the opposite approach, creating a jig that has all the best attributes of a tiny marabou jig for rod-whipping giant bronzebacks (which Northland also makes) and combined it with a classic bucktail hair jig design.

Yes, the new Northland Minnesota Mullet has loft and lots of it, for fishing everything from shallow water, over summer weed tops, to open water where largemouths go crazy eating young-of-the-year and even larger panfish. The Minnesota Mullet is a big, flowing, hovering, water pushing machine. The big hair features a synthetic fiber material that creates a breathing, lifelike appearance in the water while also providing flotation to the jig. This will allow you to hover the bait over flats, weed beds, and suspended fish while pulsing the hair, and its tantalizing back feathers tease big bass and other predator fish to absolutely annihilate the bait. 

SEXY SHAD

BLACK

PURPLE SHAD

SHAD

And shortly after the release of the Minnesota Mullet, Northland comes with four new patterns and sizes. Calls came quick to add black and sexy shad, said Northland Marketing Manager, Charlie Peterson. Sexy shad is simply a bass staple, its blue-based rainbow hues blended with white. Black is increasingly popular, too, its natural silhouette intriguing to bass. Moreover, black is a frequent choice for anglers fishing in murky water and during lowlight periods, even nighttime hours.

Purple has become one of the hottest hues in bass fishing, spawning Northlands new Minnesota Mullet in Purple Shad. Finally, Northland added Smelt to the collection. The naturalistic pattern mimics numbers of different baitfish species.   

New sizes include 3/8- and 5/8-ounce Minnesota Mullets. The new 3/8-ounce size will be hugely effective in shallow water, depths under 5-feet, said Peterson. Likewise, the heavier 5/8-ounce size makes the Minnesota Mullet effective down to 20-feet or more.

Northland lure designer, Sam Larsen, offers: Most of the best fish-catching baits are simple in design. We took that direction with the Minnesota Mullet, which is made of three materials on a premium Northland Elite Series Mimic Jighead with 60-degree upward hook-bend and heavy wire for solid hooksets. We utilized a unique, synthetic fiber with a lot of loft, buoyancy, and flow; a couple chicken feathers off the back that undulate like a trailer; and just the right amount of tinsel. Then you have the thread tied farther back on the jig hook shank so its really streamlined.

Especially in the upper Midwest, tournament bass anglers are going to town fishing big hair jigs for bigger bass. We knew we could create a better jig to use in the same manner in-the-know anglers have been doing for the past several years. Theres really nothing like it, especially given that we added an entire extra step to the jig production process by applying vertical lines to the material to give it an even greater forage-matching appeal. These baits look like the real thing that big bass eat, continues Larsen.

There is no other bass hair jig that hangs, pauses, breathes, and sheds water so easily, while remaining easy to fish. It gives the right suspending action while having a lot of material to push waternotify big bass of its presenceand really stimulate their lateral lines. 

ABOUT THE NORTHLAND MINNESOTA MULLET

Born in the state of hockey, the Minnesota Mullet is a big, flowing, hovering, water pushing machine. This big hair jig features a synthetic fiber material that creates a breathing, lifelike appearance in the water while also providing flotation to the jig. This will allow you to hover the bait over flats, weed beds and suspended fish while pulsing the hair, and its tantalizing back feather that teases big bass and other predator fish to absolutely swallow it!

Currently available in ½- and ¾ ounce with other weights to follow soon. Right now, there are four forage-mimicking colors include Perch, Crappie, White, and Green Bluegill, with a bunch of additional patterns coming down the pipeline. MSRP: $14.99.

In my opinion, the Northland Minnesota Mullet is a lot more than a midsummer, open water bait, says winning bass pro, Noah Schultz. Ive been fishing em since ice-out throughout the Midwesteverywhere from a foot of water out, through old reeds and cattails, and obviously, out deeper through weed flats and weed edges now. And, of course, it will come into play in open water when those fish move out. Right now, Im fishing them around bluegill beds during the spawn, and then Ill be fishing them over coontail and through cattails.

WHITE

CRAPPIE

PERCH

GREEN BLUEGILL

The way I fish them primarily I call floating I just straight-retrieve the Minnesota Mullet over the weed tips and if I feel a weed tick, rip it a little bit, adds Schultz. 

As far as rock and deeper water, hell let the jig drop to the bottom and then swim along the bottom, occasionally twitching it to get hairs moving.

Its success comes from its subtlety and how the Minnesota Mullet breathes, floats, and hovers in the water unlike a lot of bass hair jigs. Then you add the Elite Series Mimic Jig, and it stays level in the water column and the pointed nose gets through the grass like a rubber swim jig.

Schultz has caught lots of tournament bass on it recently including some top 2 and 3 finishes. Its a good kicker bait. The MN Mullet generates some big fish bites when you need em most.

 

#NORTHLANDTACKLE

FacebookInstagramYouTubeTwitter

Related Articles

Fishing: The Walleye Whisperer
Tom Huynh wins the Stanley Cup of competitive walleye fishing on his signature jig Northland® Fishing Tackle pro and technical-fishing phenom Tom Huynh wins the Stanley Cup of competitive walleye fishing on his signature jig. Posted on 14 Sep
Fishing: The Tungsten Truth
Northland Fishing Tackle boasts 95-97% tungsten purity Northland Fishing Tackle boasts 95-97% tungsten purity – the most possible – in ALL its tungsten jigs. So, what are the other guys using? You might want to ask… Posted on 15 Aug
Fishing: More Hair. More Tinsel
Jigging experts share applications for Deep-Vee Bucktail and Flashtail Jigs Jigging experts Jason Mitchell and Tyler and Sara Trampe share applications for Northland® Fishing Tackle's Deep-Vee Bucktail and Flashtail Jigs. Posted on 3 May
Fishing: River bite is on now!
These Northland® experts are on the bite right now… Don't Miss Out! Like deer camp in fall, scores of outdoorsmen and women look forward to the annual spring river walleye runs. Posted on 7 Apr
New Elite Series Hardbaits with Pro Sunny B Deep
All handpicked by Jeff "Gussy" Gustafson himself Northland® Fishing Tackle is proud to release their Elite Series Hardbaits this week, the mix including seven shapes and six colors, all handpicked by Jeff "Gussy" Gustafson himself. Posted on 21 Mar
2024's hottest new color?
Northland® collaborates with Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson Northland® collaborates with Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson to create brilliant new Smeltinator® and Smeltinator® Underspin pattern. Posted on 13 Mar
Buggy for Panfish
Northland® Fishing Tackle's new Tungsten Flat-Fry Fly catches all panfish species, all season If your goal is to catch lots of panfish, the new Tungsten Flat-Fry Fly fits the bill. Sunfish, crappies, and perch all go crazy for this buggy-looking creation. Posted on 9 Mar
A Jig for the Naturalist
Nature's finest Elite Series Marabou Jig Famed basser Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson collaborates with Northland Fishing Tackle to design nature's finest Elite Series Marabou Jig. Posted on 4 Jan
Smeltinator® Underspin Jigs in-stock
A couple weeks back, the bass fishing community celebrated the arrival A couple weeks back, the bass fishing community celebrated the arrival of Northland's new Smeltinator® Jig. Posted on 27 Dec 2023
100 years of wisdom: legendary guides talk jigging
Distinguished fishing guides share winning walleye ways for more late-fall fish While the walleye world is constantly reinventing itself with new technologies, baits, and techniques, sometimes we make things too complicated. Posted on 20 Oct 2022
Maritimo 2023 S600 FOOTER