Mister Twister Flip’n OUT

The Mister Twister Flip’n OUT, the latest in soft plastic creature baits, were scheduled to go on the market the first week of August.

But several bass fishermen — including Pete Daniels, Jason Pitman and Lucas Ragusa — already knew what the Flip’n OUT can do when it’s put to the test in tournaments such as the Bassmaster Opens, according to Mister Twister’s Darryl Laurent.

The Louisiana-based company that has been in the artificial lure manufacturing business since the 1960s is refocusing on baits for bass, a move that Mike Echols of Shreveport, La., appreciates.

“I’m really happy to see Mister Twister get back in the bass end of it,” said Echols, who helped design the Flip’n OUT. “I’ve known Darryl for a long, long time, One of the baits he was wanting to introduce into the market was a creature bait.”

Daniels, 58, is a believer in the new offering. The rigging supervisor for Bayou Outdoor Supercenter in Bossier City, La., used some early models to finish 10th in the recent Bassmaster Central Open on the Red River.

“I think I had a total of probably 14 of (the lures). I was trying to make them last,” Daniels said about his small collection of “hand pours” from Laurent.

The prototypes did just fine.

“I’m a shallow-water fisherman,” Daniels said. “What I like to do on the river is fish stumps right on the breakline.

“That’s how I was catching them. That’s where all my big fish came from.”

The Flip’n OUT coaxed a 5-pound class bass from its stumpy lair on the second day to put Daniels in the championship round. The huge stump near a duck blind had water 5 feet deep on one side and 12 feet deep on the other side.

That chunky bass had ignored offerings from an FLW pro who was fishing the B.A.S.S. event to practice for the Forrest L. Wood Championship. That bass angler had just left the stump when Daniels got on it with his Flip’n OUT.

His 10th-place finish in the tournament was cemented right at the end of the third and final day when he pitched to a big stump near a duck blind. He flipped his hand-poured, black/neon soft-plastic creature bait.

“I told my partner, ‘If there’s going to be a big fish, it’ll be here,’” Daniels said.

The angler said the bait didn’t even hit the bottom before the 5-pounder bit and wound up in the livewell.

“It’s a big-fish bait,” he said about the Flip’n OUT, which he rigs on a 3/0 Eagle Claw, heavy-wire, wide-gap hook. “It’s a real good bait on the Red River.

“It was a big part of my success. Black/neon’s always a good color on that river. It really helped me out.”

And he believes the Flip’n OUT was critical to catching that anchor fish.

“I’ve caught some really good fish on them,” he said, noting he had a hand in the design of the new lure.

It’s also a good bait to hook up at Caddo Lake, where he occasionally guides. Daniels catches plenty of fish there on a green pumpkin/blue model with the tails dipped in chartreuse.

The tails have “a little wider profile” than a similarly shaped soft-plastic creature bait, he said.

One thing to note on the Flip’n OUT, he said, is that if you Texas rig it, embedding the hook on the smooth side — which has a fish-scale pattern — will allow the lure to fall a little faster than if it is Texas-rigged on the ribbed side. Laurent told him there’s a 17 percent difference in the fall rate with the different hook techniques.

Echols, a retired firefighter who runs a popular bass fishing circuit in Northwest Louisiana, helped Laurent design the Flip’n OUT. He fished with a few of the lures to catch some nice bass in mid-July in some private lakes he guides on, including 30 to 35 fish on a four-hour trip July 23. The black/neon Flip’n OUTs accounted for at least half of the total caught, he said.

The 60-year-old outdoorsman said some additions and changes were made to separate the lure from other similar soft plastics on the market. Echols took credit for the small curly tail at the end of each side wing.

“It really kind of keys off an early Twister worm they had years ago,” he said. “The idea behind that was it would give it action on the fall.”

Another difference in the Flip’N OUT is that it is a little thinner than similar lures, which means the hook doesn’t have as much “meat” to go through on the hookset.

But it’s still durable, Echols said, noting he regularly catches three and four bass — sometimes more — on each Flip’n OUT.

Plus, Daniels said, “He’s got all the great colors.”

One interesting color and an old favorite of the author’s is flippin’ blue red. Hold it up to the light and it’s blue with red flakes.

“I told Darryl, ‘you need to put red flake in blue,’” said Echols. “It looks great.”

Go to www.mistertwister.com or call 318-377-8818 for more information on the Flip’n OUT and other Mister Twister products.