Mebaru balancer: models, features and rating

Brief description and advantages of Mebaru balancers

Content

The Lusky John company produces not only balance beams, but also other types of fishing equipment. The most famous are the Lucky John wobblers; they are presented in a wide range, and often occupy leading positions in ratings of the most catchy baits. The Lusky John Mebaru balancer differs from the classic designs of similar baits. Upon a quick inspection, not every fisherman will determine that in front of him is a balancer, because the bait combines the qualities of wobblers and balancers.

Wobblers "Lucky John" are the most famous

On fishing forums, problems with a minimum number of bites are often voiced, to which the “guests” respond, “buy Lucky John and the bite will improve.” The products of the Latvian company have won the respect of fishermen thanks to high-tech production, first-class manufacturing materials and thoughtful design. The unique silicone balancer "Mebaru" shows excellent performance, has an unusual design and is extremely effective in real conditions.

These balancers are specifically designed for catching predatory fish in winter. The bait is successfully adapted to the characteristics of fishing in winter. The Mebaru Pro Series offers 5 standard sizes: from 37 to 77 mm in increments of 10 mm. The company offers you to choose a color from among 17 eye-catching color varieties.

Main features and advantages of the model:

versatility of the game. The bait has 3 holes for attaching a leash, this provides three different types of game;
hooks In the bait, the hooks are located in the area of the caudal fin and in front on the peritoneum. This arrangement is suitable for stable retrieval with different animations of the bait and ensures effective hooking. Due to the absence of a nose hook, the nozzle is less likely to cling to snags. The design uses high-quality hooks from the world leader - Owner;
tail section design. It differs from other fishing lures in its non-standard tail design. Here the tail is narrowed and gradually widens. There is a slight bend at the edges of the caudal fin. The unique shape of the tail ensures a realistic game during wiring, which increases the number of realized wirings;

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The nozzle clings less often to snags due to the absence of a nose hook

design of the bait body. It has a teardrop-shaped, oblong shape. The appearance of the body is more characteristic of wobblers than of balancers. The shape, unusual for balance beams, gives exceptionally positive qualities: naturalness, catchability and stability of the game. In the back area there is a kind of dorsal fin that stabilizes the bait as it falls into the water. Without the fin, the lure's movements would become sluggish and the lure would lose much of its effectiveness;
color. The colors of the balancers are numerous, and, unusually, almost all the colors are extremely catchy. Mainly, the company uses bright, acidic colors of balancing equipment. The originality of the model and coloring features can attract fish from a great distance. In the back area, black is always used, emphasizing the shape of the body, and the sides and abdomen are presented in 17 colors;
balance game. The main and popular advantage of the bait is its natural play while falling in the water; the predator is not able to distinguish a live fish from an artificial analogue. Most of the bites on conventional silicone baits occur during the retrieving process, and Mebaru often leads to bites immediately after casting;
The front blade is designed for stable play in the current, and in combination with the tail design, the balancer always returns to the starting point.

Tactics for catching Mebaru with a balance beam

It would be inappropriate to list here all the tactical schemes for ice fishing with a balance beam. Therefore, we will focus only on those special nuances that are characteristic of Mebaru balancers.

Fishing in still water. In reservoirs with stagnant water (regardless of the depth at the fishing site), fishing the hole should begin by fixing the balancer at the middle attachment point. This is not an absolute rule, but this tactical approach allows you to determine both the presence of fish in a given place and the degree of its activity. At the same time, smooth movements of the bait with a moderate horizontal amplitude do not scare off a passive predator, leaving the angler a chance to irritate him and provoke him into an attack. To do this, you can either speed up the game of the balancer by moving the fastening to the front point, or slow it down by fixing the line on the back point.

Usually the game change tactics look like this:

Moderate play (fastening at the midpoint).
Slow play (fastening at the back point).
Fast play (fastening at the front point).

By changing the sequence, you can quickly get one or two bites from the most active of the school of fish, but completely scare away the rest - passive and moderately active.

However, attaching the bait at the middle point is the most universal, since it gives a character of the game that is optimal in most cases. In other words, this mounting option does not require special skills from the angler, but simply ensures the standard balance game, maintaining a relatively stable fishing intensity, regardless of the conditions.

And yet, in some circumstances it is necessary to make the most of the full range of bait capabilities. A good example of this is the “cyclic pass” tactic.

Its diagram looks something like this. The fisherman drills a series of holes (say, ten) and sequentially fishes them with a balancer fixed at the middle point. Having failed to get a bite, he drills ten more holes. But the fishing begins not with them, but with its very first hole, having previously changed the point of attachment of the balancer.

Thus, in the second pass the angler fishes twenty holes, but the bait moves in them completely differently than the first time. So, by repeatedly increasing the number of holes and changing the attachment points (as well as the color and size of the balancers), an angler can fish a huge area in a day. Moreover, he will fish each of the holes using all possible methods of play and fishing (with the help of only two or three balancers) and will visit each at different times of the day, which significantly increases the chances of catching a predator’s morning, afternoon or evening outing. This tactic brings especially good results when hunting for pike perch, pike, and pond trout.

Another, less obvious example is fishing over an overgrown or muddy bottom. Practice shows that it is most effective to place the bait just above the algae so that it almost touches them or even touches them at the lowest point of the dive. This is quite difficult to achieve. You need a steady hand and a clear understanding of how the bait moves in the water. Using the Mebaru balancer, fixed at the rear point, we obtain smooth gliding movements, during which the bait will minimally deviate from the horizontal plane. This will make it possible to bring the moving bait closer to the thickets as far as the length of the hanging hook will allow.

Of course, the same effect can be achieved with other baits. But Mebaru greatly simplifies such fishing.

Fishing on the current. Actually, Mebaru balancers were initially positioned by the manufacturer as bait for sea and river fishing. Therefore, they are endowed with a full range of technical characteristics that allow them to maintain the correct pattern of play both at great depths and in intense currents.

The tactics of fishing the water area (searching for fish), in general, remain unchanged. But the peculiarities of the rhythm set by the fisherman to the bait are noticeably different from those used when fishing in stagnant water.

Thus, the simplest technical technique - increasing the duration of the pause between swings - radically changes the game of the balancer. The fact is that the shape of the bait is designed in such a way that it always turns with its head end against the current. In this position, the flow begins to put pressure on the wide frontal plane of the balancer. It tilts slightly forward, its shank assumes an exactly horizontal position. From this, the entire bait begins to sway frequently and shallowly from side to side. From the outside, the balancer is indistinguishable from a small fish fluttering in the stream. The wave vibrations emanating from the trembling bait attract even an extremely passive predator that happens to be nearby. If the fish is active, it can attack the bait hanging in the stream even from a long distance.

When fishing for perch, pike, asp and, most importantly, trout, slowing down the rise of the bait brings confident bites. Instead of sharply swinging the rod, the angler simply “pulls” the balancer up and then throws it down again in one motion or several (a downward “step”). The frontal plane again causes the bait to vibrate like a bladebait or rattlebait and attract fish from a long distance. It is at such a game that sometimes white fish (bream, carp, silver bream, large roach) are caught, albeit as an accidental bycatch.

Taking advantage of the fact that the heavy balance beam is not carried away by the current, you can even play with the features of the bottom topography (if they are known to the fisherman). For example, when fishing in a hole or on a steep roll, it is worth fixing the balancer at the front point and trying to ensure that during the swing it flies up along the rising bottom, and when paused it returns down to the deep place. A tactic that has proven itself when catching schooling pike perch on a sandy bottom.

How to choose the right Mebaru balancer

The principle of choosing a balancer differs little from the features of selecting other baits.

Color

The assortment includes a variety of colors of Mebaru balancers, all of which have the right to exist.

We will describe only the general selection rules, taking into account the characteristics of fishing:

after the water clears, it is better to use soft colors on a cautious predator: silver, blue and various dark colors;
In muddy or dark water, it is better to use bright colors to improve the visibility of the bait in the water column. The range includes pink, yellow and red colors;
Often, catchy colors are colors that resemble natural prey in a body of water.

Dimensions

Regarding the size of the bait, everything is individual, depending on the fishing method, the type of fish and the size of the expected prey.

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How to choose:

37 mm. The bait effectively catches medium-sized perch and small pike-perch;
47 and 57 mm. Used for catching large and trophy perch, medium-sized pike perch and pike;
67 mm. It is advisable to install a balancer if there are large predators in the reservoir;
77 mm is a tool for catching trophy pike and pike perch.

The size of the bait depends on the fishing method.

Lucky John Pro Series Mebaru is a catchy winter balancer.

High-quality balancers of the Lucky John Pro Series Mebaru

developed in Japan for catching predatory fish from ice or vertically from a drifting boat.
The bait is made of solid frost-resistant and impact-resistant ABS plastic filled with lead alloy. The design of the Mebaru has a single casting and the tail is one piece with the bait.
Long tail balancer Pro Series Mebaru

ensures clear turns of the bait at the extreme points of the movement trajectory. The dorsal fin, made of brass, has three holes. Depending on the attachment point, the game of the bait changes.

The size range of Mebaru consists of five standard sizes. The wide range allows you to fish in almost any conditions: with or without current and at depths of almost 20 meters. Large size has shown its high efficiency when fishing vertically from a drifting boat.

The bait is equipped with Owner .

Recommended for fishing for pike perch, pike perch, trout and perch.

Before the onset of the winter season, knowledgeable fishermen begin to actively purchase fishing lures for the winter. Balancers are very popular in the winter season. This is a very good bait, which with its body and shape visually resembles a real fish, which provokes a predator to attack.

Manufacturer LUCKY JOHN (Latvia) has been producing excellent quality tackle for several years now. Fishermen highly value balancers from Mebaru, as they are made exclusively from high-tech materials that allow the bait to play perfectly and attract fish.

This brand resorts to attaching hooks at the end of the tail, as well as in the front of the abdomen. This arrangement allows for the most efficient hooking of fish, and also helps to avoid unwanted derailments when hooking. It is also worth saying that the hooks are located in those places where predator attacks most often occur, so you can be sure that the fish will not miss the bait.

The design of this element is slightly non-standard. At the base of the fish’s body, the tail is narrow, then it widens, while the edges of the tail are slightly curved down. This tail design helps to achieve the most realistic play of the bait in the water, which will increase your fishing catch.

Popular models

All Lucky John Pro Series Mebaru balancers are in demand, but certain standard sizes are more popular in domestic conditions.

Best models:

The LJ Pro Series MEBARU 37 balancer is effective thanks to the successful imitation of a ruff, which often ends up as a food source for predators in all reservoirs. With a length of 37 mm, it weighs 5 g;
the “Mebaru 47” balancer is a slightly larger attachment used on bets and rivers with medium-sized predators;
The Mebaru 67 balancer is deservedly the most popular model, it has an abundance of colors, and the bait provides the ability to fish at great depths. Due to its weight of 18 g and length of 67 mm, the nozzle is capable of diving to a depth of up to 18 m.

Lucky John Pro Series Mebaru is a catchy winter balancer.

Lucky John Pro Series Mebaru is a line of five balance beams for catching a predator from ice or a floating craft in a plumb line. An unusual design solution allows the bait to reveal itself in all its glory and literally mow down various fish: perch, pike and pike perch of various sizes.

The Lucky John company is better known among our fishermen for silicone baits, for example, the Lucky John Pro Series Tioga edible vibrating tail is popular. The Mebaru balancer, created by the company’s engineers, turned out to be extremely catchy and in demand among winter anglers; it can be purchased for an average of five hundred rubles with slight fluctuations in one direction or another depending on the model.

Even at first glance, the Lucky John Pro Series Mebaru balancer differs from baits of its type:

the front soldered hook is missing;
instead of a rear rigidly fixed single, there is a tee connected through a winding ring to the eyelet of the blade;
The plastic blades are quite large, they make up about forty percent of the total body length of the bait.

Separately, we need to talk about the brass fin soldered into the lead body. This bait element has three holes for hanging the balancer from the fishing line. By changing the mounting location, you can radically change the animation.

The most sweeping game is obtained when using the front hole for suspension. With this method of fastening, the balancer works wider and creates more powerful vibrations.

By shifting the point of suspension to the tail, to the middle or rear hole, you can reduce the amplitude of oscillations and the width of the horizontal displacement, which is often the determining factor in case of weak bite.

The Mebaru series winter balancers have five models in their line, differing in length and dead weight:

a bait 37 millimeters long weighs 5 grams;
47 mm – 8 g;
57 mm – 12.5 g;
67 mm – 18 g;
77 mm -27 g.

Small lures are used for fishing at shallow depths and are intended primarily for perch and small pike. Large balancers with a solid weight can be fished at great depths; the mouths of large pikes and pike-perch enjoy them.

The range of lures is diversified by the palette of colors, of which there are quite a lot of balancers in this series. For some sellers, the number of colors reaches one and a half dozen options.

There are no negative reviews about the Lucky John Pro Series Mebaru on the Internet; anglers mainly praise the bait for the following qualities:

phenomenal catchability;
breadth of the model range;
the ability to change the game of the bait by changing the attachment point;
versatility in predator;
compliance of the price of the balancer with quality and catchability.

Some complaints are caused by the fishing line overlapping the rear tee when the game is too active and sweeping. However, following the experience of experienced balancers, this can be treated very simply in two ways:

The winding ring for attaching the tee is removed from the balancer structure.
You can replace the tee with a smaller anchor or even a double, which is suspended upward by the tips.

If you are a fan of vertical trolling from a boat or from ice in winter, we recommend paying attention to the Lucky John Pro Series Mebaru balancers. These lures have already proven their catchability to many anglers, and you will certainly like them.

Fishing technique with this balancer

Fishing with Mebaru balancers differs depending on where the leash is attached to the bait. There are only 3 holes on the dorsal fin, providing different types of animation.

Fishing with Mebaru balancers differs depending on where the leash is attached to the bait.

Three ways of fishing with the Mebaru balancer:

By attaching the leash to the first hole, aggressive wiring is established in the vertical amplitude; it is better to perform high movements of the rod ends. It is used in the process of fishing at great depths;
The central mount creates the most sweeping game, attracting a predator from a distance. The game is effective in the surface layer of water;
When attached, the last hole slightly restricts the movement of the bait, limiting the radius of the game. Helps to pinpoint the hiding places of predators.

Technique for playing the Mebaru balancer

About Mebaru balancers it would be enough to say that they allow any sheer trolling technique and any type of vertical wiring. Simply tapping the bottom with minor movements (“frog jumping”) attracts burbot. The pike perch likes strokes with periodic contact with the bottom. Smooth horizontal movements of the bait, interspersed with stops and measured swaying, seduce pike, trout, ide, chub, active pike perch and perch, and small catfish. Uneven play with a “ragged” rhythm provokes attacks from a passive predator (perch, pike, pike perch).

The main technical technique is classic work with a fishing rod (swing/pause) at a certain pace. The amplitude and intensity of movement of the bait can be set both by the height and speed of the swing, and by installing a balancer at a particular attachment point. To avoid twisting of the fishing line, it is better to carry out installation using a carabiner with a high-quality “best-selling” swivel.

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The main fishing from ice for me is balancing, so I was expecting with great interest the appearance of a new original Japanese bait called Mebaru, a winter representative of the Lucky John Pro Series. In essence, it is something between a rattlin and a balancer, but it is the latter that allows it to be attributed to the presence of a characteristic tail and the game inherent in this bait. At the same time, Mebaru has a number of differences from classic models.

The main feature of the new balancer is the location of the hooks. “Mebaru” does not have the usual “single bars” sticking out in front and behind. The front one is missing altogether, and the rear one is replaced with a freely dangling tee. The latter is attached to a loop made of strong thick wire, slightly protruding from the tail section. In my opinion, the absence of a front horizontal hook is only a plus.

First of all, the number of departures is reduced. Fans of balance fishing know how often the front hook catches on the lower edge of the ice at the final stage of fishing. It can be a real problem to get a good humpback perch or a pike spinning in front of it into a hole. And if the hook gets caught, you have to give some slack to remove it, and then the likelihood of it coming off is very high.

The absence of a front hook will be especially useful when fishing in shallow water, when a regular balancer can get caught on the edge of the hole immediately after a sharp hook. I lost a lot of pike in this situation when I was fishing at a meter depth in reeds or peat bogs. The rear hook is also excluded from catching on the lower edge of the ice - it is also suspended. Now, when moving from hole to hole, you can take out the bait with a quick sweeping movement, and not carefully, as was the case with other balancers.

Well, the absence of a front hook will definitely not affect the effectiveness of bites. An active predator usually grabs the balancer by swallowing it, so it will be hooked on any hook. But passive fish, primarily pike and perch, like to “play” with the suspended lower tee, and this is exactly what is present in the new bait.

Fans of balance fishing will quickly appreciate another advantage of the absence of hard single hooks in front and behind the bait when fishing in snags or among vegetation. Most of my ice fishing last winter season took place on peat bogs, where the bottom is full of writhing, and also among reeds. The number of Mebaru hooks, compared to classic balancers, was significantly less here.

When fishing in “strong” places, I have sometimes deliberately broken off the front hook on ordinary balancers before, without fear for the effectiveness of bites. Sometimes it would fall off on its own after I straightened it out. The fact is that often hitting the lower edge of the ice, the tip of the front hook bends towards the body of the bait.

Both Lucky John Mebaru tees are attached via winding rings, so they can be quickly replaced if desired. But, in my opinion, it is advisable to do this when catching large pike or pike perch; for all other fish the hooks are suitable - both in size and in their qualities. I especially want to note the good grip of the tees - they are very sharp and allow you to really reliably detect fish. Owner is Owner!

I was also pleased with the design of the bait's tail. The problem with many classic balancers was that the tail of the bait often fell off, broke, or simply began to shift on the metal wire on which it was mounted. This happened in different situations: after deep bites from a predator, when the balancer fell on the ice, or simply in a box. No matter how it happened, I had to use superglue to fix the tail in the desired position, unless, of course, it broke completely.

With the Lucky John Mebaru balancer, this problem is eliminated - the plastic tail and the body of the bait are one piece. In addition, it is made of fairly thick plastic and definitely cannot break, even under the pressure of pike perch fangs.

The body of the bait itself is also quite durable, resistant to the teeth of predators. After the last winter season, in which a lot of pike were caught on the Mebaru, only barely noticeable scratches remained on the catchy baits. The expressive eyes of the balancer are a direct part of the bait and will not fall off, as happened with those glued to lead balancers. Overall, a solid, reliable and solid design.

On the back of Mebaru there is a brass comb fin with 3 holes for attaching to fishing line. This is also an original feature of this bait, which should not confuse anglers - the game of the balancer at different attachment points does not change so significantly as to affect its catchability in a particular situation. When fishing for pike on peat bogs, my friend and I hooked the bait differently and did not notice any significant differences in the predator’s attitude towards it. Perhaps different mounting options can affect the bite of passive perch on the smallest Mebaru, but I haven’t done this kind of fishing yet.

If you observe the play of the balancer depending on which hole the fastener is inserted into, you will see that the front mount gives a more aggressive play, while the rear mount, on the contrary, is calmer. I usually hooked the Mebaru to the middle hole, choosing some kind of average option.

In general, the game of the new bait is calmer than the classic balancers. The speed of its diving and “figure eight” is slower, probably due to the greater width and area of the body. This should have a positive effect on the attitude towards “Mebar” of predators, who under the ice are more often passive than active, and aggressive movements can only alert them.

Well, don’t forget that the performance of the bait will depend on the height and strength of the swings. Here I didn’t use anything new - everything was the same as when fishing with classic balancers. I mainly catch pike, and the technique for this predator looks like smooth strokes of 20-25 centimeters, with the same calm lowering, preventing overlapping of the bait. The pauses are short – 2-4 seconds. At depths greater than 1.5 m it is useful to check different horizons.

Since I focus on balance fishing for large predators, I used the largest baits: 57 and 67 mm. More often I used the largest model weighing 18 g, and came to the conclusion that even young-of-the-year pike do not shun it. At the same time, the success of my comrades in catching good pike perch speaks of the versatility of the 67 mm size.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the color scheme of Mebaru balancers. There are 13 color options in total, many of which are fancy. Moreover, some of them are exclusive to the Lucky John Pro Series. I was already familiar with some of them from spinning fishing with Basara and Anira wobblers.

By the beginning of last winter, some of the colors were already well caught, and therefore there was added faith in their performance. First of all, these are “acid” - colors 305 and 201, as well as “naturals” - 101 and 107. They were the first to “distinguish themselves” in balance fishing, and the first pike of the ice season of 2014 was caught on the acid Mebaru, when I started testing new lures.

I know that many fishermen cannot cross a certain threshold of mistrust and try the exclusive from Lucky John in the form of “bloody”, blue or dark colors. At first, I myself felt a certain prejudice towards them, but the desire to experiment more overpowered me - on the next pike fishing on the peat bogs I tried the dark red color (208), which I had not seen in others, brought me the most bites from the predator. Even though the pike was not large, it made it clear that it was also not averse to trying something new.

Then my friend and I went even further in color experiments, catching almost all the exclusive colors of the Lucky John Pro Series over several fishing trips. Now they began to attract me more than the acidic and natural classics.

The end of the testing was when my friend caught the largest pike of the season, color 210 – dark gray with a yellow “blot” on the back. And another group of fishermen caught pike perch color number 302 - olive with yellow luminous dots on the sides.

After such facts, I am inclined to think that original fancy colors, different from what predators are used to, can bring greater success in fishing than traditional ones. I will start balance fishing with them first of all in the new season!