MOP Fishing Lures

Lagoon Island Pearls

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I saw this today on Facebook's sponsored ads column. I think it's a clever value add and would expect it to be an effective angling method.
 
Nice find, Dave~wonder how they'd be for big salmon?

The jigs look as though they'd work like a charm (pun intended, haha)

Salmon love color shift, and MOP does naturally what man has long strived to replicate in lures.

Actually, MOP has been used to make "bucktail spinners" for many years, but not necesssarily as color spectrum insomuch as a life-like animation.

I'm definitely going to expand on this idea by trying these lures, as well as cut a few spoons from california mussels for trolling salmon. I doubt there is much viability in manufacturing lures, but being an avid fisherman and pearl enthusiast it seems like a fun thing to experiment with.

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I have heard that the yellow/gold Tahitian MOP seems to attract fish better than the green one.
 
ya those lures are mean to catch fishermen not fish. Although MOP has been used in lures for over 100 years, you're not going to see those lures in any guide boat anytime soon.

I wonder how much they cost?
 
A lot of lures and fishing gear are not worth the package they came in, but these seem like good quality lures.

They are in the 14 to 20 dollar range which make them collectibles more than used to catch fish.

My preference is live bait, but it's not easy to catch on demand. It's an opportunist thing. Salmon fishing is like that too, some days they like one thing and something different on another. A good fisherman is able to change it up regularly and find what works best, but a well stocked tackle box is a significant investment, even without buying designer lures.

I wouldn't use them for trolling because they are too easy to lose. Guides wouldn't use them because they are too expensive.

The bleeding eye looks like a really nice lure though. I have fishing spots where we anchor the boat over smooth bottom and unless the line, gear or knot breaks we rarely lose gear. I've got some jigs that I've been using for years. Sometimes I repaint them or re-apply color shift tape when they get beat up. Abalone shell adds nice weight and natural color shift and I'd
bet these lures are effective.

Trolling spoons are popular here and mussel shells are the perfect shape to cut them. We'll know for sure next summer.
 
There used to be a japanese pearl grafter who absalutely loved trolling. And he make his own baits from MOP. The biggest i have ever seen him catch was a 2 meter long barracuda! He gave me 1 of his home made lure 7 or 8 years ago. Don't know where i put it no more!
 
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