Just a few weeks ago I covered the Blue Fox Vibrax shallow diver. This week I’m moving on to it’s not too distant cousin, the Flash Deep Runner. The size I picked up is size 2, the 3/16 ounce. The reason I’m covering another blue fox so soon is because when shopping for a fisherman they are a very affordable brand and in my opinion you can never have enough spinners. With Black Friday today I thought perhaps a good deal was in order. I found this 5-pack at Walmart for roughly 5 bucks. 5 lures for 5 bucks, how can you go wrong? Anyway I tend to go through a number of these a year either from tackle failure, snags or just lending them out to my wife and friends.

The lure itself is a classic blue fox style with a wire stem, 30 degree spinning blade, molded body, treble hook and tail complete with flashing fibers amidst the tail hair. The blade is perhaps a touch longer than other blue fox blades due to the size of this particular spinner. It reaches about a half inch past the body laying flat but when working it spins at about the same length back as the end of the body. It has a Chrome-plated paint-scheme with various color options depending on what or where you plan to fish it. The eye is a holographic insert which in my opinion is always a superior eye-style. The treble hook comes plenty sharp and the hair is what you would expect from a bargain lure. The string wrap for the hair is just a little sloppy and may even come loose, however if you want you can tie it on better yourself or just drop a few drops of plastic cement or clear nail polish lacquer on it to keep it held together. Even if the hair comes off, you still have a functional lure so this really isn’t a big deal, just something to point out.

What I appreciate is the shading of the silver chrome in the paint-schemes. It follows a general principle of environmental camouflage. Most fish are darker on the top and lighter underneath as a form of camouflage. The dark top blends in with the dark water or lake bed below, the light bottom blends in with the light sky or bright water surface when you look from beneath a fish. When lures emulate this it shows accuracy to the presentation of natural baits.  Occasionally lures will break this rule or some other standard of natural appearance in order to get the attention of fish. It doesn’t always work, but then again that’s why they call it fishing and not catching.

The Deep Runner model of Blue Fox has a thinner body than say the Vibrax shallow diver. Obviously the Vibrax has that wider body in order to create the vibrations with the slotted bead within. This spinner is much more straight forward and functions primarily on the visual senses of fish. This may be another reason why the flashing fibers are added to the tail. What’s more, there is a great deal of reflective color on these lures as opposed to the plainer solid colors of the Vibrax. Again though, these lures are labeled as “Flash,” which would imply that same idea that they are primarily a sight-response lure.

All in all they measure in at about 2 and a half inches from tie-on to the end of the hook. 3/16 refers to the weight in ounces this lure has. Being a slightly longer and heavier lure than other spinners in its family, the Deep Runner is best for trolling at deeper depths perhaps 20 to 30 yards off shore in about 15 to 25 feet of water. I would run them about 50 to 75 yards off the back of the boat for optimal performance and keep that troll just a bump above idle. If you feel you are going too fast, throw a bucket off the back corner of the boat. This is if you are using the motor to troll. If you are using an actual trolling motor, then it should be able to sufficiently match your desired speed. Spinners like this are great all through the year. If nothing else I know the pikes will always bite them. I get a lot of feedback from folks who like to trout fish with them as well in the early spring. I prefer some other lures, but if you are just getting out to have fun and catch some trout they can absolutely do the job. These lures can easily create the flash you are looking for in a small creek. I’ve seen stocked trout just hammer blue foxes of all styles. Buddies of mine have gotten the color right and really done well with those little stock trout. So when you’re out shopping, grab a pack for your kid’s stocking. Maybe grab two… After all, what’s in my tackle box is normally shared with the family anyway.

*If you have any luck with the lure of the week, feel free to email your pictures to events@riverreporter.com for an opportunity to share them on our website. If you have a favorite kind of lure we haven’t reviewed yet, feel free to send that lure to our office at PO box 150 Narrowsburg, NY 12764. We will add it to our weekly reviews and share the results. Check back each week on Fridays to see the new lure of the week!