Wide Wobble or Tight Wobble?

[RoLo]

The lure action of plugs and spoons is categorized according to the magnitude of "wobble", ranging from Tight to Wide.

Although spinners are said to spin', they too are categorized according to the included-angle of wobble,

ranging from the willow-leaf to the Colorado blade.

There's a quiet but ongoing controversy among anglers as to which wobble is best in cold water and which is best in warm water.

Throngs of anglers hold that a wide wobble, which is activated at lower forward speeds, is better suited to coldwater periods.

Along comes a Jerseyite called Ike who maintains just the opposite, that a faster narrower wobble is preferable in cold water (think bladebait)

It's hard to dispute the 2006 angler-of-the-year, but I thought it would be interesting to beg the input

from an even higher authority on bass fishing, I'm referring of course to Bass Resource

Below I delineated the known variables of "wobble" to help in the decision-making process:

WIDE WOBBLE (wide spoon wide spinner fat plug)

Low Frequency Large Footprint Short Range Low Activation-Speed Murky Water

TIGHT WOBBLE (narrow spoon narrow spinner thin plug)

High Frequency Small Footprint Long Range High Activation-Speed Clear Water

Thanx in advance for all input

Roger

[tfisherman]

I was catching a ton of fish at Buggs Island in Jan when the water was in the low 40's on Rapala Shad Raps which have a very tight wiggle. That's our go to bait in the winter/early spring

Most crankbaits have a wider wobble so go figure...I'm sure they're used year round? I think it may have more to do with water clarity, wider in stained water tighter in clear.

[Matt Fly]

That was the theory that was always passed on by other anglers.

In winter, water doesn't mix with particles as easily, which simply means that during this time of year,  water normally will be the cleariest of the year during this time.  Water is denser when coldest and doesn't allow mixing of particles.

Thus fish don't feed from vibrations and sound, thus the need for a tight bait when fish feed primarily from sight.

Thus the need for mostly thinned billed cranks with skinner profiles.

Hookem

[ABC123]

Well, I'm not even close to anything that resembles an "expert" on the wobble factor, but I do know I don't have the best of luck with wider wobble baits in the fall. Becouse we have ice over the winter, and the water is warm in the spring when Bass season opens, all I can go by is late fall fishing, which tends to be slow anyway's.

[BIG M]

tight wiggle in the cold, flatsided balsa cranks and traps.

[FishTank]

I always went with cold deep water wide wobble, shallow warm water tight wobble.  And just the opposite, shallow cold water wide wobble and warm deep water tight wobble.

[roadwarrior]

It seems to me that George Welcome fishes Rat-L-Traps year-around.

I don't know how cold the water gets at Stick Marsh/ Farm 13, but I

don't think it ever freezes.

8-)