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Lure Review


Jig, Wobble, and Roll with the Jigwobbler

 

Date: 9/25/11
Tackle type: Lure
Manufacturer: Wake Fishing
Reviewer: Cal






Total Score: 7.75 - GOOD

Introduction:
For the most part, the simple premise in fishing that big fish eat little fish holds true to form. I mean really, can you get much more universal than using a minnow, or some other type of “bait fish” as bait? Why is it then, that depending upon the type of fish you’re trying to catch, and if your decision is to go with an artificial bait, that the lure choices per species vary so greatly? “Jigs” are a universal type of bait, but a striper jig looks nothing like a jig made for black bass which also differs from one made for bluegill and crappie. One manufacturer out of Finland is doing their best to homogenize the lure landscape with their universal bait offering. It features a head made from lead and patterned after a baitfish together with a plastic body connected to the lead head via an omni-directional joint. The Jigwobbler is made to fish all species and appeal to that big fish eat little fish instinct amongst gamefish.

 

Jigwobbler Multi-Species Lure Specifications

Type Hard Bodied, Multi-species
Depth Any
Sizes 5cm (~2"), 6.5cm (~2 1/2"), 8cm (~3 1/8"), 15cm (~6.5")
Weight 8g (~1/4oz), 18g (~5/8oz), 29g (1oz), 65g (slow slink) & 93g (fast sink)
Colors/Patterns 10
MSRP Small 2" = $10.99 : Medium 2.5" = $11.49

 

Impressions: The Jigwobbler is an interesting product. It comes with a line tie that is offset in front of the bait rather than as an integral part of the head. The joint connecting the two pieces of the bait allows freedom of movement in all directions and its overall shape reminds me vintage baits like the Russelure. The finishes are typical of quality crankbaits in today’s market with mostly metallic or reflective options. It is available in a wide range of sizes ranging from two to six inches in length. All but the largest sized Jigwobblers come with just one hook attached at the rear of the bait.

 


Introducing the Jigwobbler.

Field Tests: Because the Jigwobbler is available in so many different sizes, you can pretty much pick and choose which combo you want to fish with then match it up with a Jigwobbler that’s sized appropriately for your rod, reel, and line. Since this product is tagged as a multi-species lure, I went all purpose fishing this lure on my Megabass F4.5-70X4 Black Elseil matched with a Daiwa Zillion Type R reel spooled with 55lb test Sufix Performance Braid.


The Jigwobbler comes in four sizes, small, medium, large and xxx-large.

Casting: The Jigwobbler is available in four sizes labeled as small (~2”), Medium (~2.5”), Large (~3 1/8”), and XXXLarge (~6”). Sizes here are given in approximate inches since these baits are specified in centimeters (5cm, 6.5cm, 8cm, and 15cm respectively). Although I sampled each size, I settled in on the medium sized bait that measures approximately two and half inches and weighs in at about five eighths of an ounce.


We fished the medium sizes bait (red/orange) for our tests.

As one would imagine, with a bait of this weight, casting for distance and accuracy is hardly an issue. My concern with this bait had to do with that offset line tie and that multi-directional joint. Given the freedom of movement in the bait’s joint, I thought for certain I’d experience a lot of foul casts from the back hook swinging around and snagging the line in mid-air. To my surprise, the opposite was true, the bait never fouled on a cast. Perhaps if the Jigwobbler featured the traditional line tie right at the nose of the bait rather than offset far in front of it, fouled casts would be the norm, but the offset actually seems to mitigate against this occurrence.


The head of the Jigwobbler is made of lead ...

Action: The Jigwobbler is rated as a medium sink bait. Our approximation of the medium sized bait is that it sinks at a rate of about two feet per second. We could not discern whether or not the bait really wiggled or wobbled on the descent as advertised, but given its sink rate is pretty quick, any action as the bait sinks would seem a little irrelevant.


... and is connected to the plastic rear body via a very flexible joint.

As one would expect, because the Jigwobbler’s lip is attached to the rear section of the bait, all the action with this lure is in that rear section. It is best at a medium to fast retrieve where the tail section can be seen wobbling pretty frantically while the head remains perfectly still. There are rattles in the back section for added attraction, but they’re pretty subtle as we couldn’t hear them pulling the bait side to side next to the boat. The bait swims with a very tight yet frantic action but it’s not one that you can feel through your line and rod as with a crankbait and some lipless cranks.


The hooks are not specified, but appear to be good quality.

Durability: I did not fish this bait over an extended period of time to really put it to the durability test, but its construction is very solid and other than the typical paint scratches and occasional eye falling off, there’s really not much that can go wrong with the Jigwobbler. We’re uncertain as to the brand of hooks that come with the baits, but they appear to be quality hooks and the plastic rear portion of the bait is clean and well executed. We would not expect this bait to fail under normal circumstances.


A look at the diving lip on the rear section of the Jigwobbler.

Availability: The Jigwobbler is a product out of Southern Finland with distribution all over the world. If we’ve piqued your interest in this bait, it should be relatively easy to find. Here in North America, you can find this bait at TackleWarehouse.com although they only carry the small and medium sizes of this bait for now.


And yes, it catches fish.

Ratings:

Jigwobbler Multi-Species Lure Ratings (?/10)

Construction/Quality These lures are put together very well 8
Performance Cast and swim well 7.5
Price Hard to judge given the unique nature of this bait 7.5
Features Good finishes, quality hook 7.5
Design (Ergonomics) The overall profile reminds us of an old school swimming spoon type bait, but the Jigwobbler is more versatile 8
Application Swim it, wake it, pop it off the bottom, troll with it... the Jigwobbler is designed to be versatile and it is 8

Total Score

7.75
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable!
For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

 

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus

Minus
+ Casts well - Might be tough to find all sizes
+ Swims true at many speeds - A bit unorthodox at first - takes some faith to throw in the beginning
+ Can be fished many different ways  
+ Appeals to the big fish eat little fish instinct in most gamefish  

  

Conclusion: One technique we did not employ with this bait and in hindsight, probably should have is trolling. Trolling is also a multi-species technique, so it would have been a good application for this multi-species bait. It would have been interesting to see what we could call up by cruising the banks, but admittedly, we seldom think of trolling while out testing products in freshwater environments.

 


If you're looking for a one-bait-catches-all option, the Jigwobbler is very worthy of consideration.

 

As a cast and retrieve option, the Jigwobbler is an interesting bait. It's a little bit crankbait, and a little bit spoon.  You can fish it at just about any depth, and use it as a search bait quickly covering targets with medium to fast retrieves, or if fish are holding deep, drop it down, let it settle, and pop it off the bottom like a jig. We managed a couple of bass with it, but it's obvious this bait can catch so much more. If you're looking for a one-bait-catches-all option, the Jigwobbler is very worthy of consideration.

 

Looking for the JigWobbler? Try Tackle Warehouse


 

   

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