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(ZBs) ZERO BUOYANCY: Loosly defined; means that an object, or mass weighs exactly the same as the amount of water it displaces. This makes the object neutral or zero buoyancy. Said differently; if your fishing lure weighs the same as the water it displaces; it will not float on the surface, or sink because of it’s weight. I don’t know about you; but, this sounds a lot like a live fish (preditor food source) to me.
The lure design (Figure. A) is a very common and fimiliar design that has been around for about forty years; that I know of. Commonly known as the: “BIG-O”. The “Big-O” was introduced in the mid 1960s as one of the first Balsa Wood lures to be produced from computerized lathes. It was also one of the first “Floater-Shallow Diver, Crank Baits”. The design was a smash hit among leasure and, what was the beginning of competition fishing; fishermen.
Figure “B” demonstrates how this very light waight lure would nearly sit on the surface before forward motion (retrieve) started. The lure would dive one to three feet. When forward motion was stoped; the lure would pop back to the surface like a cork. The lure is positioned in an up-right attitude by the weight of the belly hook. Otherwise; the lure would lay on it’s side.
After the originating lure company ran it’s course with the design; it was immediately picked up by the copy-cat companies that began making the design with conventional two-part (clam shell) injection molding systems.
“Clam Shell” lure part making is a lot like making the parts of a model airplane. Each part is one half of a complete, but hollow part when the two halves are glued together. Figure “C” & “D”.
Figure “C” shows the assential components of a “Clam Shell” lure body:
(1). Two halves of the lure torso.
(2). The diving bill (shallow or deep diving).
(3). The line & hookset harness wire eyes.
Figure “D” shows how “Clam Shell” lure body making affords the addition of rattle beeds prior to glueing the two halves together.
In my opinion; such lures sound more like a childs toy than a live food source. Also; the super hyper nerve (lateral line) of a preditor fish does not need such sound and vibration to detect a food source from a mile away. Having that said: A subtile “ticking” sound from a fishing lure does seem to improve it’s attracting ability. My theory about the ticking sound made by fish is that the sound is made by the opening and closing of the gill plates. Especially, when it is running, or breathing hard......?
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