All anglers know what a wobbler is and what it looks like. For some, it even became the main one fishing bait However, the story of the origin and who invented the first wobbler is somehow not very told. There is official evidence that the first wobbler was manufactured and patented by an American citizen. Somewhat later, the Finns began to modernize. Unfortunately, the entire history of wobblers has sunk into oblivion.

The story of the first wobbler

According to generally accepted data, the first wobbler was invented by an American in 1894 James Heddon.

Heddon was sitting by the dam of the old mill, carving something out of wood. Just like papa Carlo. When he was done, he threw the chips into the water and noticed something strange. They began to attack the chips floating on the surface perch.

Being not only a beekeeper, but also an avid fisherman, Heddon decided to experiment with pieces of wood. How his experiments went is unknown. in 1902 April 1 the beekeeper patented his invention. Gave the lure the unmistakable name of Dowagiac.

In 1920, the beekeeper invented another bait "Lucky 13". The bait was a huge success.

After investing money in 1932, Heddon and Sons produced the very first plastic wobbler called Ghost. The wobbler gets its name from the pale plastic case.

After some time, the number of models expanded. Lines of wobblers are constantly being improved. Their popularity grew.

The plastic wobbler has gained great popularity among anglers. At the beginning of the 20th century in America, many companies had already mastered the mass production of wobblers.

In 1936, another angler came up with the idea of planing wood. It turned out to be a Finnish fisherman Lauri Rapala.

The first Lauri Rapala the wobbler became the prototype of everyone's favorite Original Floater bait.

It is particularly significant that Rapala was the first to think of attaching tongues of various shapes and lengths to the wobbler. The tongue gave the bait a distinctive game during casting and allowed the wobbler to sink to the set depth.

As it should have happened, the Rapala-Uistin company (Lauri Rapala and Sons) began producing wobblers. And after the 1952 Olympics held in Helsinki, it became known to the whole world. Currently, Rapala is one of the world's largest manufacturers of wobblers.

What does a wobbler consist of?

Body

The body of the wobbler can be wooden or plastic. For the manufacture of wobblers, wood is used: pine, hazel or oak. The plastic wobbler is made of: ABC plastic, polystyrene, polycarbonate or expanded polystyrene. Depending on the plastic used, the body of the wobbler can be hollow inside or solidly cast.

The body of the wobbler must not only be similar in shape and appearance to the predator's prey, but also have such characteristics as to be stable in water and have good flight characteristics in the air.

The body of the wobbler can be monolithic or consist of several (two, three) parts. A wobbler consisting of several parts is more mobile in the water.

To strengthen the body of the wobbler, a metal wire frame can be installed inside it, which has a loop for tying the line at one end, and loops for attaching hooks at the other ends.

Inside the body of the wobbler, noise chambers can be installed, inside which metal balls can be placed. As the wobbler moves underwater, the balls move inside the noise chamber, creating an additional acoustic effect that attracts predators.

The body of the wobbler can also be equipped with a long-range casting system, which has different names from different manufacturers. The long throw system is the channel through which the weight moves. In the normal state, the weight is held by a magnet at the front of the channel, when casting, the weight is disconnected from the magnet and transferred to the tail of the bait, thus shifting the center of gravity of the wobbler, which increases the casting distance. When the wobbler falls into the water, the weight is fixed again by a magnet at the front of the channel, without interfering with the wobbler's game.

The body of the wobbler can be painted both in natural colors and painted in bright colors that provoke the predator to attack. Many wobblers have a holographic coating on the surface of the body, which increases the attractiveness of the bait to the predator.

Tongue

The wobbler tongue has four main parameters.

• Length - determines the depth at which the wobbler will work, the longer the tongue, the deeper it works.
• Tilt angle - determines the degree of intensity of the wobbler game. The closer the tilt of the wobbler blade is to perpendicular, the more intense the wobbler game will be. As the angle of inclination decreases, the intensity of the game decreases.
• Area - also determines the degree of intensity of the wobbler game. From a scientific point of view, the intensity of the wobbler game is determined by the projection of the area of the wobbler blade perpendicular to the flow plane. Generally, the wider the wobbler's tongue, the more intense its game.
• The shape of the tongue - determines the nuances of playing the wobbler, often the tongue is made slightly concave or with a small depression.

Hooks

Most wobblers are equipped with three treble hooks. The smallest wobblers have only one hook, medium-sized wobblers - two, large wobblers - with three hooks, the largest wobblers can sometimes even have four hooks.

Some wobblers of certain manufacturers can be equipped with double or single hooks. Wobblers designed for catching fish on the principle of "catch and release" are equipped with single-pronged hooks without barbs, because they cause minimal damage to the fish.

The hooks of some wobblers can be additionally decorated with feathers or synthetic materials, which in certain fishing conditions increases the "attractiveness" of the bait to the predator.

The total weight of the hooks mounted on the wobbler affects the buoyancy of the wobbler, mounting lighter or heavier hooks on the wobbler can turn a floating wobbler into a sinking wobbler and vice versa.

Classification of wobblers

Minnow wobbler

Minnows are convex shaped wobblers. The body of the wobbler gradually narrows towards the tail. The minnow wobbler resembles the shape of a narrow-bodied fry.

The tongues are usually small, located at an average angle to the body of the wobbler. They have a rather poorly expressed game. They are considered themselves the best wobblers for pike.

Shad Wobbler

Shad wobblers have flat sides and a tall body. Shad wobblers can be both floating and sinking, both designed for fishing in shallow water and fishing at great depths.

The optimal size of the Shad wobbler is from 40 to 70 mm in length.

Shad wobblers do not have their own bright game, so they require the angler to master various casting techniques. Due to the flat shape of the bait, the wobbler does not have the best flight characteristics, so it makes sense to choose a wobbler equipped with a long-range casting system. Due to the shape of the bait, the wobbler has a high resistance to water during casting, so catching with this wobbler requires choose the right spinning.

Shad wobblers are a specific type of wobbler and are not recommended for the beginner fisherman. There are more interesting types of wobblers for the beginner fisherman.

Crank wobbler

Crank wobblers have a wide, convex, oval body flattened from the sides, resembling a drop. Crank - a transitional form between Shad and Fat wobblers, in its appearance it somewhat resembles a carcass. The name Crank comes from an English word that means swinging. Crank wobbler has its own active game.

Catches well in our conditions perch, trout and shad, due to the high-frequency vibrations created by the wobbler.

Crank wobblers can be both floating and sinking, both for fishing in shallow water and for fishing at great depths. Crank wobbler works well both in standing water and current. Even when working with a current, it does not lose the game, at the same time it creates high-frequency vibrations that attract predators.

Wobblers have good flight characteristics due to their compact size and relatively high weight. Most wobblers are 50-80 mm long and weigh up to 10 grams.

The design of many wobblers has noise chambers with balls inside them, which create an additional acoustic effect. When fishing in cloudy weather and fishing in muddy water, wobblers in bright, acidic colors show good results.

Fat wobbler

Fat wobbler has a swollen, teardrop-shaped body. The name comes from an English word that means fat.

Fat wobblers have good flight characteristics due to their round shape. As a rule, these wobblers are made with small, rather wide tongues, with a hooking depth of no more than 1.5 meters. The wobbler has its own active game. Fat wobbler game is high frequency and wide amplitude.

Many wobblers have noise chambers inside their bodies with balls inside them, which create an acoustic effect that attracts the attention of a predator well.

A fat wobbler works well on a smooth cast. When fishing on them, you can also use all kinds of pauses, jerks and breaks, thus giving the wobbler a variety of game.

Fat wobblers are the main baits for catching shad, trout, perch.

Fat wobblers are used to catch an active predator that feeds in the upper water layers. They can also be used for fishing in the surface layer of water, when the underwater vegetation does not allow the use of deeper diving baits.