I think a well trimmed needle might stand a better chance of swaying back and forth on the surface. So well trimmed it's right at the verge of unstable. Needles are probably some of the toughest plugs to build correctly because you typically don't want to much motion imparted on it from moving through the water, but you don't want too much weight in the head or tail either because it wont sit right as it suspends. The body shape of a suspending needle probaly has the largest influence on its behavior in the water if it was trimmed to sit perfectly horizontal.
If you figure out a formula for a perfect needle then you'd probably do pretty well as a plug builder. Very few have built suspending/slowsinks that perform well. Then again, a lot of the performace in the water has to be credited to the angler and there are very few of those guys who actually fish needles well. Different needles for different situations. You really have to know what you want it to do in a certain situation for it to work for you. I'm definately not as consistant with needles as some of the better guys out there. I'm working on it though!  |