Why lead an order with a depth band rather than a length?

Because length is the dimension a listing can state most easily and the one that predicts least about how a lure fishes. A depth band describes what the bait is for. Our VIB record puts it plainly: two baits of the same length can sink at different rates because the weighting inside them differs.

What field carries the depth band into the order?

Sink rate, expressed as a rate rather than a depth. A depth depends on the retrieve speed and the line, so a depth figure is a statement about one combination. A sink rate is a property of the bait, and a buyer who knows the rate can work out the depth for their own retrieve.

How large is the weight range within one type?

Large. Our metal jig sample spans 20 g to 120 g across five listings, a sixfold range, while the price band across the same five is only 2.1x. The weight moves more than the price does, which tells you which field the products actually differ on.

What is a retrieve window?

The range of speeds over which the bait still works. A slow-rolled spinnerbait and a burn-and-pause bait have different windows, and a bait built outside its window stops producing the action it was approved for. It is worth stating because a bait that only works at one speed is a different product from one that works across four.

What should the order state?

The target depth band, the sink rate, the weight and the tolerance on it, and the retrieve window the bait is expected to work across. Add the buoyancy class if the type has one, because floating, suspending and sinking are separate constructions rather than a setting.

Depth Band and Retrieve Window | Cheery Supply Chain

A lure order is usually written around a shape. What it needs to be written around is a depth and a speed.

What is actually being bought

An angler chooses a lure for the water in front of them: a depth to fish and a speed to fish it at. Those two together are the requirement. Everything else in the specification exists to deliver them.

Length is the field a listing leads with because it is easy to state. It predicts neither the depth nor the speed. Two baits of the same length can be built to run at different depths, which our VIB record states directly: the weight-to-size ratio is set by ballast rather than by the body.

Sink rate carries the depth band

The field that carries a depth into an order is the sink rate, expressed as a rate rather than a depth figure.

A depth figure is a statement about one combination of bait, line and retrieve speed, which is why a depth printed on a package is a claim rather than a specification. A rate is a property of the bait, so a buyer who knows the rate can work out the depth for their own retrieve and line.

That is the field to ask for, and it is the field a supplier working from a controlled construction can give.

A silver minnow lure suspended in clear water at the boundary where surface light begins to fall away — A depth band is what the buyer is actually ordering. Length, which listings lead with, predicts neither the depth nor the speed.

How much the weight moves inside one type

Our metal jig sample holds five listings and spans 20 g to 120 g - a sixfold range. The price band across the same five listings is 2.1x.

The weight moves roughly three times as much as the price does. That ratio tells a buyer which field the products actually differ on, and it is the reason the metal jig guide says price is the least useful field in that type.

The retrieve window

A bait works across a range of speeds and stops producing its approved action outside it. A bait that only works at one retrieve is a different product from one that works across four, and the difference is set at tooling along with everything else in a hard lure.

Stating the window matters because two baits can pass a sample approval at the speed used in the sample and behave differently at every other speed. A sample that was only fished one way has only been approved one way.

What the order has to state

Target depth band. The water the bait is for, stated as a range.
Sink rate. A rate, not a depth figure, so it survives a change of line or retrieve.
Weight and its tolerance. Because a nominal weight that arrives light is a different lure.
Retrieve window. The speed range the bait is expected to work across.
Buoyancy class where the type has one, because floating, suspending and sinking are separate constructions rather than a setting.

Send a specification See the metal jig record

Depth band and retrieve window