# Floating, suspending or sinking minnows

> A minnow order that does not state its buoyancy class has not stated the product. The three classes fish three depth bands on the same body.

Source: https://luressource.com/sourcing-playbook/minnow-floating-suspending-sinking/

Direct answer. A minnow body can be built in three buoyancy classes - floating, suspending and sinking - and the class decides which depth band the lure fishes, not the shape. The mould can be identical across all three and the ballast differs. That makes buoyancy a field the order has to carry, because a buyer who specifies a shape and a length has left the single most consequential variable open. Key facts. 1) Floating, suspending and sinking are three constructions of the same body; the difference is ballast, not shape. 2) Buoyancy decides the depth band and the retrieve the lure suits, so it is the first field the order should carry. 3) Suspending is the class most often confused with floating, because both sit still at rest on the surface until the ballast is set. 4) A minnow order that names shape and length but not class has not specified which of three products it is buying. Frequently asked questions. Q: Can one mould produce all three buoyancy classes? A: Yes, and that is exactly why the field matters. The body comes out of the same tool and the ballast is set afterwards, so a factory can quote three different products from one mould. A buyer comparing two quotations for the same shape may be comparing three different products without knowing it. Q: Which class should a first order carry? A: That depends on the water, not on the catalog. Suspending covers the middle band and is the most forgiving for a mixed assortment. Floating suits shallow cover. Sinking suits deep water and long casts. A range that carries only one class has decided the buyer's water for them. Q: Why is suspending so often confused with floating? A: Because both rest at the surface before the retrieve. The difference appears after the pause: a floating minnow rises, a suspending minnow holds its depth. That difference is invisible in a listing photograph and decisive in the water. Q: Does the diving depth on a package mean anything? A: It is a claim about one retrieve speed in one line class. Change either and the number changes. Treat it as a starting point to verify rather than a specification, and state the depth band you actually need in the order. Q: What else belongs in a minnow order? A: Length, weight, the line-tie position, hook configuration and finish, on top of the class. Weight and length together set the sink rate of a sinking model, and the line tie decides how the lure tracks. Sources (3). 1) The sampled minnow and hard-lure records behind this page — /opportunities/minnow-suppliers-china/ 2) How the hard lure range is filed by type — /opportunities/hard-lure-suppliers-china/ 3) Our rule for separating evidence from a claim — /opportunities/editorial-rules/ Three products come out of one mould, and the field that separates them is the one a listing is least likely to state. The same body, three constructions A minnow is a hard body shaped to read as a baitfish. What it does in the water is decided after moulding, when the ballast goes in. Set the ballast one way and the lure rises when you stop retrieving. Set it another way and it holds its depth. Set it a third way and it keeps sinking. Those are floating, suspending and sinking, and they are three products. The shape, the finish and the hook configuration can be identical across all three. One body, three constructions. Only the ballast differs, and only the ballast decides which of these three a buyer receives. Why the class is the first field Buoyancy decides which depth band the lure works and which retrieve suits it. A floating minnow is a shallow-cover tool. A suspending minnow covers the middle band and rewards a pause. A sinking minnow reaches deep water and casts long. So a buyer who specifies a shape and a length has specified the appearance of the product and left its function open. The factory will fill that gap with its standard ballast, and it will do so consistently and correctly from its own point of view. The confusion worth naming Floating and suspending are confused constantly, and the reason is structural: both rest at the surface before the retrieve begins. The difference only appears after the pause. A floating minnow rises; a suspending minnow holds. That difference is invisible in a photograph, invisible in a video that does not show a pause, and decisive in the water. It is also the reason a buyer who has only ever seen listings can believe they have compared two products when they have compared one product twice. The claim to treat carefully Packaging frequently states a diving depth. That is a claim about one retrieve speed on one line class. Change the retrieve speed or the line diameter and the number changes, which makes it a starting point to verify rather than a specification to order against. State the depth band you actually need. It is a more useful field than a number the factory cannot reproduce without knowing your retrieve. What a minnow order has to state Buoyancy class. Floating, suspending or sinking, stated explicitly. Length and weight. Together they set the sink rate of a sinking model, which length alone does not. Line-tie position. It decides how the lure tracks under a steady retrieve. Hook configuration. Treble count and size, quoted separately. Finish. color and foil, the last step and the cheapest to change. Send a specification See the minnow record