1.75” ES Paddle Tail

[rambaits]

I am considering buying a 1.75” ES Paddle Tail modl from Do-it. Does anyone have experience with this mold? How thick are the resulting baits? I am looking for a mold to make small paddle tails with a slim profile, lots of tail actuon, and fits well on a 1/16 or 1/32 oz jig head with size 2 or 4 hooks. Considering buying a lead mold and hooks for that as well. The Crappie Maxx Paddletail Minnow in the smallest size it comes in outfishes any other bait for crappie in my area but few shops near me keep them in stock or the colors I like in stock. So to reiterate I want a small, thin, light, paddletail swimbait for small jig heads and my question is will this mold produce that or should I look elsewhere?

[ctom]

I think the 1.75" Essential Paddy is a good option for that bait. The baits are thin compared to their height and the tails have plenty of action. They're a great crappie bait as long as a slightly larger hook, #4 or #2 is used in the jighead.

[rambaits]

Is the shank and gape length standard across hooks for a specific size? For example do all size 2 hooks have a 1" shank and a 1/2" gape? The last thing I want to do is buy a mold and hooks that are the wrong size for my bait. I have tried googling this and all I can find is that size 2 is bigger than size 4 but I want to know by how much. How long is the shank? How wide is the gape? etc...

[ctom]

Hooks are sized by industry standards, but you'll find some differences between brands and even in styles of hooks but a size 4 will be pretty consistent as will a size two in standard jig hooks.