LIVETARGET Lures' Twitch Minnow

In the introduction to our Midwest Finesse gear guide about LIVETARGET Lures’ Ghost Tail Minnow, it was noted that Midwest finesse anglers have been wedded since April 1, 2006, to soft-plastic baits that are often referred to as a shad-shaped or minnow-shaped worm. In the eyes of some old-time Midwest finesse anglers, the Ghost Tail Minnow and its sibling the Twitch Minnow are avant-garde manifestations of their minnow-shaped or shad-shaped worms of yesteryears.

We exchanged several email and telephone conversations about these new creations with Morgan Trojner of Grimsby, Ontario, who is in charge of LIVETARGET Lures’ sales and marketing, and he sent us a package of 3 3/4-inch Twitch Minnows to work with and thoroughly examine.

According to the folks at LIVETARGET, anglers can affix the Twitch Minnow to a drop-shot rig, a jika rig, a neko rig, a wacky rig, and a weightless rig with an offset-style hook. They have not mentioned a word about affixing it to a small mushroom-style jig and employing it the way that Midwest finesse anglers have been employing a minnow-shaped or shad-shaped worm for more than 14 years. Despite this minor and unintentional oversight, the standard Midwest finesse rigging will be a very effective way to use the Twitch Minnow for inveigling largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and spotted bass in a variety of waterways.

Here is what else we found out about the Twitch Minnow.

It is manufactured in three sizes: 3 3/4 inches, 4 1/2 inches, and 5 1/4 inches. And according to our measurement, the 3 3/4-incher is exactly 3 13/16 inches long, which is the ideal size for Midwest finesse applications.

It is manufactured with a process that is called Injected Core Technology. This method allowed LIVETARGET Lures to create what they call “a lifelike profile and vibrant metallic flash that looks exactly like a real live baitfish.”

This realistic segment of the Twitch Minnow is 2 3/8 inches long. This section is described as containing its inner core, which encompasses its snout, head eyes, pectoral fins, lateral lines, scales, and part of its torso. It is encased inside a transparent plastic substance that LIVETAREGT calls an Exo-Skin.

The transparent Exo-Skin also encompasses the tail and posterior portion of the Twitch Minnow’s torso. These two sections are 1 1/2 inches long. The idea behind the creation of a transparent tail and posterior section was to produce a super-finesse presentation, which LIVETARGET calls “a smaller hatch size.” Thus, the 3 13/16-inch long Ghost Tail Minnow becomes 2 3/8 inches long in the eyes of a largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, or spotted bass.

According to a LIVETARGET Lures’ press release, the Twitch Minnow was designed to replicate an injured minnow, shiner, or herring in appearance and action. In a number of ways, the 3 3/4-inch Twitch Minnow’s snout, eyes, pectoral fins, lateral lines, scales, and the contours of its torso parallel Joseph Tomelleri’s stellar illustrations of the common shiner, red shiner, and sand shiner. (See endnote number three.)

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The length of its predorsal area, which stretches from the tip of its snout to the tip of its gill membrane, is nine-sixteenths of an inch. Near the junction of the dorsal and predorsal area, the circumference of the Twitch Minnow is about 1 5/16 inches. At it is widest spot, the predorsl area has a width of a quarter of an inch.

The first 2 3/8 inches of the predorsal and dorsal areas are endowed with three holes. The first 2 3/8 inches of its ventral area also has three holes. Trojner says the holes are part of the manufacturing process. And some anglers use them to insert nail weights.

The largest portion of its torso lies about an inch from the tip of its snout. This area possesses a circumference of about 1 7/16 inches, a width of five-sixteenths of an inch, and a height of nine-sixteenths of an inch.

At the spot where the inner core ends, the circumference of its torso is about fifteen-sixteenths of an inch and a width of one-eighth of an inch.

Its transparent torso is eleven-sixteenths of an inch long, and at its junction with the tail, it possesses a circumference of about a half of an inch and a width of about one-sixteenth of an inch.

The Twitch Minnow is endowed with a deeply forked tail. It is three-quarters of an inch long. The two fins of the forked tail are flat and thin, possessing a thinness of one millimeter. From the tip of each fin, there is a seven-sixteenths of an inch of open space.

It is manufactured in the following hues: Silver Blue, Silver Brown, Silver Green, Silver Pearl, Silver Purple, and Silver Smoke.

They are not impregnated with salt and scent. A package of four costs $8.99.

It is endowed with what LIVETARGET described as “excellent durability.”

When Midwest finesse anglers affix a Twitch Minnow to a small mushroom-style jig, they will immediately notice that its tail and a major portion of its torso will twitch and undulate quite significantly. These anglers will be able to present it to their black bass quarries by employing all six of the standard Midwest finesse retrieves.

Endnotes