Jointed Claw 178 vs 230

[Jerkbait22]

I threw my floating JC 178 for the first time recently around some grass beds and got bites and follows. So naturally now I want to get some more baits. I was thinking to pick up some in the 230 size for the extra drawing power. 
 

I’ve read a few comments where people seem to prefer the 178 size to the 230 size. Before I go ahead and drop the cash on a couple 230’s, I figured I’d try and get a consensus on that sentiment. 

[Good Year 71]

Forget about drawing power and focus on use. Craft like speed. Probably half the reason they’re offered in many loud colors. 178 is streamlined to use very aggressive, 230 not as much obviously. You can literally rip the 178, but not 230. Years past we would read how dudes shaved the joint to add glide width on 230’s, I never understood why. It’s narrow by design, that’s the whole point. But whatever. Different water, species, use preference and such, basically you either dig these or you don’t. Get one and don’t be scared to really move it.

[chevro1et]

I fish the Jointed Claw in 178F and 230F.   They both respond to differing cadences the same for me. (For clarity, they both respond to the same inputs the same way, just scaled in accordance with the size of the bait). A half-reel chop cadence produces a quick, flat, almost walking bait type action. Full reel cadence produces the dive and glide. I actually find the 230 to be more responsive to inputs and will actually wide glide with the correct cadence. The 178 seems to be more choppy and definitely needs to be worked faster to get a good consistent back-and-forth with either of my typical cadences. 

Edited June 20, 2022 by chevro1et
clarity

[chevro1et]

8 hours ago, Good Year 71 said:

Years past we would read how dudes shaved the joint to add glide width on 230’s, I never understood why. 

Widening the range of motion (ie. shaving the joint) actually increases the back-and-forth 'cover glide' action and reduces the ability of the bait to glide wide. @jkarol24 did a video about this using the Bucca Shad Glide as the demo bait since the joint of this bait is easily adjustable. 

[Jerkbait22]

1 hour ago, chevro1et said:

I fish the Jointed Claw in 178F and 230F.   They both respond to differing cadences the same for me. (For clarity, they both respond to the same inputs the same way, just scaled in accordance with the size of the bait). A half-reel chop cadence produces a quick, flat, almost walking bait type action. Full reel cadence produces the dive and glide. I actually find the 230 to be more responsive to inputs and will actually wide glide with the correct cadence. The 178 seems to be more choppy and definitely needs to be worked faster to get a good consistent back-and-forth with either of my typical cadences. 

I bought one floater and one slow sink but haven’t fished the slow sink yet. Sounds like you prefer the floating versions? What you described is exactly what I discovered when fishing the 178 with reel chops vs straight handle turns. It has a lazy glide on a slow reel but if you do half turns it’s a little more erratic and side to side. Have you found one to excel over the other in specific conditions or is it something that changes day to day hour to hour?

[Jerkbait22]

10 hours ago, Good Year 71 said:

Forget about drawing power and focus on use. Craft like speed. Probably half the reason they’re offered in many loud colors. 178 is streamlined to use very aggressive, 230 not as much obviously. You can literally rip the 178, but not 230.

When you say rip, are you talking pulls of the rod, or hard downward jerking movements? I think these are the two different interpretations of ripping a jerkbait so wanted to clarify. And thanks for the feedback - you gave me a lot of good info before purchasing the baits over the winter - much appreciated. 

Edited June 20, 2022 by Jerkbait22

[chevro1et]

1 hour ago, Jerkbait22 said:

I bought one floater and one slow sink but haven’t fished the slow sink yet. Sounds like you prefer the floating versions? What you described is exactly what I discovered when fishing the 178 with reel chops vs straight handle turns. It has a lazy glide on a slow reel but if you do half turns it’s a little more erratic and side to side. Have you found one to excel over the other in specific conditions or is it something that changes day to day hour to hour?

It just changes. The full reel turn / pause cadence can get the bait to dive before it glides, and with the 230 it's pretty significant.  That's one way to get the floaters down deeper. 

I do prefer the floaters since it's pretty easy to add weight and tune the baits to any sink rate / near suspend. 

[jp_midwest]

7 hours ago, chevro1et said:

I fish the Jointed Claw in 178F and 230F.   They both respond to differing cadences the same for me. (For clarity, they both respond to the same inputs the same way, just scaled in accordance with the size of the bait). A half-reel chop cadence produces a quick, flat, almost walking bait type action. Full reel cadence produces the dive and glide. I actually find the 230 to be more responsive to inputs and will actually wide glide with the correct cadence. The 178 seems to be more choppy and definitely needs to be worked faster to get a good consistent back-and-forth with either of my typical cadences. 

this this this..... for the 178  you need to move your rod almost like a jerk bait and do reel chops to get the desired chopping action. if you throw it around ambush spots and you give the bait a few chops fish will bite. thats how i caught fish last year. in more simpler terms you need to almost dead walk the bait like you would a tk. you can also try a straight retrieve and when you see the bass follow your bait reel chop and try to get that reaction bite 

[jp_midwest]

i will make a video on how i fish the 178 this week and i will post it on here.

[Good Year 71]

12 hours ago, Jerkbait22 said:

When you say rip, are you talking pulls of the rod, or hard downward jerking movements? I think these are the two different interpretations of ripping a jerkbait so wanted to clarify. And thanks for the feedback - you gave me a lot of good info before purchasing the baits over the winter - much appreciated. 

Rod pull, lots of interpretation I’m sure, but figure a ‘jerk’ about half a ‘rip’ sorry I don’t know how else to explain it lol. Side to side or downward and such doesn't have much to do with it I don't think. I don’t use the reel very much, mostly just gobble slack is all, prefer sticks on the firm side, keep my drag fairly light, and tend to run quicker than most. I also don’t care for true ‘fast’ action rod assemblies either, which may/may not have little/lot to do with how one might impart action rod in hand. My preference is forcing 178’s to move though. How you do it is up to you. And if you don’t, that’s cool too. But we have element of current here, and rarely mentioned but in Cali some of our bass can probably eat most bass in most states. No offense lol but a 178 isn’t much bigger than a lot of what we throw already anyway. No right or wrong way to do it, just a different action, different way is all

[jp_midwest]

Look this is how I would fish the 178. The one with the most reel chops is the one I use in pin point target areas so I can get a reaction bite. The second one is more smooth but with a few reel chops that is how I use it when I come to a piece of cover that might have fish on it, or after a long cast of smooth reeling back and I feel a bite. 

[jp_midwest]

And today I was using it at a slower glide back and forth action with a slow reel back and I caught these two pretty good fish for the body of water I was fishing here in northern IL

[jp_midwest]

Also the set up I was using is a st croix mojo swimbait, a lews super duty GX 6:3:1 I think, 20 pound p line cxx and of course the bait a jointed claw 178 in clear lake hitch with a size 4 or 5 decoy egg snap. yes yes ik it’s probably too big but I like it because it counter acts the lifting motion when doing hard chops and I feel like it give it more action plus it works for me. Hooks are mustad kvd short shank triple grips in a size 2. First time I have tried the bait with those hooks and I like the hook up ratio and unlike the st-36’s that come stock with the bait they almost never hang up on it’a self when fishing it hard like how the owners do. 

[chevro1et]

I have found that the Jointed Claw baits are more responsive for me tied direct. I have fished both sizes with Decoy egg snaps and direct. With the snap, they sometimes get a 'washed out' or 'lost and wandering' feeling to them, falling out of the desired cadence. Tied direct, this doesn't seem to happen. 

F5 Departure 806 / Z2020 Black / 20lb Sunline Shooter Sniper. 

 

[Good Year 71]

^^^ I, too, tie direct to 178, though mostly to use preference. 230 sometimes, not always, and agree with your reasoning. No happy medium for me, I'll clip 230 slow, otherwise move it out direct. Much depends on the stick though; all rods do not impart action equal, and I don't use the reel much. Nice fish BTW