Poor Boy’s Baits 4’’ Erie Darter
Background: Poor Boy’s Baits was extremely generous and sent me some of their 4’’ Erie Darters to test out and review, so I would like to start out this review by extending a proper thank you to them. The Erie Darter, as well as all other Poor Boy’s Soft Plastics, is hand poured and salt impregnated. The hand pouring process helps to ensure accuracy in each and every worm, so the fact that they do this is much appreciated. The Erie Darter itself has a large ribbed body that tapers off and eventually connects to a large flat tail.
Value: 4.5 stars
Despite the company’s name, the Erie Darter is anything but cheap. On tackle warehouse a pack of these worms comes in at a price of $5.99, which may not seem like a lot, but the fact that each pack only comes with 8 worms puts the price at $0.75 per worm. This puts these worms in the upper end of the price range when it comes to drop shot worms. However, these worms are hand poured and are extremely well made, which helps to warrant the high price per unit for this worm.
Durability: 5 stars
As I previously mentioned, these worms are very high quality soft plastics and therefore shine in the durability department. With other drop shot worms with hinged tails, I have found that fish are easily able to nibble away and bite off the tail and other parts of the worm. However, I am yet to experience this problem with the Erie Darter and the worms hold up so well that I can often reuse them over and over again. The Erie Darter is also one of the few worms that I have fished that has a thick nose to it. This may seem like a small detail, but it is actually this feature that I appreciate most about these worms. This is due to the fact that the thick nose allows me to take the hook out and reposition it many different ways without having to worry about ripping the top of the nose. This feature is also part of the reason why the worm stays on the hook so well and that I am able to reuse it time and time again.
Color Selection: 5 stars
When buying these worms you can choose from a selection of 23 different colors. Although this number is just above average for drop shot worms, they make up for it by having quality, well thought out color choices available for you. All of the colors that they offer have the ability to catch bass and even though they don’t have every single variation of each color, they have just the right amount to imitate all the type of prey that bass target. In addition to this, each color is extremely detailed and you can tell that they put a lot of thought into how many flakes go into each worm, which is not something that I have often seen.
Size and Shape: 5 stars
In the past, my favorite baits to drop shot with were KVD Dream Shots, Straight Tail Roboworms, and Lunker City Ribsters. The Erie Darter basically took all the best parts from each of these and combined them into one super worm. As I said the Darter has a thick ribbed that tapers off into a hinged tail. I believe that the ribbed body helps to displace more water and works to really get the attention of bass even from long distances. Along with this, the flat tail enables you to impart action even with the tiniest of twitches. The thing that I most appreciated was the larger size of these worms. With most drop shot worms, you will get a lot bites, but majority of them will come from tiny bass or perch. However, with the Erie Darter I found that the larger size helps to discourage the smaller fish from biting, so that you do still get a lot of bites, but the bites that you are getting are coming from big, quality fish.
Action: 5 stars
As with almost all drop shot worms, the Erie Darter has a natural tendency to sink in the water. This sinking allows you to bounce the worm up and down without moving the weight, which is a great way to get bass to strike. The flat tail of the Erie Darter is very sensitive to movement and possesses a subtle flutter as it falls. In addition the flat tail causes even the slightest movements to make the tail move, which makes it easy to control you worm and impart subtle action to it to entice a bass to strike. Finally, the thick ribbed body makes it so that when you shake the worm all the action goes to the tail, so that only the tail is going crazy opposed to the whole worm. This, in my opinion, better imitates wounded baitfish.
Overall: 4.9 Stars
The Erie Darter has quickly become one of my go-to drop shot baits and is definitely a high quality product. Aside from the high price per unit relative to the market, this worm is absolutely flawless and will catch bass in almost every single situation. I, myself, have caught some of my biggest bass on this bait, so I can vouch for its effectiveness. All in all, I am a huge fan of the Erie Darter, and Poor Boy’s Baits in general, and I will definitely be purchasing some more of these worms in the future. If you want to catch more quality bass, I highly recommend that you do the same and give these worms a try because I can almost guarantee you that you’ll love them as much as I do.