Well, your tears should be warm enough.

Interesting observation. One thing I can add is having very little success myself on the center rod this season. I'm hard pressed to think of more than two small fish total all trolling season. Not normal for me. I did not keep score on the inside vs. outside, but I'd guess a slight edge to the outside.

The squirrelly tail was a sure bet. At least two people asked about them for trolling, and I wrote them off. Felt the lack of a rear hook gave the fish way too much area to grab the lure from behind before it contacted a hook at mid-point. Stupid me. I think there was something to that tail as my production on the standard Jake seemed to diminish towards the end.

I twitch them a lot in the late summer, fall periods, but will definitely add them to the trolling roster for next season.