Watchchiller,
It would be easier if we could communicate via e-mail, but I won't post it in the open and we don't have private message options on this site. I understand why, but I offer an alternate. You can visit and register on Washingtonlakes.com. (fishing reports site) You then can either e-mail me or send me a private message from there. My username is, can you guess,
"anglinarcher".
OK, first things first. Is fish 30acre and Watchchiller the same guy?
You seem a little over enamored here. OK, jokes aside, let's get serious for a minute.
The sites I gave you have a lot more information then what you saw. They are not well organized so it takes a lot of searching to find what you want, and even then, no one site has it all. The takleunderground site has a lot more than just the experiment I showed you, but you need to search for it.
On the euro site, you need to right click on the picture and save it to your computer. You can then open it with your own jpeg editor and enlarge and clarify the pictures. Still, it is not user friendly for sure.
I think we have a different opinion of what original means. The link to the JSJ shows a lure I have used before. I gave it back to the friend when I found out how much it cost. OUCH! The action is identical to the 30acre gill. I remember looking at the joints, and you can see them somewhat in the link, and I believe it the same that I see on the 30acre. The only way to know for sure is to cut both lures apart, and I won't do that. The size is 6.5" on the JSJ and 7" on the 30acre. 30acre does use an open mouth for the line tie. That is far more then I wanted to get into and was never my point. The judges will need to determine this, not me. I still think the lure swims very well and were it cheaper then the JSJ, I would consider buying it. IF the joints are indeed the same, then I do not see current being a problem for the 30acre.
OK, now for fish versus snake action. The more joints you have, the more snake action you get. The longer the sections you have, the more snake action you get. Still, the converse is also correct, to a point. By adding more joints, but shorter sections, you can get a more fish like action. But, adding too many, or too long................. well let's just say that there is a sweet spot and no two agree on where that is for sure. I agree that the JSJ and 30acre do more fish and less snake then a lot of the multijoint swim bait lures.
OK, can freshwater fish destroy a lure? Yes. Will big blue water destroy bigger lures even faster? Oh Yes. In my humble opinion, for the ultimate blue water multijointed swim bait, you don't want wire, through or not, but at least two pieces of Stainless going from front to back. To make my point, let's go to a fresh water lure again. The Live Pointer swims great, but it uses two stainless wires as a through joint from head to tail. Torque strength sucks and I break so many of them I won't even use the dozen I have in my box. Will sell live pointers cheap! Call me at ......
I have a couple of ideas for the joint, and I don't mind sharing them, but again, we do not have the tools on this site to do it. If you desire to contact me on the Washingtonlakes site, then I can send jpegs and sketches to you. The catch is simple; you need to balance weight, strength, and size, to get what you want. With the quality of lure makers I have seen in the contest, I'll bet several of us could combine and make some super lures. Perhaps you want to take the lead????? Note, my joint would and does handle all fresh water fish in the US, but it is not designed for Blue Water. But then again, I don't expect you would fish for Blue Water giants with a 4" or a 6" swim bait.
OK, back to a lighter side. I too am confused about how some of the lures are doing. How my mermaid can do as well as it is doing really confuses me. That was a joke to satisfy my wife. I thought the write up made that clear. Sure, there is a novelty lure market, especially in Japan, but ...... Careful about the knock off thing, most of what I see, including the 30acre gill, could be considered knock offs. Mr. Ogawa will be the one with the job of determining that. I do not envy his job. I am not sure how accurate the voting thing is when we have contestants voting against each other. LOL
I hope I have clear up a few things here. I do wish we had the tools to share sketches, etc., so we could work on designs together. Lure companies make money, but I just don't see the winner of this contest, no matter how great the lure is, becoming rich. For me, making lures is a hobby, a way of making lures that fit my specific needs, not a way to gain glory or fame or money.