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I love needles! My favorites sink level and stay down on the retrieve. They also have some swimming action but I’m not convinced that action on a needle matters a lot to the fish because the ones that don’t swim seem to catch as well. There are a lot of ways to fish needles but my go to is to fish them slowly and near the bottom in a slow sweep just like I would a dead eel. When I started building my own the goal was to come up with something that I could fish in the same areas and in the same ways that I had success fishing dead or mostly dead eels (slowly drifting them along the bottom). I normally carry/fish two different sizes in two different weights (so a total of four different needles) but they are all shaped and weighted to fish the same way. Depending on the specific area that I am fishing along with conditions and current I alternate between them to stay in the strike zone. I agree with George that color can matter on needles so I end up carrying a dozen or more needles most nights so thankfully I can fit a few of them in a single tube!
I haven’t fished floating needles or needles that come right up to the surface that often or with much luck but I intend to give them some more time this season.
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