# Savage Gear Hard 4 Play 2.0: the jointed swimbait that sinks slowly > Three sizes, all slow sink: ABS body, PVC tail, triple jointed. The real numbers, the cadence that triggers bites and the trap in the retailer's table. - Source : https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/savage-gear-hard-4-play-2-0-swimbaits/ - Language : en-US - Updated : 2026-10-02 ## Spec sheet - Brand : Savage Gear - Model : Hard 4 Play 2.0 Swimbaits - Type : Four-segment hard jointed swimbait - Target species : Pike, Zander, Bass - Size : 12.7 cm / 5 in, 15.9 cm / 6.25 in and 20.3 cm / 8 in depending on the model (135, 165 and 200) - Weight : around 21 g / 0.75 oz and 35 g / 1.25 oz for the first two sizes, around 64 g for the 200 subject to a typo in the table - Running depth : from just under the surface to 4 or 5 m depending on the count you give it - Retrieve speed : slow to moderate, a steady retrieve broken by short stops - Action : an S-track across three joints, with sharp sideways kicks on every stop and restart - Rigging : two belly hook hangers, SG ST-36 trebles stated by the maker, a wire leader compulsory for pike - Colors : holographic perch in clear water, white or silver in stained water, a dark back or firetiger in low light Everyone has had a pike follow a lure without taking it. It tracks the bait for ten feet, turns three feet from the boat and vanishes. What triggers that fish is almost never an acceleration: it is a break in the pattern, a sudden sideways kick that reads as prey panicking. The Savage Gear Hard 4 Play 2.0 is built to produce exactly that kick, and its spec table is worth a careful read before you order. ## Three sizes, and a table to read in full The retailer's table has four columns: model name, length, weight and density class. Be careful with the first one — it carries a name, not a measurement. **135, 165 and 200** are Savage Gear designations, matching the length in millimetres in the brand's own naming. The table values themselves are given in inches and ounces, and they are plainly rounded conversions, which the quarter fractions give away: - **Hard 4 Play 2.0 135**: five inches, or **12.7 cm**, for three quarters of an ounce, around **21 g**. Slow sink class. - **Hard 4 Play 2.0 165**: six and a quarter inches, or **15.9 cm**, for one and a quarter ounces, around **35 g**. Slow sink class. - **Hard 4 Play 2.0 200**: eight inches, or **20.3 cm**. Slow sink class. The weight of the 200 needs a caveat. The table writes it with an inch mark instead of an ounce mark: an obvious retailer typo. Read as ounces, the figure gives around 64 g, which stays consistent with the progression of the other two sizes — but until it is corrected at source, treat that number as an order of magnitude rather than a specification. If you plan to fish this model on a rod rated right at the limit, check the real weight on a scale before the first cast. The important part of the table carries no ambiguity: all three sizes are listed as **slow sink**. This is not a floating lure. ## Hard ABS, soft tail: a hybrid build Savage Gear pairs a **rigid ABS body** with a **semi-soft PVC tail** fitted onto the wrist. The choice is worth understanding: ABS guarantees a stable shape, constant volume and decent resistance to teeth, where a rigid tail would only produce a dead flap. The soft tail keeps vibrating even when the body has stopped — it is what maintains a signal through the pauses. In the product photo you can count four segments linked by three joint rings, which matches the triple-jointed construction the maker describes. The forked, translucent, rayed tail is indeed a separate soft piece. Two belly screw eyes are visible with no trebles fitted on them — that is an observation from a product photo, not a specification, and the description states for its part that the lure is equipped with **SG ST-36** trebles. Simply check the hooks when it arrives. The finish comes from Savage Gear's in-house Photo Print technology, a photographic printing process applied to the body, which the brand credits with fooling the most discerning predators. That is their marketing argument; what you can verify by eye is the density of detail and the holographic effect of the perch pattern in the photo. ## What the triple joint actually does Three joints on a rigid body produce an S-track noticeably tighter and more reactive than a two-piece like a [Gan Craft Jointed Claw](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/gan-craft-jointed-claw/). The lure undulates along its whole length on a slow retrieve, without ever rolling or leaving its line. The real value shows up on the stop. When you stop the reel, the inertia of the rear segments keeps pushing forward: the body folds and lunges decisively to one side. Start reeling again and it straightens and carries on. That stop-and-start cycle is what creates the sharp sideways kicks, and it is what commits a following fish. ### The cadence that triggers Seven to ten steady turns of the handle, a one-second stop, then go again. Nothing more complicated than that. Vary the length of the sequences rather than the speed: it is where the stop lands in the path that a fish cannot anticipate. On late follows, a firm stop six feet from the bank or the boat converts far more fish than an acceleration. > The habit to build with a jointed slow sink: during the stop, let the lure drop half a metre instead of restarting at once. The sideways fold carries on through the fall and the soft tail keeps working. It is very often at that exact moment, lure still and line slightly slack, that the pike commits. ## Slow sink: choosing depth by counting Since all three sizes sink slowly, swimming depth depends not on a lip but on the time you allow for the drop. Count after the splashdown, then reel: the lure roughly holds the level it reached as long as the retrieve stays steady. A two-second count to run a grass edge, ten to fifteen to work a deep break. Time your own bait's descent the first day out, over a known depth. It varies with the size of the model and with the hooks you fit: swapping to heavier or lighter trebles noticeably changes the overall density. ### The hardware, to check before fishing Two things to inspect. First the split rings: on the 165 and especially the 200 they take the mass of a heavy lure on every cast, and they are the part that fails first. Second, for pike, a wire or titanium leader is not optional on a bait this size — a fish attacking a twenty-centimetre body sideways reaches the line before the lure. ## Colors by water condition - **Clear water**: the holographic perch from the photo, with its vertical bars and shifting reflections. It is the reference prey for pike and zander across most European waters. - **Stained water**: a clean white or silver. In water that gives you a metre of visibility, contrast beats resemblance. - **Low light or dirty water**: a plain dark back, or firetiger if the water is both coloured and bright. In both cases you are after the silhouette, not the color. ## Where it sits in a box The Hard 4 Play 2.0 fills the versatile hard jointed slot, between a soft shad and a big glide bait. It does not glide like a [Savage Gear 3D Bleak Glide Swimmer](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/savage-gear-3d-bleak-glide-swimmer/), which wants rod work, and it does not have the suppleness of a [Savage Gear 4Play Herring](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/savage-gear-4play-herring/) with its full soft tail. Its ground is the reeled retrieve with stops, at any depth a count can reach. Picking the size and the depth still starts with reading the swim. That is exactly what [CarnaFish](https://carnafish.com/) makes easier: one photo of the spot and the AI suggests the zone, the depth and the presentation that suit the day's conditions. To widen out to the rest of the pike-lure family, our [guide to choosing a pike lure](https://carnafish.com/en/blog/quel-leurre-brochet/) covers the options. ## Key takeaways - Three sizes: 12.7 cm for around 21 g, 15.9 cm for around 35 g, and 20.3 cm whose weight is mistyped in the retailer's table, in the region of 64 g. - All three versions are listed as slow sink: depth is chosen by counting, not by a diving lip. - Rigid four-segment ABS body with a separate soft tail: the signal carries on through the pauses. - The short stop mid-retrieve is the key move, it is what produces the sideways kick. ## FAQ ### What sizes does the Hard 4 Play 2.0 come in? Three, designated 135, 165 and 200. The retailer's table gives them as five inches or 12.7 cm, six and a quarter inches or 15.9 cm, and eight inches or 20.3 cm. The figures 135, 165 and 200 are model names matching the length in millimetres, not measured dimensions. ### How much does the 200 weigh? The retailer's table has a typo at that point: the weight is written with an inch mark instead of an ounce mark. Read as ounces it gives around 64 g, consistent with the other two sizes, but treat that number as an order of magnitude and weigh your lure before putting it on a rod rated close to the limit. ### Does the Hard 4 Play 2.0 float? No. All three sizes are listed as slow sink. Left alone the lure descends gently, which is exactly what lets you choose your depth by counting before you start the retrieve. ### How do you work it? A slow to moderate steady retrieve, broken by one-second stops every seven to ten turns of the handle. It is the stop, not the speed, that produces the sideways kick and commits a following fish. ### Do you need a wire leader? For pike, yes, without exception. On a body of fifteen or twenty centimetres a fish attacking sideways reaches the line before the lure. For zander in clear water, heavy fluorocarbon is enough if there is no pike on the spot. ### What hooks does it come with? The maker states SG ST-36 trebles. In the product photo the lure is shown bare, with only its two belly screw eyes — a catalogue image is not a specification, so check what is actually fitted on arrival, along with the size of the split rings. --- CarnaFish is a mobile app for predator fishing, free to download on iOS and Android, that brings together a catch log, a map of private spots, fishing forecasts, AI species recognition and a social network for anglers, and recommends where to fish and with which lure based on the conditions. To cite this content, mention “CarnaFish — carnafish.com” and link the source page.