A New Favorite?

[TOXIC]

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m pretty stubborn and set in my ways when it comes to trying new baits.  I follow Yamamoto International and keep tabs on baits used overseas.  After all, I am a finesse fisherman and a lot of our finesse techniques started overseas.  I was lucky enough to tour the Yamamoto factory in Page, Arizona and watched all of my favorites being manufactured.  During that tour we walked down an isle in the warehouse that had different packaging than what I was used to.  When I asked, I was told those were baits made specifically for overseas.  My ears perked up and I asked if I could “shop” a little.  I was told sternly no.  So when I saw the Yamatanuki come across my feed from the international division, I was curious and I felt a strange desire to try this bait.  So curious in fact, I had a friend ship me some from Japan.  I put them up because they were so “special” and kinda forgot them.  Then low and behold, Yamamoto sells to GSM and a raft of new products start to appear.  On that list of new products is the Yamatanuki.  I wasted no time ordering my favorite colors in all 3 sizes.  I took them to Michigan and Lake St Clair, gave a few to some of my fishing friends and told them to try them out and report back.  Some good fish were caught with them weightless.  I could not break from my “Traditional” Yamamoto baits and, as always did very well.  Fast forward to this last weekend, mid summer, tidal river, hot water temps and I was struggling.  I flipped open my Ned Rig Plano box reaching for my traditional 4” Senko and I see where I put some of the Yamatanuki in the box.  I decided to finally give them a try and I’m really glad I did.  The bass we’re hitting them so hard, I had to shorten my fuse for setting the hook or risk them totally choking the bait.  Is it a new favorite? That’s a pretty high bar but I will say it’s now definitely in the rotation. 

[bowhunter63]

Nice haul

[BrianMDTX]

I assume from your post these were used on a Ned rig, but I’ll ask to be sure. 

[TOXIC]

10 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

I assume from your post these were used on a Ned rig, but I’ll ask to be sure. 

Yes they were.  I had intended to use them on a dropshot but many of the baits I use for a dropshot can be rigged as a Ned also.  It’s nice that the bait split is on both sides so it has better hook exposure and if it gets a little torn up, it can be rigged from both sides.  I actually used both sides and the solid sides to rig.  

[ol'crickety]

Thanks for the tip and curse you for the tip. 

 

[TOXIC]

13 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Thanks for the tip and curse you for the tip. 

 

I’ll add a little insult to the injury and show a pic of it rigged up.  😂. 6lb mono, 7ft fast spinning rod, bounced on bottom. 

[casts_by_fly]

yeah, I imagine that might catch one or two.

 

Is it the same plastic as a senko (salt load, texture)?

[TOXIC]

25 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

yeah, I imagine that might catch one or two.

 

Is it the same plastic as a senko (salt load, texture)?

Yes as opposed to the Ned Senko which is 3” and made from a floating formula.  Fishing a tidal river means moving water and I found that using a normal 4” Senko gave me a better fall rate and allowed me to use a lighter head which minimized hang ups.  I fish my Ned’s with a slow drag or a hop on the bottom like a jig or shakeyhead so I need/want a little more bait mass.  The Yamatanuki is shorter but is bulky and with the  top and bottom cut outs, allows for excellent hook exposure and is heavy enough to give the same fall rate.  Made with the same formula as the Senko is a win-win IMHO. 

[casts_by_fly]

23 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Yes as opposed to the Ned Senko which is 3” and made from a floating formula.  Fishing a tidal river means moving water and I found that using a normal 4” Senko gave me a better fall rate and allowed me to use a lighter head which minimized hang ups.  I fish my Ned’s with a slow drag or a hop on the bottom like a jig or shakeyhead so I need/want a little more bait mass.  The Yamatanuki is shorter but is bulky and with the  top and bottom cut outs, allows for excellent hook exposure and is heavy enough to give the same fall rate.  Made with the same formula as the Senko is a win-win IMHO. 

thanks. I picked up a pack of 4” senkos off the back of one of your previous trip reports and my own success of using the back of a banged up 5” one. It’s a bigger profile but with a 1/16 oz head I can throw it on all of my lighter casting rods if I want. Smaller than that and I need the bfs rod or spinning. Next order I’ll throw the tanuki in. 
 

I’ve been fishing mine either with a Texas rig like drag/hop or like a swim jig with a steady reel and shaking the tip of the rod. I do the latter when I’m throwing into heavier weed areas to keep it just off the junk. 

[RRocket]

These have been available for awhile in the USA. How long have you had these on the shelf? LOL 😆 

 

Also, those who fish weightless might find this useful.

 

 

[TOXIC]

@RRocket ha, ha the vid you posted is a Japanese angler and uses the Japanese packaging.  It was released in the US in 2023.  It was available in Japan for a number of years.  

[RRocket]

1 hour ago, TOXIC said:

@RRocket   It was released in the US in 2023.  

Seems right.

 

I did a write up on these here (3 poop baits) in September 2023.

[SAL321]

9 hours ago, TOXIC said:

I’ll add a little insult to the injury and show a pic of it rigged up.  😂. 6lb mono, 7ft fast spinning rod, bounced on bottom. 

Ya got me on this one. I've been wanting a reason to try this after seeing a YT video recently. On order and ready to tackle some brown ones this weekend on the south shore

[RRocket]

If anyone is curious what these weigh weightless rigged.

[CDMTJager]

I envy those than can fish any soft plastic with an exposed hook. You're hookup rate must be 85-90% at least.

[rgasr63]

On 7/21/2024 at 8:16 PM, TOXIC said:

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m pretty stubborn and set in my ways when it comes to trying new baits.  I follow Yamamoto International and keep tabs on baits used overseas.  After all, I am a finesse fisherman and a lot of our finesse techniques started overseas.  I was lucky enough to tour the Yamamoto factory in Page, Arizona and watched all of my favorites being manufactured.  During that tour we walked down an isle in the warehouse that had different packaging than what I was used to.  When I asked, I was told those were baits made specifically for overseas.  My ears perked up and I asked if I could “shop” a little.  I was told sternly no.  So when I saw the Yamatanuki come across my feed from the international division, I was curious and I felt a strange desire to try this bait.  So curious in fact, I had a friend ship me some from Japan.  I put them up because they were so “special” and kinda forgot them.  Then low and behold, Yamamoto sells to GSM and a raft of new products start to appear.  On that list of new products is the Yamatanuki.  I wasted no time ordering my favorite colors in all 3 sizes.  I took them to Michigan and Lake St Clair, gave a few to some of my fishing friends and told them to try them out and report back.  Some good fish were caught with them weightless.  I could not break from my “Traditional” Yamamoto baits and, as always did very well.  Fast forward to this last weekend, mid summer, tidal river, hot water temps and I was struggling.  I flipped open my Ned Rig Plano box reaching for my traditional 4” Senko and I see where I put some of the Yamatanuki in the box.  I decided to finally give them a try and I’m really glad I did.  The bass we’re hitting them so hard, I had to shorten my fuse for setting the hook or risk them totally choking the bait.  Is it a new favorite? That’s a pretty high bar but I will say it’s now definitely in the rotation. 

Nice catches!! Very nice. I had been sitting pretty still away from that bait monkey but here we go again. I bought 2 bags to try. Thanks for the information !

[Bass Rutten]

Thanks for this post, always on the lookout for new ned baits. Just picked up a pack of black/blue, it's smaller than I anticipated. Weighs in at 6.8 grams paired up with a 1/32 owner blockhead jighead and casts just fine on medium casting gear. Haven't fished it yet, just did some practice casting in the yard. Should be a nice addition to the ned arsenal, can't wait to try it out!