Yamamoto's Small Swimbaits Not Just For Saltwater
December 15, 2008
Since its debut a few years ago, GYB's 3-1/2-inch 'saltwater' swimbait has been a steady year-round producer for me. I score with it on almost every freshwater bass fishing trip I make.
So let's just get that one hang-up out of the way first - there's nothing strictly 'saltwater' about this bait except the bag.
Color Suggestions
Mainly, I use two colors:
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#031 (white pearl blue with silver flake), and
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#208 (watermelon pepper with red flake).
I have never really been able to tell that the fish prefer these small swimbaits any better in #208 or #031. Both seem to work equally well with no fish preference for one color or the other on most days.
A close match to #208 is #925 (green pumpkin with red / watermelon belly) shown in photo below:
I will also keep a bag of #237 (daiquiri hologram) handy. It's a pale, sparkly, sky blue color. When hordes of striped bass get too overwhelming and I can't keep the stripers off my favored #031, that's when I switch to the #237. It's amazing how the striper strikes tail off, giving bass a chance to hit the #237 when they wouldn't have been able to get past the stripers to hit #031.
And I will usually have a bag of #929 (green pumpkin/lemon laminate) available for dingy water or lowlight conditions, or when it's windy and fish get aggressive.
Scent in the Bag
I always keep GYB 3-1/2-inch swimbaits in their original bags. This way, it is easy for me to add a pea-sized glob of MegaStrike gel or a few drops of Yamamoto's liquid fish attractant or Kick'n Bass into each fresh bag of GYB swimbaits when first I open it.
At the beginning of a fishing trip, before I rig or even take one of the small swimbaits out of their bag, I put a little bit of fish attractant into the bag.
I do not add fish attractant to the lures after I tie them on my line. Enough attractant gets on the swimbaits in the bag.
You don't need to put in much at all. A pea-sized glob or just a few drops. At hot times of year, an attractant like MegaStrike gel will liquefy. It will quickly work itself all over all the baits in a bag, anointing them all. It will give them a lifelike sheen coating which will disperse, causing a visible oily and olfactory-detectable "chum" slick in the water column and on the surface above the bait. If any baits had gotten kinked or bent while stored in the bag, the oil helps relax and unkink the baits. With heat from the sun beating down on the bags on the boat deck, it won't be long before the oils and sun's heat help restore all baits back to their originally-molded perfect shapes without kinks and bends. But even in cool weather, the attractant in the bag will help straighten out any bent swimbaits, little by little.
Whenever I go into the bag to rig a fresh one, I carefully select the straightest one of all to use first. Then as the bag gets empty, hence more room, even the ones that were the most bent at first, they too will eventually tend to straighten out in the bag by the time I go to use them.
Many anglers only consider an attractant for its scent properties. As you know now, however, the main reasons I use attractant have nothing to do with scent, but for the following purposes:
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Most important is, put into a bag of baits, it helps unkink and straighten out any kinked or bent baits.
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It adds a glistening lifelike sheen coating, and that helps bring out the transparency, the colors and sparkle in a bait.
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It adds a visual feeding indicator - an oily slick - that rises to the surface directly above the bait. This is a visual fish attractor, and a slick on the surface is a natural signal of feeding activity that interests every bass in the area.
Those are the three most valuable reasons to me why an attractant enhances a soft bait presentation. Of course if it tastes great or stimulates strikes, that's good too.
Get Yourself a Couple of Good Jig heads
Okay, let's talk how to fish the 3-1/2-inch swimbait now. For me, it is mainly two ways:
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On a stand-up style jig head, and
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On a stand-up style jig head with a small spinner under the jig's chin.
I make little distinction between how I use the plain jig head versus how I use the spinner jig. I will swim either one, and I will fish the bottom with either one. I am not always concerned whether the blade spins. As long as it flickers and flops and flutters is fine too. I'll usually pay no mind to it and fish it like a plain jig. I let the fish decide, and what makes me favor the plain jig or the spinner jig is if fish seem to prefer more than the other on any given day.
It's not that these two jig heads are magical. Yes, they are good - but they're not the only jig heads you can use. I have tried many different jig heads with the 3-1/2-inch swimbait, and most will work - Yamamoto's 42-series round ball heads and 44-series football heads will work at least as good as any others. Do give them a try. This is a case where, you name it, it'll probably work. One thing you may want to keep away from is a heavy flipping style hook. Heavy tackle is not quite what this small swimbait is all about. So go for a jig without a heavy wire hook.
It's true there is some swimming action variance that's caused by different jig head shapes or weights. So it is possible to achieve a little variation in swimming action with different jig heads. You may find a couple of jig heads that you like better than others (same as I have found). It's a matter of personal choice, confidence, and what it comes down to may be this truism - if you believe a certain jig head is going to to work better or not, then it probably will!
Of course, if you discover a most superlative jig head for this swimbait, let me know, and I will switch to using that one too!
But otherwise, I have experimented and observed many different jig heads impart actions on this small swimbait body (you should too). Since it is so compact, short, and such a small swimbait, I just don't find that a diversity of jig heads are necessary for this small swimbait. I limit its use (for me) to only two jighead styles with which this swimbait is so effective as to be almost monotonous.
Honestly, the effectiveness of GYB's small swimbait on a jig takes a lot of the fun (and uncertainty) out of fishing - it is that deadly. It's at its best in deep water on or near the bottom but also excels swimming it through shallow water. I feel it is a more consistent day-in/day-out and dependable year-round fish-catcher than even the incredible Senko or world-famous Yamamoto Hula Grub!
Oh yes, the 3-1/2-inch GYB swimbait makes a wicked swimming jig or vibrating blade jig trailer.
When casting, there is a knack to tossing it out there so the tail won't bend back over the hook bend. Don't know how to tell you how to do this, but just like there's a right way to pass a football, there's a skill to casting this small swimbait so the tail doesn't fold over the hook. Practice makes perfect. You always need to watch it when it enters the water, and you can see if the tail lands straight or not. If you suspect it got balled up when it hit the water, a couple of cranks on the reel handle and you should be able to tell if the swimbait swims 'wrong' or not. Reel it in and start over if it's fouled the tail.
As you can see in the photos, I like Gary Yamamoto's spinning rods and Shimano 2500 series reels with these small swimbaits.
When the small swimbaits first came out a few years ago, I started using - and liked - GYB's M (medium) spinning rod with 10 lb braid or mono. It is good, I still use that set-up sometimes.
But lately I've turned to Yamamoto's ML (medium light) spinning rod.
What I found, to my surprise and delight is the rubbery rod tip action of the ML rod really puts these small swimbaits over the top. Fish will practically hook themselves as you retrieve. Now you realize why I gave you the earlier caveat to avoid a heavy wire hook.
With the ML rod, I use either 8 lb test Yamamoto Sugoi fluorocarbon line, tied direct to the swimbait - or else 10 lb test braid that's uni-knotted to 8 or 10 pound Sugoi fluoro leader a few feet long. If you tie good knots correctly, the knot will not slip or break before the leader itself breaks near the hook.
That's all about GYB's 3-1/2-inch swimbait. It's the most underrated, undiscovered gem in GYB's product line. Do give the small swimbait a try in 2009!