These unsightly blobs of plastic are no joke . They ’ re one of the hottest bait trends going , and they ’ re here to stay .
letcher Shryock vividly recalls the first time he laid hands on the Yamamoto Yamatanuki . It wasn ’ t that the bait looked like a fish-catcher at first sight — in fact , quite the opposite . His reaction : “ What the hell am I going to do with this thing ?”
A Bass Pro Tour angler and 13-year touring pro , Shryock has seen enough baits that he usually gets a pretty good idea how they ’ re intended to be fished , even at first glance . But this bulbous , 3.5- inch cylinder with a small nub for a tail didn ’ t look like any lure Shryock had seen before , or any kind of aquatic creature , for that matter .
He needed just four casts to discover the appeal .
Shryock , known for his shallow power-fishing prowess , figured the bait would skip well , so he took it to a marina on Lake Chickamauga . Within minutes , a 4-pounder inhaled it , and Shryock ’ s curiosity was piqued .
“ I go into this marina and I start sliding it under some marina slips and literally caught like a 4 , 4 1 / 2-pounder on my third or fourth throw ,” Shryock said . “ I ’ m like , ‘ oh , hey .’ And I start fishing with it more and I ’ m like , dude , this thing skips and does things that no other bait really does .”
Shryock is far from the only American angler to have a similar experience in recent years . The Yamatanuki is part of a category of soft plastics born in Japan that has burst onto the scene in the U . S . The blob-shaped offerings aren ’ t particularly eye-catching ; many in the industry refer to them as “ poop baits ,” for obvious reasons . A few manufacturers have even leaned into the moniker with the names of their baits — the Cover Scat from Deps , the Heavy Poop from Fish Arrow .
Yet as ridiculous as they might look and sound , the bite-getting power of these baits is no joke . And as fishing pressure continues to increase and natural presentations become more important , don ’ t expect the trend to go away anytime soon .
overseas origins
Catching bass on baits that look like brown Cheetoh Puffs might seem outlandish , but the concept of weightless , shapeless , do-nothing baits isn ’ t new . As far back as 30 years ago , Shin Fukae remembers hearing about anglers in his home country of Japan cutting the tails off 4- and 5-inch grubs and Texas rigging their cylindrical bodies . The trend evolved when Yamamoto released the
PHOTO BY BRANDON ROWAN
SpRO CrAW NUGgET 3.5 ” COLOR : RUSTY CRAW
DEPs COVER ScAT 3.5 ” COLOR : PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE
MISsILE BAiTs BOMbA WORm COLOR : GHOST SHAD
YaMAMOTO YaMATANUKI 3.5 ” COLOR : GREEN PUMPKIN BLUE
REiNs TANk WORm COLOR : EBIMISO
FISh ARrOW HEaVY POoP 3 ” COLOR : SCUPPERNONG
DECEMBER-JANUARY 2024 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 47