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September/October 2005

Bernie: It's April here at Table Rock Lake, the final event of the '05 BASS 150 Tour. Gary, share with our readers how you got your start in fishing.

Gary: It's an interesting story. My parents bought a farm in the country on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. It was about an hour and half in our old dump trunk to get to this farm; I think I was three or four when we started going there. My brother and sisters would help on the farm, it was a "taro pan", and so it had water in it, like a rice paddy. Consequently there was flowing water coming in, and in these rivers there were little fish and shrimp. As a child, that was my job, to go catch some fish.

I'd take a cane pole, and that was before I went to kindergarten, dig worms, and go down to the river. The river was probably 30 feet wide and there was a pool about 10 feet deep. I'd walk down there and catch those fish for the table. I was a little kid and I'd walk through barb wire fences, through the cow pastures and I'd be about a half mile away while my parents worked the farm. I did it every weekend, but my mother wouldn't let me cross the street by myself in the city. It was okay to go down to that running river, climb out on the grass and hang on (I couldn't swim) but I wasn't allowed to cross the street! They never thought anything of it.

Bernie: That's kind of similar to my childhood. I was raised on a lake in Sanford, Florida and the nearest neighbor was across the lake. There were gators and snakes around but my mom never worried about anything. Before the tackle company, you actually ran a campground in Page, Arizona. Do you still own that?

Gary: I still own it. It's a lot prettier now than it was when I bought it in 1976. It was the ugliest campground I've ever seen - it was built as a construction camp for the power plant. The underground plumbing and electric were fine and it was a big enough camp to survive if I cleaned it up. My first intent was to clean it up and sell it. That was 25 or 26 years ago and I still have it.

Bernie: Did that venture not give you the opportunity; I mean I would think that you did that so you could be close to the lake and fish more.

Gary: That was the choice - go to northern California and starve in those pretty places or go to Lake Powell and hope tourists would be coming in the future. I chose the big lake and the opportunity to fish.

Bernie: I remember going there for an event and I spent more time looking at the shoreline rock formations than I did for fish. It's beautiful. Okay, you're in the campground business, you're learning more about bass fishing, at what point did you decide to get into tackle production?

Gary: I spent '76, '77 and part of '78 working hard on the campground, but then I bought a boat and started fishing. At that time it was Bobby Garland's Spider Jigs and a few grubs that were available, but you only had a choice of four colors: black, brown, chartreuse and white. I was using the grub for bass, while most were using them for crappie. We bought some grubs from Gene Larew and he was real nice to me - to get the colors I wanted I had to buy 5,000 grubs of each color. With a total of 20,000 grubs I had to start selling them or they'd be coming out of my ears.

I had started selling them at the campground store and then a buddy came by the campground and we played around and while I was working - we took a Twin T's skirt, cut it in half, and welded it to a grub. We played with it and used it and it seemed to work pretty well. That was the start of the Hula Grub and the lure business. I was buying skirts from Twin T's and grubs from Gene Larew.

Bernie: So you'd weld the baits and package them?

Gary: We first used a candle flame to fuse the two pieces, but that didn't work too well, so we bought a soldering iron. That was the birth of the Hula Grub. At that time, the growth of the bass fishing industry in Japan was just coming into play. I ran ads in Western Bass Magazine and Japan picked me up along with Twin T's.

Unfortunately Twin T's went bankrupt. I didn't have the money to buy the company but my brother-in-law did, so we became partners. He was supposed to run the plant and I was supposed to sell bait - he lasted about a week at the plant so I told him I'd take over everything but he'd have to wait for his money. He did, and eventually I paid him off.

Bernie: So it became a sole proprietorship. I guess the popularity both domestically and in Japan sparked ideas for new products.

Gary: Well, Twin T's came with spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, jigs, and everything. I was in the tackle business from day one. We sold under both brands, Twin T's and Gary Yamamoto's. At that time most of my product went to Japan and that was about all we could produce. Up until five years ago my main business was Japan, the U.S. was a secondary market. We saw the change coming, we put more emphasis on the domestic market, and now we sell more domestically than we do to Japan. But we're a world-wide company; we sell in South Africa, Zimbabwe, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and I heard we're in Russia, too.

Bernie: They have bass in Russia?

Gary: I don't know what they're using it for, but we're selling it to the Russians. There are bass in China, too, so that might be a potential market as well.

Bernie: Your baits have always been a very refined, well…custom. There wasn't always a niche for that type bait, especially in the southeast. You just mentioned it's starting to come back to the United States. Why did anglers, especially in the southeast, suddenly see a need for technical baits, or baits that are custom built?

Gary: I don't know the answer, but the speculation is that we're becoming more sophisticated in our fishing. The bubba-type style of fishing - throw it out there and if you don't get bit you go home - doesn't really work anymore. I think perhaps the tournament circuits have been my gold mine. Anytime you put down money to compete for a tournament, you're going to try to buy the best products you can. When I took over Twin T's I increased the prices by 500%.

Bernie: Across the board, just to make it profitable?

Gary: I wasn't going to be a garage operation selling grubs for three cents each and starving; that's not right. I knew we had to offer something better. My main emphasis was that in every package of baits, if there were 20 baits in there, 20 of them would be perfect. You're not going to throw any away because one has a bad tail or something. Since day one we've kept quality control as our number one priority.

Bernie: Quality is essential for the Japanese market; they refuse to buy anything marginal, and it's becoming that way even in the southeast where the highest concentration of "bubbas" are. In my state, Florida, the popularity of the Senko is unbelievable, just in the past two years. It's been slow-going, but now they realize the difference in the product and that you really do get what you pay for. What has been the hottest selling product of all time?

Gary: The Senko, but in its first six months the Kreature became the second highest seller, which is amazing. Some think that, well, since Gary hasn't released a new bait for so long that the market will buy anything he releases.

Bernie: Well, it's big-fish bait, I can tell you that. The first time I used the Kreature was at Toho and I caught a 10-pounder on a practice day. I went back to the same area during the tournament and caught a six-pounder. I didn't get many bites with it because I didn't have a lot of confidence in it yet, I know you're thinking, well, you caught a 10-pounder that should be your primary tool, but Florida is a funny place. You catch 30 keepers and there might be one big fish mixed in. They don't necessarily school relative to size. Anyway, I was after numbers and the Senko was getting me my limit, but the Kreature definitely proved to me that it's a big-fish bait.

You started your tournament career in the West and had a lot of success with WON Tournaments (Western Outdoor News), you won the U.S. Open, but now you're fishing the BASS and FLW Tours and building your name and brand in the East; people are following your lead. Was it by design? Did you want to just fish more tournaments or did you want to grow the product line in the East?

Gary: The past ten years have been a promotional deal. It's difficult to fish and run a business, so I let others take over the bait business, so that's helped out considerably. I fish a lot more. I had fished BASS for 20 years, but it was one tournament here and another there - you can't be successful without the time to develop knowledge of the lakes. Now that I have the time, I guess I'm a better fisherman today than I was 20 years ago.

Bernie: It's hard to stay out here without learning quickly; to survive you must be adaptable. You've proven that you can compete, even in the East. Soft plastics are obviously your forte, but you do a lot of things well - in this event you caught them on a crankbait. Why are soft plastics your thing; is it because of the precise, detailed type of presentation?

Gary: Yes, I think that's what I like, and if I can find a flipping bite I'd enjoy that the most. I made some mistakes in Florida. I was throwing the Senko, a deadly bait, but instead of really getting into the new baits and going after the fish, I've been depending on the Senko…unfortunately, I think, to my disadvantage. I've got something new on my mind now and I'm trying to develop and promote it this time. This year it was the new Fat Baby Craw, but it paid off because it matched my desired technique, flipping. I was able to get it into some of those grass mats that I hadn't been able to access before.

Bernie: You redesigned the Craw to match the larger weights and to hold a flipping hook essentially, and it's been very effective.

Bernie: What about the original Craw?

Gary: Yes, we'll have four different Craws eventually. The one that's coming out will be a medium-sized Craw, which is going to be the strongest bait we'll have.

Bernie: You've obviously educated the East, but what have you learned from the East?

Gary: I've learned that someplace on this lake, no matter which lake you go to, you can find your type of fishing. Maybe one technical error here at Table Rock was that I didn't try harder to catch some of those schooling fish. I did catch some on the jerkbaits but my primary plan was to go up the river and flip. The big fish were there on the banks, where I caught the bigger ones.

Bernie: I'll be more specific. You've educated the eastern anglers about your products and how to apply those products successfully. What have you learned from the eastern exposure that has helped you with your product line?

Gary: Oh, that's been a constant. When I started fishing Florida 20 years ago I saw that the little-bitty finesse baits weren't going to do. That's the reason for the bigger products, the six-inch grub, the eight-inch grub, and bigger Senkos - the little tidbits are for after that cold weather front. The more aggressive fish will eat the bigger baits. So yes, I learned that we had to expand our product line.

Bernie: Color, not just body styles and size, but color, do you feel you've absorbed anything from the eastern market in color selection? What comes to mind is Junebug, black and blue is such a primary southeastern combination.

Gary: To a certain extent, but I basically had all the colors at the beginning. I think we use them more now than we did - my handicap is that there's no way I can carry all my colors!

Bernie: Yeah, you'd never be able to get the boat on plane!

Gary: Not even my motor home! Now I'm thinking that I need three or four colors of three or four different baits that I use regularly, and just stick with it and refine it. Instead of putting six different colors of one product in a tackle box, I'm going to have to have two different sizes in three colors.

Bernie: You've had good success on both tours this year. Where do you see yourself, with the big transition going on in both tours? BASS has announced 11 events for next year. FLW hasn't responded yet, but they'll surely counter that. Where do you see yourself going in tournament fishing?

Gary: That's a difficult question. One thing I can say is that I guess I can't do both circuits next year; it would take too much time away from my beef business and the bait business.

Bernie: Where would you like to be?

Gary: Well, BASS generates a little bit more publicity, but the money's in FLW.

Bernie: I have a friend back home who says, "If you wanna be rich, fish FLW. If you wanna be famous, fish BASS."

Gary: But, FLW is coming up strong. The way that BASS is going, they could even fail.

Bernie: It's pretty controversial. Here we are in the last year of the Top 150. They're going to more anglers, higher entries, and it's very complicated, too much so for this interview. BASS laid it out there and it's created a lot of friction and controversy in a short period of time. You made the statement that BASS could fail. What could make their program work batter?

Gary: I think they should've stuck with their plan - kept the tour a special event and not worry about FLW. I think the money for the Tour should come from advertising, not from our pockets. I know how businesses operate, they're not kidding me. I think they're doing the wrong thing. They should've kept the Tour as a pinnacle tournament circuit and not worry about FLW.

Bernie: It seems like they're chasing their concept with a higher number in each event; their payback structure seems to be following FLW's model.

Gary: But they don't have enough. They're not paying enough.

Bernie: We're basically funding the increases with our entry fees.

Gary: Yes. How is FLW paying for it? They're probably taking more money from their sponsors.

Bernie: Both plans are brilliant, but one seems to be fairer to the anglers than the other. It'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out, but I was just trying to find out where you see yourself going, based on what you've seen.

Gary: With the circuit as it is, I don't want to spend 11 months chasing bass. I've got other things I need to do, and I'm not a young man like the young guys coming up. I've got other important things to do. The way the Tour was, with six tournaments and trying to qualify for the Classic and the Elite, it was something to shoot for. Tying me up for a whole year is not going to work.

Bernie: All those years of building prestige and credibility is . . .

Gary: It's going down the tubes now. I believe so. If they make it so that anybody can get in.

Bernie: I'd like to switch gears and get back to your bait design. I've done a little designing and appreciate what you've come up with over the years. What I think makes the most sense about your product line, from a design standpoint, is that you developed tools for use on heavily-pressured lakes. Anybody can build a spinnerbait. Anybody can build a basic, plastic worm; there are a lot of those out there. But on tough days, when the fish have seen a lot of pressure, it seems your products come to the forefront because they're designed for a tough bite.

Gary: Well, they were designed for tough west coast lakes like Mead and others. We offer a uniqueness that other manufacturers are either not aware of, or don't choose to use due to cost - our plastic is different. It's PVC, but it's a different formulation. We're using top-of-the line plastic, and I'm told we're the only ones using it. Actually, we're in the process of a minor plastic redesign - but it's not going to change much, if any. All along, starting with Gene Larew adding salt to his product, it has been difficult. It's tough to achieve consistency. Some have managed to get the salt into their bait, but it's nowhere near the concentration that we use. I've never really touted the fact, but the key is the salt.

Way back, fifteen years back, we had Jerry "Bubba" Puckett go down to the boat show in Phoenix. After all the pros done their presentations and were through playing in the fish tank Jerry threw a grub in there and those fish just ate the thing up. That was back when scent was the big thing. We never used any of that. We never promoted the bait like that; it's just something that's going to work.

Bernie: Jerry was basically a show promoter and demonstrator?

Gary: Oh, he did everything for us, but he was at that particular show and he called me one afternoon and said, "You know, after all these guys had played in the tank, I could throw our baits in there and catch every darn fish in the tank." I saw this in Korea once. I was at a show and they had a tank that was probably a 20-gallon tank with five or six bass in it. We'd throw bait in there and just wiggle it and those fish would eat it. Right in front of us, not even a foot away. So there was something different about our product. I think it's the salt.

Bernie: A simple component . . .

Gary: Right…and it's been there for 25 years.

Bernie: Correct me, but wasn't there a law suit, and you can answer this or avoid it, but wasn't there a law suit on the use of salt, that they claimed they had a patent on salt?

Gary: It was an unusual patent, but they (Larew) had a patent. We fought it for awhile, but then decided to just drop it. I think I made Gene Larew rich. He never sold near the quantity that I sold, but I paid him a royalty.

Bernie: With the Senko I'm not sure it's just the salt - there's something about the way it falls, in its formulation, maybe the plastic.

Gary: I think so, too. The difference in the plastic formulation and the buoyancy combined with the salt makes everything work. I know our competitors have tried to duplicate it, but not successfully.

Bernie: It's almost brittle it has so much salt in it. If you break one, it has a lot of gritty texture to it. It must be packed full of salt. Is there anything other than salt in the plastic?

Gary: We've played around with amino acids, but it's not that important.

Bernie: It's just the body shape and the buoyancy and texture. Well, it's awesome and it works everywhere. I've caught fish with it in Japan, in Canada, and across the U.S. We used it when we went to Spain last year.

Gary: The biggest bass caught in Zimbabwe was caught on a Senko. It was like a 19-pounder. It's world-wide. You can take it out on the ocean and catch tuna on it.

Bernie: Obviously, you've traveled the globe promoting your products and fishing. There's a saying: Bass are bass wherever you find them. Do you find that pretty much true in all the habitats?

Gary: I think you can take one color - smoke with blue/black flake - anywhere in this world and catch bass, and any other predatory fish. Yeah, a bass is a bass.

Bernie: Of all the places you've traveled, what impresses you the most? Let's do a two-part question: what area of the globe where you pursued bass impressed you the most?

Gary: Hmm, pursued. Well, I don't know. Japan was interesting in the beginning. It was more the people, the culture, and the way they took up the sport. Every magazine had articles and every fishermen in Japan would buy the magazines and read everything that was written. They read more about bass fishing in two months time than most U.S. fishermen would read in their lifetime.

Bernie: They embraced the sport and the products that went along with it in a major way.

Gary: That was impressive, but you can go into Zimbabwe today, which is poor, and there are still fishermen there. From what they're saying, these guys are taking buses to get to the lakes, and using rotten boats to go out and fish. Fishermen are the same no matter where they are. If we went to North Africa there'd be places with bass that we don't know about yet - I know that because today they're buying baits from Spain and Italy. We investigated Australia, but their bass are different, more like a white bass. They're using some of our products for saltwater fish. Globally, I guess Europe is going to be the next big market. They don't seem to have the entertainment and spending money that Americans have had, but they're dedicated fishermen that will spend whatever they have to spend, and they want the best. They buy G. Loomis and Lucky Craft, so they'll buy our baits. They want the best.

Bernie: Part two - in what part of the globe did the habitat, or the actual fishing, impress you most.

Gary: I'd have to say Mexico. I spent quite a few years down in Mexico in the winter. I'd have the Japanese come and I'd guide them at Lake Baccarac. It's amazing how fast those fish would grow, how big they'd get in such a short time.

Bernie: You've become somewhat nomadic, Gary. You have a large motor home, and your wife Beverly travels with you. You've put on feasts, for anyone that comes to your campsite, especially on the evening after the cut. You've put on some incredible feasts and it's clear that you enjoy it. Are you getting a lot back after the years and effort of building the business and your trademark, do you feel some reward in that, the camp-side get-togethers and traveling that way?

Gary: Beverly and I both really enjoy people, and we like to share things that we've learned over the years. I have to add that I've been a chef and cooked things all my life. But we enjoy showing people that the good things in life are not very expensive, seeing the faces of people enjoying something good to eat - our Wagyu Beef, the tuna we catch in the Gulf, or crawdads in Louisiana for a dollar a pound.

Bernie: The lines are going to grow if you don't watch yourself! I remember the last get-together, Beverly got crawdads at Monroe for the FLW tournament and it was awesome! It's neat, the camaraderie that goes with it. You bring cultures together as well, the Japanese anglers the American anglers that represent your product lines. It makes for fun.

Gary: Maybe we need to rent a hall or something so we can have more people. It's not that difficult - you catch a 200-pound tuna and you can feed a whole lot of people!

Bernie: Well, you're a hell of a cook. You can do sushi and a multitude of different styles of cookinh - I'm impressed. So, what's for lunch? Is there anything you'd like to add?

Gary: Um, no.

Bernie: You have a tremendous following . . .

Gary: That's the most rewarding. Walking back to my boat yesterday I got stopped three or four times, "Hey, you've got awesome baits." You know, people don't do that just because…they are sincere. I don't see other companies getting that kind of praise. My life is fulfilled and complete. The only thing is the cows are eating all my profits.

Bernie: Quickly, the cow business. You're not just in the beef business; you're revolutionizing the whole thing. You're trying to turn it into something that a lot of people can't even believe, an actual beef that will lower your cholesterol, right?

Gary: Well, Dr. Smith at Texas A&M believes that it will. He believes that the Wagyu beef enjoys both a genetic and a dietary positive effect. We're still trying to finish the study to find out exactly what it's going to take to be able to claim that we have a cholesterol-lowering beef. Besides that, it's the best-tasting beef you can find. There's nothing like it; it's totally different. Right now we're in the process of trying to get the whole carcass sold, the steaks are sold before we even kill the animals, but we need to sell the balance - I believe the best way will be to grind it and serve it as a top-of-the-line hamburger, with the added advantage of being a good part of a heart and health smart diet. Once that's sold, you can count on enjoying this healthy and delicious beef without having to pay the high prices for the steak. We're saying that they can have a top notch dinner with our beef for about $10.00 - not just a hamburger, but a hamburger steak dinner, not just a burger and a bun.

Bernie: Affordable and healthier.

Gary: Looking back, my biggest mistake is that I didn't start a hamburger restaurant three years ago, a Gary Yamamoto Hamburger chain. We could've sold all the beef that we produce. Maybe it's not too late. Maybe I'll find an investor . . . nobody can compete with us.

Bernie: You'll have an exclusive if you can justify it to whom…the FDA?

Gary: It's just that nobody can compete with us in producing the animals that we produce, or the consistency of high, prime beef. Nobody can compete with us now.

Bernie: Kind of like your lure line . . .

Gary: It's right there, but still at its infancy. It's amazing to watch.

Bernie: Let's switch gears - in addition to your beef business and the lure company, you also have lodges for fishing, right?

Gary: We have a lodge in Mineola, a six-bedroom lodge with private fishing ponds, and then Beverly opened a restaurant at the lodge at our ranch and we have a tremendous chef. Pretty successful - folks are coming out Saturday, fishing in our well-stocked ponds, staying over Saturday night for dinner, going fishing the next day, having brunch and then head back home. They're enjoying a weekend getaway from the Dallas area.

Bernie: It's more than just fishing, it's the lifestyle.

Gary: It is…a different lifestyle. I've been investigating selling memberships. We'd have bass boats rigged up on the big lake at the boathouse. There are six slips so members could come down and hop into one of them and go fishing.

Bernie: Beverly's not only your wife, based on these ventures she's obviously your partner. That can stress a relationship. How does that work for you guys?

Gary: You're right, it's stressful at times. She does a tremendous job and she's taking care of a lot of heavy stuff for me - she won't tell me things until we get home. So, it helps.

Bernie: The bait company is in Page, Arizona, and you're living in Texas where you've got several ventures going. Do you plan to stay in Texas - is that where your roots are now?

Gary: Yes, Texas is our home. I guess the only change of plans now would be to spend more time in Louisiana. You've been there and it's so relaxing.

Bernie: We should talk about that. Most people familiar with you and your brand don't realize your talent for saltwater fishing. You like big game and big tackle saltwater fishing. I know firsthand that you know what you're doing. What about developing more baits for that market?

Gary: Well, actually we are. Ken Sasaki (GYCB President) called me just last night with plans to release a saltwater line they've been working on. Maybe that's the future - we'll quit BASS and fish FLW and spend some time on the saltwater tour.

Bernie: The Redfish tour? Right, they've become so popular, and they're fun. I fished a tour a couple of years ago, but it's hard to schedule with the demands BASS puts on our time. Could you see yourself doing professional redfish as opposed to bass?

Gary: I would do it for the fun of it, but maybe not professionally. Bass is my primary species. I like to fish for tuna, too, but bass will always be my favorite.