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Gary Yamamoto Releases New Laminate Colors 921, 922
Story by Russ Bassdozer

January 1, 2004

It was a rainy, miserable day in Texas yesterday. Since he couldn't go fishing due to the weather, Gary Yamamoto was glad just to chat about his favorite topic.

Pick up tips from the rainy day stay-at-home conversation with Gary Yamamoto. He shares his reasons for creating his two latest laminate colors, black/red flash (922) and brown/purple (921). Gary talks about his strategies for fishing Florida in the 2004 season-opening FLW Pro Tour event starting January 21 on Lake Okeechobee and the Bassmaster Pro Tour opener starting January 26 in Leesburg, Florida on Harris Chain of Lakes.

Gary you have gone and done it again! It's hardly New Year's Day. Yet already you have introduced two new laminate colors for 2004. You've come out with the new 921 brown/purple laminate and the new 922 black/red flash laminate in Senkos and in all five sizes of Kut-Tails.

Gary, with all the colors available today, why did you come out these new colors?

Basically, these are colors I have been using effectively in competition for the past two years. I would rather keep them secret, but our customers expect us to produce the best lures for the public that we possibly can. So they're not a secret any more.

Gary, there already is a more conventional red shad laminate color (900) in the product line. What do you feel the 922 black/red flash color does that the existing red shad (900) color does not do?

Although the traditional red shad color pattern is very productive, personally I don't like it that much. It is more opaque whereas the new black/red flash (922) is more translucent. I am constantly looking for something better for myself and for our customers. I think 922 is better than the conventional red shad. Keep in mind the new 922 is not something we just shot last week, but something I have been researching, developing and fishing for two years.

What do you feel the 922 black/red flash imitates to a bass, Gary? Do you feel it resembles something natural they see swimming around, or is it just an unnatural color trigger?

I don't know that it resembles anything. It's more unnatural than natural. I fish this color around grass. Something black/red flashing around in the grass, what's that?  I've not seen any thing living in the grass that's like it. It is just a color that is more visible in the grass. That's essentially my reason for using it. It is a pretty good color in dense weeds like in Florida. I am sure fish do not see the whole bait in dense weeds, just partial glimpses and flashes of it. I also expect that when a Texas-rigged bait with a sinker breaks through the grass, it is probably pretty dark down there under the mat. So 922 is a good dark flashy color for breaking through to the dark areas underneath vegetation mats.

How often do you use the 922 black/red flash color, Gary? Are there any times or seasons when you feel the 922 black/red flash would do better than other times?

Spring time, mostly flipping, getting it into thick weeds.

Gary, let's switch the conversation to the new 921 brown/purple laminate now. With the many Senko and Kut-Tail colors available today, why would you tell someone that they should add the 921 brown/purple flash color to their repertoire?

It has just been successful almost anywhere in the world for me. Spain, Portugal, Italy, Lake Powell, Lake Mead, Lake Eufaula. I primarily dropshot with this color.

Gary, the 921 brown/purple color is made with a translucent formula. Does this make you tend to prefer using it when there is more exposure to strong sunlight or in clear water?

I use it in both clear and dingy water. When you dropshot from 15 to 35 or 40 feet deep, I am not sure it matters whether there is strong sunlight overhead when you're that deep down. What does matter is purple is a color that shows up down there, and with the brown side, it generates a color flash. Whatever it is, fish like it. Most of the money I have won the past two years across North America and internationally has been on this brown/purple color. 

How often do you use the 921 brown/purple color, Gary? Are there any times of the season when you feel the 921 brown/purple would do better than other times?

I use it all the time. As far as dropshotting, I alternate between a shad color like pearl and a smoke color in conjunction with the brown/purple to find out which color fish prefer. In any situation under any conditions, I try all three and on any particular day or lake, the fish may want one or the other, but the brown/purple has been a very strong color for me, a staple the last two seasons.

Under what conditions would you not want to use the translucent 921 brown/purple laminate, Gary?

There is no "not" situation. I would say to try it. Throw it a few times. If it works, you might want to stick with it the rest of the day. That's what I do, I try it and see. I try a pearl shad, a smoke, the purple/brown. When I feel one is working, I tend to stick to it the rest of the day.

One thing that readers might want to do is put two hooks on their dropshot rig. That's something that helps me during tournament practice. Then you can test two colors or two sizes, and find out what kinds of choices fish may be making.

In the actual tournament, I do not use two hooks. A big fish might drag you through some structure. You might get him out if there's not a second hook to grab and snag. Also, if you ever hook up a pair of 3 pound smallmouth at once, there's no way you can handle it with 6 lb. test line. I'd rather catch them one at a time on back-to-back casts.

Gary, brown/purple has long been a staple on Western waters. What do you think it represents to a fish? Do you think brown/purple represents any natural bait that bass eat?

I don't think it represents anything natural. I think it just comes down to visibility. It's a visible color, especially on Western waters where fishing is done deeper, it is visible. Now that I have dropshot in other countries and other regions across the USA, I find the brown/purple works as well anywhere as originally out West.

Gary, the Kut-Tail worm is rather unique to your company. There is not really another worm on the market like it. You designed the original 4" 7 series Kut-Tail about twenty years ago. Then starting in June 2002 you added the 5" 7L, the 3-1/2" 7S, the 6-1/2" 7X, and in 2003, the 5 3/4" 7C model. What need did you see to extend the Kut-Tail series from one to five sizes?  What renewed your interest in the Kut-Tail series? What caused you to want to make an entire family of Kut-Tails?

The original was designed for deep water splitshotting, dropshotting and shaking in Japan and the Western USA. As dropshotting became a main producer for me in competition on the national pro tours, I added the 5" and the 3-1/2" to the original 4". This gave me three size choices to present on the dropshot, as fish can discriminate as to size.

The longer 6-1/2" Kut-Tail came in for flipping into cover. As I got into that more and more, just Texas rigging it with a sinker, I found at times I wanted something smaller, but there was too much of a size gap between the 5" 7L and the 6-1/2" 7X. So that's where the 5-3/4" 7C came in, to fill that gap for a flipping bait.

Although the 5-3/4" 7C was the last to be developed, I often find it the best size for flipping. Even in Florida where fish run big, it seems they like the smaller baits at times. So I will be fishing the 5" and 5-3/4" Kut-Tails on the pro tour stops in January in Florida. Personally, part of my strategy for 2004 pro tour competition is to use the 5" and 5-3/4" sizes a lot more this year for flipping into grass. I am going to throw less of the bigger flipping baits for starters. In Florida, they do a lot of heavy flipping with a tiny crawdad imitation, flipping into grass. I don't know why such a small craw works so well? It must represent something the fish see scooting through the grass. So when the Bassmaster and FLW pro tours stop at Florida in January, I will be flipping some of my small 3-3/4" 3S craws in the grass down there too.

A question often asked about the Kut-Tails, Gary, is whether to rig the cut tail pointing up, down or sideways. Now with the Kut-Tails being offered in laminates, the answer to that question will become increasingly important to some. Especially if we follow conventional theory that the lighter laminate side is the belly, that would imply rigging the cut tail sideways or flat as opposed to pointing up or down?

A lot of the time, I don't bother to look. Some times the tail ends up one way or another. I don't think it makes any difference. Maybe if you were fishing super-slow, it might matter, but I'm not fishing where they can really see it clearly in the grass or in deep water. To me, it is the flash they go for. Think of it like a right turn signal blinker on your car... off (black), on (red flash), off (brown), on (purple flash)... 

What if while fishing a laminate, it ends up upside down with the dark color on the bottom, light color on top? Or what if a laminate ends up coming through the water with one color on the left side, the other color on the right side? Do you think an angler needs to be attentive to this kind of detail when fishing with laminates, Gary?

In the way I have been fishing these two colors, it would not matter. Coming through thick grass, the bait is always deflecting off the vegetation and twisting and turning every which way. And on the dropshot, it twists and turns a lot too. If you ever see a baitfish struggling, it's going through a lot of erratic motions, often on it's side, or it might be upside down. And when you do punch one of these down through thick lily pads, a bass could be anywhere 360 degrees, so the viewing angle and whether it's going to see the dark or light side is unpredictable.

What I felt I needed to produce in these two new colors was to capitalize on their twisting and turning in order to generate a color flashing effect (like a right turn signal) and a difference in contrast. More marked contrast in the 922 black/red flash in dense weed cover and more subtle contrast in the 921 brown/purple flash on deep structure.

Thank you, Gary, and Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone, and thank you for reading. It is rainy, miserable weather here at home in Texas today. Since I cannot go out fishing, I am glad just to chat about my favorite topic.

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