Yamamoto's New Baits -
"They Put Panfish in the Pan"
September 26, 2008
Panfish angling just got a whole lot easier.
If you’re among the tens of thousands who wouldn’t think of going bass fishing without an assortment of Gary Yamamoto’s record breaking baits my guess is you’ll be quick to agree that panfish angling just got a whole lot easier. So what’s that have to do with fishing for crappies, bluegills or the rest of panfish clan? Listen up because I’m fixin’ to tell you.
The Yamamoto folks have now added to their lure lineup four brand new baits designed especially for crappies and their panfish cousins. These baits are loaded with the same ingredients that have made baits like the Senko and other Yamamoto products so terrific for bass.
The new Yamamoto panfish baits include a 2-inch YamaMinnow; a 2-inch grub; a 3-inch Ika and a 1 ¾-inch tube. Just eyeballing the darn things, something I had opportunity to do at this year’s ICAST show in Las Vegas, is enough to give you a big time case of the panfishing itch.
I learned to love fishing for panfish as a kid. Now, decades later, I still love it as much as ever. I expect that’s why a good bit of the writing I’ve done over the years has been about catching them. The very first piece I ever wrote for a national magazine appeared in Outdoor Life magazine a half century ago. It was about crappie fishing in the Pacific Northwest.
One of my books, “Catch More Crappie,” was published in the late 70s. That book has been out of print now for years but I still get requests for it from time to time. There’s tremendous interest in panfish angling all over this great country. And that’s the primary reason I find myself fired up to show the panfish in some of my own favorite waters the new Yamamoto products.
The Chief Factor
The Gary Yamamoto (GYCB) panfish baits weren’t yet available in stores when the ICAST show was held in July. But some of my friends manning the Yamamoto booth were able to give me a sample package of each of the four baits included in the new panfish lineup. Since then I’ve also had opportunity to visit with the guy who did a major share of the testing of these new products before they were brought to market.
If you’ve visited outdoor shows around the United States and stopped at the GYCB booth, you may have met this man yourself. He’s George (Chief) Braswell, a talented and likeable fellow fishing nut who travels widely as Yamamoto’s Field Promotions Director.
I ran into the Chief (George is both of Native American ancestry and a retired Air Force Master Chief) for the first time years ago at a Bass’n Gal Classic. I was giving casting demonstrations at the outdoor show held in connection with the event and the Chief was serving as master of ceremonies at the weigh-in.
I had a chance to share thoughts with him then and we’ve been doing it every time our trails have crossed ever since. It doesn’t surprise me that Gary picked George to do the testing of his new panfish products. Why? For starters the Chief is a crappie catching expert. A second factor is that he travels all over the place and when he’s not at a show telling folks about GYCB products he’s off somewhere catching fish with them.
Braswell tested the new Yamamoto panfish baits all the way from his home waters in Oklahoma east to Tennessee and some spots in between. Some of the testing was done in Texas while he shared a boat with Gary Yamamoto himself.
You don’t have to visit with George ten minutes before you sense the excitement he feels about the new baits, especially with regard to crappie fishing. He had a hand in the design of the YamaMinnow and an opportunity to provide input where the other three panfish baits are concerned.
I’ve pointed out that these new lures are going to appeal to all of the panfish clan, but I want to devote this and the next couple of features I do here to just crappies. It’s these interesting panfish that got much of the Chief’s attention during the testing process. The way he went about it holds one of three primary keys to anyone’s consistent success as a crappie angler.
Three Keys to Crappie Success
Good as these new GYCB baits are, you’ve still got to know how best to use them to get maximum results. There are the three keys to catching crappies consistently:
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You’ve got to find where they are.
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Determine the depth at which they are holding.
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And finally, fish your bait at exactly the right lure speed.
From the pictures the Chief has shared with me of the results he achieved during the testing of the new GMB baits it’s obvious he’s nailed down all three of these objectives.
In Part 2 of this series I’ll share how Braswell went about getting a handle on the first and most important of the three crappie catching keys---finding where they are. It doesn’t matter if you’re using dynamite; you’re not going to get crappies if you aren’t where they are. The basic tactic Braswell employed to find fish is one other expert crappie fishermen around the nation also use. It’s one I’ve found successful myself.
There’s no question in the Chief’s mind that one of the new Yamamoto lures he helped design made finding crappies easier than before. I’ll provide the details in the next part of this series. If you’re into crappie fishing---or you’d like to be---you’re going to find it of keen interest.