Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits’ Zako Swimbait is a power-angler’s tool. And Zako is the Japanese word for small fish.
This soft-plastic version of a small fish was created by Brett Hite of Phoenix, Arizona, who is a Bassmaster Elite and FLW Tour professional angler. In this endeavor, Hite was helped by Ron Colby of Page, Arizona, who is the Vice President of Operations at Yamamoto.
Hite’s initial intent was to create a soft-plastic trailer that he could use on a chatter-style bait, which some folks call a vibrating jig and others call it a blade bait.
It was introduced to the angling world at the 2016 International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades show. Even though it was designed for power anglers, a few Midwest finesse anglers think that it might be a bait that they can occasionally use to inveigle largemouth bass and smallmouth bass that are foraging upon small bluegill, green sunfish, and gizzard shad. When Midwest finesse anglers employ it, they will affix it to a relatively small jig, such as a 3/32- or 1/8-ounce one, and they will use it the same way that they have used a four-inch grub for years on end.
The Zako exhibits an abstract profile of a bluegill, green sunfish, and gizzard shad. Hite said that he has worked with nearly every style of soft-plastic trailer in the piscatorial world, and until he and Colby fabricated the Zako, he never found one that worked the way he wanted it to work. From his many trials and tribulations, he noticed that some of them exhibited too much action, which would overpower a chatter-style bait. Others would need to be customized so that they would work correctly. And others were not durable enough.
A no-feel action is one of the principal characteristics of Midwest finesse fishing, and this is why the Zako might eventually become part of some Midwest finesse anglers’ repertoire. In other words, they tend to shun boot-tail baits that create too much feel. They want the do-nothing and restrained motif that mirrors the way a small bluegill, green sunfish, and gizzard shad hovers and subtly swims. And according to Hite, the Zako Swimbait is not one of those swimbaits that exhibits too much thump and power.
Because Midwest finesse anglers focus on catching vast numbers of largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and spotted bass, the durability of a soft-plastic bait has become an important feature of the baits that they use. They do not want to work with a soft-plastic bait that will become tattered and torn after a couple of donnybrooks with a largemouth bass or smallmouth bass or spotted bass. Consequently, some Midwest finesse anglers were heartened to learn that Hite convinced Colby…
