February 07, 2013
By David Conway
Checking out patented color change, prism wave motion tech.
The new Yo-Zuri Sashimi Bull Metallic long casting popper.
Yo-Zuri has quite a few new innovations in their recently-released lure lines, for both fresh and salt water. Many of the lines have been completely redesigned for 2013. Recently, Florida Sportsman editors met with Yo-Zuri's George Large, the man in charge of product development for the company. Editors wanted to see what's new, what's changed and what's working best for Florida anglers. Though not many people know his name, George Large has had his hand in the development of many of Florida's favorite fishing lures over his long career working for a few top lure makers.
First off, it's good to know about some of the unique technology that distinguishes Yo-Zuri baits. All the lures in the Sashimi lines in both fresh water and salt water have the Sashimi Color Change technology, which Yo-Zuri has patented and calls the Sashimi Finish. It's surely one of the most distinctive, eye-catching features of these baits, which you'll marvel at when you hold one in your hand and see it. As you turn these baits (imagine it turning and moving past a predator) the bait literally changes color before your eyes. In one bait, say the popular wahoo lure the Bonita, you'll get both a black-orange and black-purple color combination on the same lure. The color change tech is pretty fantastic. George Large says that the color change imitates a fleeing baitfish—a fish lit up in distress—which prompts predators to strike.
The Sashimi Popper with a new, wider mouth design.
In freshwater, for big bass, the Sashimi Popper has a new, wider mouth design to kick up a larger spray to simulate a fleeing baitfish school. It's a floating bait, neatly identified by its clear eye. (Yo-Zuri suspending baits have a blue eye and sinking baits have a red eye—a helpful reminder when you're out on the water.) The Sashimi Popper also comes in three new colors—Metallic blue gill, Metallic Tennessee shad and Metallic Gold Black. These baits have hooks to hold big bass, but if you use them in saltwater for big snook or redfish or others inshore, you'll want to switch them out with salt-grade hooks.
Image: The Sashimi Pencil, a topwater walk-the-dog bait.
The Sashimi Pencil, a topwater walk-the-dog bait, made of a strong and super dense plastic polycarbonate, has the distinctive ribbed surface (a patented process the company calls Wave Motion) of other Yo-Zuri baits to reflect light and send out more sound vibrations through the water as it moves. Large says that fish will pick up these wave motions with their lateral lines. This bait also has an internal cadence rattle and internal BBs for sound attraction.
We'll get to the Sashimi saltwater lures in a bit.
The Crystal 3D Minnow Jointed Floating bait swims wide and shines bright.
For the salt:
The Crystal 3D Series has the patented prism flash produced by holographic foil that makes Yo-Zuri baits shine like cut glass. The Crystal 3D Minnow Jointed Floating bait has a wide swimming action, produced by its design and facilitated by its proprietary hinge, constructed just like a tiny door hinge—simple but strong. Yo-Zuri has built in an attack point—a highly visible red mark—into the body of this bait (and others) that gives a predator a strike point, to increase hookup ratios. The 3D Prism crystal flash, a patented technology, illuminates the bait, and some colors have an additional luminescence as ultraviolet lines shines on the bait. The entire 3D minnow series (and the new 3DS series) has stronger treble hooks and larger sizes are through-wired in the construction for max durability. The Crystal 3D Minnow line also a Deep Diver, Jointed Floating model, a Floating Sinking, a Minnow Magnum and a Deep Diver and the Crystal 3D Shrimp.
The Crystal 3D Shrimp sinks slow and evenly in the water column.
The Crystal 3D Shrimp is a hardbody, naturalistic bait with a fine rubber skirt that imitates a shrimp's legs in action. The rubber skirt can be removed and replaced easily if it gets eaten by a pinfish or other attacker. Part of the 3D series, it has the prismatic finish. In action, it slowly sinks just like a real shrimp, until you twitch it, when it darts.
The 3DS Minnow is a suspending bait with a rolling action.
The super popular Crystal Minnow series remains the same, including the best-selling Yo-Zuri bait in Florida, the 3DS Minnow. The 3DS is so popular because it works in so many scenarios—along mangroves, by docks, in open water with its rolling motion—for all species. Along with the other baits in the Crystal Minnow series, the 3DS has the new 3D Prism finish.
In the Sashimi saltwater line, Yo-Zuri has the Sashimi 3D Pencil Floating (a walk-the-dog-bait), the Sashimi 3D Popper Floating (for those explosive topwater strikes), the 3D Magnum Sinking and the 3D Magnum Deep Diver. There's also the 3D Squirt Floating—a squid bait—for casting or trolling.
New in the Sashimi line is a new size for the Sashimi Bull Metallic (shown at top), a long casting popper, which now is available in an 8-inch size, in addition to the 5 7/8-inch size. These poppers can be used for pelagics, tuna, dolphin, wahoo and others.
The Sashimi Bonita, super durable wahoo killer.
One of the best-known Yo-Zuri baits, the Sashimi Bonita—a standard on wahoo trolling trips—has been completely redesigned. It had been made with a hard foam material; now it's made with Powerbody, a proprietary material that Large says is virtually indestructible. The hardware on the bait has been beefed up and the hook redesigned. The sound chamber is outside this bait for maximum audibility. This classic bait (not only for wahoo but for big dolphin and tuna, too) comes in two sizes—6 ¾ and 8 3/8—and now eight color combinations, all of them with the Color Change technology. It's a sinking bait, of course, and is made to be trolled at high speeds. You'll definitely want to have the Bonita at the ready on your wahoo trips.
