What year was the original YAMAMOTO SENKO sold to the public? Also, are there salt or sand particles in SENKOS?

2004 ish maybe I dunno I bet Ken a might

I think senkos were produced in the mid late 90's

Mid to late 90’s. Designed from an old Bic pen according to Mr Yamamoto.

Don't know when they were invented but I know I started using them in 2000. There is no equal to the original senko. I do believe that the Salt is what gives them their shimmy as the sink. Don't know if they contain sand.

I have the mold and the recipe. No sand. Tons of salt. Gives them the weight and also what makes them fly off on every fish.

I think Stan Grezinyi had a little to do with that as well.

Pretty sure the Sluggo came out first and influenced the design of the Senko.

Early 90's according to Gary himself. The bait is loaded with salt. The salt does 2 things. It adds weight and theoretically makes the fish hold onto the bait longer.

Gene Larew had patented the process of using granular salt in their baits and prevented other bait companies from doing same. A couple bait companies paid Larew for licensing the salt process and I believe Yamamoto was one of them until the patent ran out.





https://fishingtackleretailer.com/thundermist-releases-two-new-crank-baits

I hope Gary is a wealthy man because he deserves it. Great bait.

He's doing all right...….

is he still in the cattle business?

I was told one time crushed glass was used

Last I heard he still was. Weird named cows that liked to dig/wallow... They would dig a hole deep enough you couldn't see anything but their shoulders and head..
I was also told once that his tackle sales in Japan were insane numbers. (As in 85% of all tackle sold in Japan was his..)

LMAO! The write-up says "Senko ....was one of the only stick-baits on the market at that time."

Now, those of you who lettered in reading comprehension read that a couple of times and think about. How can it be "one of the only"???? Maybe "one of the few"?

Yes, the Sluggo predated the Senko. (I fished the heck out of them back then, and I didn't have the Senko yet.) The Sluggo was a bit different from a classic "stickbait" as it was essentially a soft jerkbait. I don't recall it ever being promoted as a wacky-rig bait, for instance. It often came with a couple of extra long shank offset hooks in the package for rigging it (as a jerkbait).