SENKO QUESTIONS

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).

Kobe if remember correctly. Haven't seen him in years.

Gary has some cattle left but not in a business sense, but he sold all his marketable Wagyu/Angus cattle around the same time he sold Sugoi to Gary Yamamoto Inc. and at this time Gary Yamamoto Inc. purchased and closed up my store and Donna's store down south, and Gary sold all the different properties around Alba he was raising the Wagyu/Angus on. The beef industry specifically high dollar cattle like the Wagyu/Angus and Kobe cattle market collapsed and it got him in a financial bind.
Gary Yamamoto Inc. is actually owned by Ken Sasaki, Beverly's dad. Gary owned the 2 stores Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Pro Shops until he had to sell most everything to Gary Yamamoto Inc. He still has BK Ranch.

It's funny the story says when they arrived in the U.S. I always thought Hawaii where Gary was born was part of the U.S. The story should have said when they moved to the continental U.S.


The first time I met Gary and Beverly, I was having dinner with Bob Sealy at the Minnow Bucket after the final day of the tournament 1994. Bob got up and left because he had to get back home that night, and Gary and Beverly was standing waiting on a table. I waved at Gary and he came over and I asked if they wanted to sit down and share my table and they did.
Gary told me that day he was building a ranch and a store in Mineola and told me where, I was kind of shocked he chose the location he did for the store. Kind of strange that I would wind up managing his store and taking care of all his fishing business a little more than 10 years after that for several years. Once I went to work at the store I realized he chose that location not for the purpose of customer traffic but more as a location for him to have a large tackle box close to his home.

And the Senko has crushed silica, crushed sea salt, peanut oil instead of a petroleum base, most color additives are of a natural source, plus they use the most expensive 3M plastisizer. This is the reason why they are more expensive than most plastics.

Everyone claims salt, glad you posted this.

Everyone has had their theories, but look at Zoom for example. Some say super salt, some say better than salt on their packaging. Some float, some sink, hint... laminates. Nobody has duplicated YM. Gary figured it out and hence the reason a true Senko or kinami flash is very different from any other and more expensive. they work better. Thanks Rocky for the truth.

One thing is for sure - the material is more dense with salt impregnated or dissolved in the mixture. A heavily salted compound sinks faster than one without salt due to the density change. It's the same physics as why saltwater is heavier than freshwater, and therefore more buoyant. It would seem impossible for a salted compound to be expected to float; "floating worms" generally don't either - they just sink slower.

Is Chief still around?

PM replied, thank you Rocky

Thanks Rocky. Great to hear from you.

You're welcome David and if you call that # for Chief George, tell him I said Hey!
Ken, we need to do another lunch sometime, maybe another little get together is in order soon! Still going to give you a shout when I can get away, so we can fish the Bell.