I have known Fred Roumbanis for a lot of years. Way back before he left the West Coast to fish the Bassmaster Elite Series, Fred made it a habit of taking my money when we fished against each other in team tournaments in California. Recently when I found out that Fred had joined the Yamamato Pro Team I called to congratulate him. Of course, he was out on the water fishing but he graciously took some time to talk about his earliest experiences with Yamamoto Baits and his thoughts on the all-new Yamatanuki, all the while narrating the action on his Livescope.

Back in the Day

As a teenager, Roumbanis spent many a summer vacation house boating and fishing on Lake Shasta. “Back in the day, a Yamamoto Twin Tail Grub on a darter head jig was the easiest way to catch spotted bass,” he recalled. “It was just money, we used to let them fall and swim them along bluff walls and the spots would just smash them. And then I started putting them on the back of my spinnerbaits as a trailer and of course as a trailer on my football head jigs.”

When the Senko was first introduced, Roumbanis was an early convert. “I was fishing the Delta a lot when it (the Senko) came out,” he explained. “I remember my buddies telling me that I needed to try it. They told me to rig it weightless and just throw it out there. At the time I was catching them good on a soft plastic jerk bait and I was trying to figure out what to do with the Senko. My buddy, Zach Thompson, told me to jump in the boat with him and he would show me what he was doing. We started fishing little patches of isolated hippie weed. Just flippin' the Senko in the holes and around the edges. I remember on one little clump, we caught over twenty fish. We won a bunch of money doing this in team tournaments. From that point, it evolved and it became something that I always had in my box. I've always wanted to partner with Yamamoto and it's really cool to be working with them now.”

Introducing the Yamatanuki

Originally designed for the Japanese market, the Yamatanuki is widely recognized as the bait at the center of the heavy soft plastic movement. Since its US release at this year's Bassmaster Classic, the Yamatanuki has quickly gained a following among US anglers, including Yamamoto Pro, Fred Roumbanis.

“The Yamatanuki is just such a cool bait,” said Roumbanis. “It's made with a special heavy weight plastic formulation. It's 3.5” long and weighs 5/8 oz. Rigged weightless it falls perfectly flat and it shimmies like a Senko but it's smaller and more compact. The tail really vibrates as it falls. It reminds me of a bream or any type of baitfish. Unlike a Senko where you get most of your bites on the fall, with the Yamatanuki, you can actually work it back to you.”

Once the Yamatanuki has reached the bottom, Roumbanis likes to work it with the rod tip down and let it cover the bottom like a crawfish. Sometimes he'll pop the rod tip up and let it fall again like a struggling baitfish or he may opt to retrieve it like a traditional soft plastic jerkbait. “If you twitch it and kill it, it just stops and backflows a little bit, then it shimmies as it falls and that's when it gets bit.” he explained.

Roumbanis has found the Yamatanuki to be a very versatile bait. “You can cast it, pitch it, flip it, or drag it. Because of its weight, you can cast it a mile, and you can pretty much spool your reel. I think another application where it will really shine is for targeting schooling fish. When it hits the water, it makes a commotion and that will get their attention, and then it has that slow natural fall and they'll just grab it like something that's been injured.”

Details

Roumbanis likes to fish the Yamatanuki on a 7'6” Sixgill Siren MH action casting rod paired with a 7:0:1 Arrival Reel. He spools up with 15 lb fluorocarbon line which he ties directly to a 5/0 Hayabusa Wide Gap Offset Hook. His go-to colors include Baby Bass, Green Pumpkin, and Watermelon with red and black flake.