Damiki's Four-inch Stinger

When we recently read a synopsis on BassFan.com about the first day of the Walmart FLW Tour event at Beaver Lake, Arkansas, which was staged from April 23 to April 26, we noticed that Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, who was in second place, mentioned that he was using a four-inch Damiki Stinger.

During the summer and fall, we normally write about the soft-plastic finesse baits that are introduced to the angling world in mid-July at the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades show. But Thrift's finesse feats motivated us to continue the quest that we started in January to write gear guides about finesse baits that have been around before we began our Midwest finesse column in August of 2011.

Thus, this gear guide focuses on the four-inch Stinger, and, of course, Midwest finesse anglers will fish it differently than Thrift does. Midwest finesse anglers will wield it on either a 1/32-ounce or a 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig, such as the one Gopher Tackle makes or the 1/15-ounce one that Z-Man Fishing Products makes.

Damiki describes it as a stickbait, but it is different than the traditional one that Gary Yamamoto created many years ago and scores of manufacturers have parroted. Some anglers describe the Stinger as being shaped similar to a pencil, and that is because it has a tapered tail similar to the point of a sharpened pencil. The tail was designed to produce an alluring sway and vibration, which some observers describe as a "side-to-side rolling action." From the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail, it is completely encircled with a series of soft and pronounced ribs. It is impregnated with salt. According to Damiki, it is most effective when it is fished weightless.

When most Midwest finesse anglers affix the Stinger to a jig, they will affix it to its nose. But across the years, some Midwest finesse anglers have discovered that affixing the narrow tail of a stickbait to the jig creates a very alluring presentation. They usually do that when the nose portion of the stickbait becomes too tattered to stay attached to the jig. But there are times when they employ the reverse rigging from the get go. To affix the jig firmly to the tail of the Stinger, anglers might have to trim about four of the ribs off of the tail.

The four-inch Stinger is available in the following colors: Baby Bass, Black Red, Green Pumpkin, June Bug, Oxblood, Watermelon Black, Watermelon Candy, and Watermelon Red Black.

A package of 12 can be purchased for $4.99.

Endnotes

We have published five gear guides about other Damiki's baits that Midwest finesse anglers can employ.

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(1) Here is a link to a gear guide about Damiki's Armor Shad: http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/damikis-three-inch-armor-shad/.

(2) Here is a link to a gear guide about Damiki's Water Crawler: http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/damiki-fishing-tackles-water-crawler .

(3) Here is a link to a gear guide about Damiki's Kaiser Jig: http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/damikis-kaiser-jig/.

(4) Here is a link to the gear guide about Damink's Spoon Tail Miki: http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/damikis-spoon-tail-miki/ .

(5) Here is a link to the gear guide about Damiki's Air-Pocket Worm: http://www.in-fisherman.com/gear-accessories/damikis-air-pocket-worm/.