Hayabusa Brush Easy Head Jig

On July 13, we published a brief gear guide about Gary Yamamoto's new Midwest-finesse-style jig, which is called Gary's Rig Jig Head. As we were working on that gear guide, we crossed paths with an article written by T.J. Maglio and published on June 29 in "Gary Yamamoto's The Inside Line."

Maglio's article is focused on Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Arkansas, who is lauded as The General in the world of professional tournament fishing. He has won 14 Bassmaster tournaments, including the Bassmaster Classic, and four FLW events. Across his 40 years on various tournament circuits, he has garnered nearly four million dollars in prize money.

Maglio explained how and why Nixon became a convert to one of the primary Midwest finesse rigs.

Nixon's Midwest finesse rig usually consists of a three-inch Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits' Fat Senko in a green-pumpkin hue. But if the water is stained, he will opt for the color that is called the General's Melon, which is a laminated hue. And one-half of the General's Melon is a hue that consists of watermelon with red and black-flakes, and the other half is a chartreuse or bright-green hue.

Nixon normally trims a half of an inch off of the head of a Fat Senko, and he affixes it to a 1/16-ounce Hayabusa Brush Easy Head jig.

On August 29, 2012, we published a gear guide about the Hayabusa Brush Easy Head jig, but it never caught the fancy of a significant number of Midwest finesse anglers. That void, however, might change. Because on July 13, Cliff Pirch of Payson, Arizona, was featured in a YouTube video, and he announced that Hayabusa, which is a Japanese tackle company, is reintroducing their Brush Easy Head jig to the American marketplace. Hayabusa is noted as a premiere manufacturer of hooks.

Pirch also noted that he was eager to use it on a Midwest finesse rig during the Bassmaster Elite tournament on the St. Lawrence River at Waddington, New York, on July 20-23; on Lake Champlain at Plattsburgh, New York, on July 27-30; and on Lake St. Clair at Macomb County, Michigan, on Aug. 24-27.

The coincidence of the article on Nixon's usage of the Hayabusa Brush Easy Head jig and Pirch's YouTube provoked us to publish this updated gear guide about the Hayabusa Brush Easy Head.

The collar of the jig is endowed with two sharp barbs, which keep a soft-plastic bait, such as a Senko-style bait, affixed snuggly to the head of the jig.

It is endowed with a ball head. And a weed guard protrudes from the ball head immediately below the eye of the 90-degree hook. The folks at Hayabusa describe the weed guard as "a Twin Double Brush Guard made from heavy test mono that is perfect for deflecting snags, while not inhibiting hooksets."  Nixon, by the way, extols the virtues of this weed guard.

The size of the hook is a No. 1.  It features Hayabusa's Original Hook Point, which allows the hook to penetrate quickly and deeply into the flesh of a bass' mouth.

The jig's hook shank is short, and Nixon says the short shank allows his shortened three Fat Senko or other soft-plastic baits to undulate, quiver, vibrate, wiggle and gyrate more than they do on a hook with a long shank.

(It is interesting to note that since Oct. 12, 2006, many Midwest finesse anglers have found that a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man's ZinkerZ affixed to a jig with a short-shank hook seems to allure more largemouth bass and smallmouth bass than it does when it is rigged on a jig with a long-shank hook.)

It is available in what Hayabusa calls a mud-black hue.

In our 2012 gear guide, we noted it was available in three sizes: 1/13-ounce, 1/16-ounce, and 1/20-ounce. A package of four cost $4.99. Now, it is available in two sizes: 1/13 ounce and 1/16 ounce, and a package of four cost $5.99. The 1/16-ouncer will not be available until Aug. 1, but as of July 13, anglers could purchase the 1/13-ouncer.

Endnotes

(1) Here is the link to T.J. Maglio's article on Larry Nixon:  http://www.insideline.net/features/2017/6/29/larry-nixons-a-ned-rig-convert.

(2) Here is the link to the gear guide about Gary Yamamoto's jig:  http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/garys-rig-jig-head/#ixzz4mlTC4S3T.

(3) Here is the link to our first gear guide about Hayabusa Brush Easy Head jig: http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/finesse-news-networks-gear-guide-hayabusa-brush-easy-head-and-little-shaker-wacky-head-jigs/.

(4) Here is a link to Cliff Pirch talking about the Hayabusa Brush Easy Head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfE2gQlWqhY.

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