October 30, 2015
By Ned Kehde
On April 20, we published a brief gear guide about Optimum Bait Company's Twin Teaser, which is part of the Rabbit Fur Series. All of the baits in this series are adorned with tails made from rabbit fur. At the end of that guide, we said that more gear guides would be in the offing, featuring some of the other baits in the series.
This guide features the Banzai Hog.
Its soft-plastic torso is ribbed. It has a small button-style nose or head. Below its head and between its fourth and fifth ribs, an appendage radiates from each side of the torso, and the folks at Optimum call them arms. These arms are curved, and as the Banzai Hog plummets to the bottom, these curved arms rise and undulate provocatively in the style of a Banzai warrior.
At the joint where the soft-plastic torso mergers with two rabbit fur tails, two more appendages radiate from the side of the torso. These appendages are straight, flat and paddle-like or wing-like. And as the Banzai Hog falls through the water towards the bottom, these appendages spread open, which its designers say moves water and attracts the attention of the black bass that are in the vicinity. These appendages also slow the rate of the fall of the Banzai Hog and allows it to stay in the strike zone for an enticing period of time.
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During various phases of a retrieve, the rabbit hair will stand up as the Bamzai Hog is hopped, dragged, and deadsticked along the bottom. It will also undulating enticingly when it is presented with a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve.
Optimum manufactures four sizes of the Banzai Hog: one-inchers, two-inchers, three-inchers, and four-inchers. The one-inch rendition is actually two inches long; its soft-plastic torso is one inch, and its rabbit fur tail is one inch. On all of the Banzai Hogs, the rabbit fur tails are one to 1 1/2-inches long. Therefore, the two-inch Banzai Hog is about three inches long; the three-incher is slightly more than four inches long; and the four-inched is more than five inches long.
Optimum recommends affixing it Texas-style to a slip-sinker rig or as a trailer on a skirted jig. But Midwest finesse anglers will employ it on a mushroom-style jig -- such as the one that Gopher Tackle makes, and the hook will be exposed.
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It is available in the following colors: Black/Black Fur, Black Purple/Purple Fur, Black Red/Red Fur, Blue Fur, Blue Gill, Cinnamon Blue/Blue Fur, Crawfish SP/Crawfish Fur, Green Pumpkin Black/Black Fur, Green Pumpkin Black/Crawfish Fur, Green Pumpkin Purple/Purple Fur, Green Pumpkin Red/Crawfish Fur, Watermelon Seed/Chartreuse Fur, and Watermelon Seed/Green Fur.
A package of five one inchers cost $4.49. A package of four two-inchers cost $4.49. A package of four three-inchers cost $4.49. A package of three four-inchers cost $4.49.
Endnotes
(1) Here is the link to the gear guide about the Twin Teaser: http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/optimum-bait-companys-twin-teaser/#ixzz3bYCF1qW T.
(2) As 2015 continues to unfold and into 2016, we hope to publish several more gear guides that focus on several other baits in the Rabbit Fur Series.
