Number 4: Yozuri Banana Boat

I have found that the Yozuri banana boat is one of the best lures to use when fish are active and you are looking to cover alot of water in a little amount of time. The following features and characteristics are what set this bait apart from the rest and make it a must have in any bass angler’s tackle box.

• Castability – The banana boat is very aerodynamic and casts like a bullet. Being able to cast this bait a long way makes it a better choice over a conventional popper or topwater walking bait. Make a nice long cast parallel to structure and start working the bait back and forth and the fish won’t be able to resist striking.
• Unique Action – Like most other floating topwater baits, the banana boat is fished with a “walk the dog” presentation, however the action produced while “walking” the banana boat is very unique and that is what will trigger more hard hitting strikes over a conventional topwater bait.
• Fast Retrieve – Since a banana boat is best used when fishing for active fish feeding on the surface, a fast retrieve becomes a plus for this bait since you can cover alot of water very quickly.  This is helpful in finding fish, as well developing a pattern for the rest of the day.
• Treble Hooks – With 6 treble hooks on a small bait like the banana boat, you will notice a good ratio of strikes to hookups versus a bait that only has a single hook or 3 treble hooks.  The design of the bait also allows for the bait to sit upright in the water in between twitches, which increases the chances of hooking up.

Now that we have seen the positives of this bait, I would like to touch on some of the negatives that come along with the banana boat, and most topwater baits in general.

The first negative is the amount of work expended walking this bait. A constant twitch retrieve is required for maximum action on this bait, and a few hours of this can really be a workout… The good news is that you don’t notice how much your arms hurt when you get a bunch of explosive strikes.

The second negative is that many times after a cast or during the retrieve your line will get caught on the front treble hook, or even on both sets of hooks, which costs valuable time in the strike zone.  Although this happens with the banana boat, it tends to happen more so with other similar topwater baits, and mostly with poppers in my experience.

The third negative has to do seasonality. This bait only produces fish when the conditions are right.  The bass must be actively feeding and willing to chase a bait.  This limits how many fish you can catch on a banana boat, and is ultimately why this bait is near the end of our top 5 list.

The baits come in 7 different colors, including: Blue/Silver, Clown, Gold/Black, Trout, Tennessee Shad, Black/Redhead, Red Head. My personal favorite is the Tennessee Shad.

So the next time the fish are chasing bait, try the Yozuri Banana Boat, you won’t be disappointed!

Up Next is the Wiggle Wart Crankbait Coming Soon

Previous Segments:

Number 1: The Senko

Number 2: The Spinnerbait

Number 3: The Spider Grub

Brian called me about an hour before I got out of work saying he had the night off and asked if I wanted to fish the last couple hours of daylight. He twisted my arm (not too hard) and I agreed to go.

We got on the lake around 630pm and started fishing some grass mats close to my backyard. We landed 5 quick fish on texas rigged senkos and wacky rigged senkos, but then the boat traffic really started to kick up so we had to move. We fished the eastern shoreline looking for shallow water hits and under the docks for fish looking for shade. We landed a couple bass, but nothing really noteworthy.

Once we got to the north shore of the lake we fished the large area of submerged vegetation with our senkos, and caught another 4 or 5 largemouth with the biggest being about 2 lbs. I tried throwing a topwater banana boat, but since I was bringing it over 3 foot cresting waves from all the boat traffic, it turned out to be fruitless. We had to leave the weeded area since the pontoon brigade decided it was time to run a train right through our fishing grounds. We have now dubbed that area pontoon road since everyone on a pontoon boat feels that have to drive directly through the weed beds as close to shore as possible.

We moved on to the area of the lake where the weeds have breached the surface of the water, where I had caught a 4-4.5lb largemouth on a stanley ribbit frog. I started throwing my frog again and had a hit on my 3rd cast right near the boat. The fish let go while fighting it in the weeds. Brian put on a sizmic toad and fished it across the top of the weeds, but managed only to catch said weeds. He did have a couple swirls, but no definitive hits. Just as I was about to give up on my frog I got an explosive hit and the fight was on.

The fish went deep into the weeds and I had to horse it out. I got it to the boat and it was a 4-4.5lb largemouth (quite possibly the one I had caught in that area on a frog two days prior). We snapped a quick photo and released the fish.

Reserved for photo if Brian ever sends it to me.

On the way back to my house we caught a few fish on spinnerbaits, including a few smallmouth,
and also found ourselves going over 4ft breakers sent out from the ski boats that feel the need to go as fast as they can as close to you as they can.

As the sun was shedding its last rays of light on the lake, the skiiers all went in, and the lake went as calm as glass. Too bad we were already putting our gear away, maybe we could have had some topwater action!

The fishing is definately getting tougher the last couple evenings, hopefully the break in the heat wave will stimulate the next big bite this week.