Trophy bass enthusiasts will be glad to hear that the very hard to find, very sought after, albeit very expensive hand-crafted trophy-hunter swimbaits from RomanMade will soon be available in the states. These handmade beauties are designed for bass in the 30-inch and bigger range. In fact it was reported to us that World Record holder Manubu Kurita has hooked a bass he estimated to be 28 pounds on the Mother swimbait on Lake Biwa and lost her in the fight.
RomanMade spends 12 hours to make just one trophy lure by hand by studying bass, forage and more in Japan, then applying the principles they learn in the movement, water displacement and reactions of the baits. All of their baits are hand crafted by Mr. Takeyama and feature interesting details, unique patterns and incredible actions.
They have several swimbaits in their line as well as a soft plastic, called the Prologue. The soft bait is not a stick bait and it’s not really a worm. It can be Texas rigged or rigged wacky style. However there are some very interesting applications.
Their flagship trophy bait is the Mother. It’s an amazing 12-inch long swimbait that weighs an incredible 12 ounces or more. It requires special rods and tackle just to fish, and RomanMade even makes specialty rods just to throw them.
We’ve received a RomanMade Roman Trick from them and have been playing with this lure some. The action on the Roman Trick is nothing short of incredible. Burned, slow rolled, twitched and paused. The bait doesn’t get out of control or roll up on a side. It features three sections and is roughly 7 ½ inches long and weighs more than 2 ounces.
It’s a crazy bait and not nearly their largest. It will take us a while to learn how and when to fish it and where its water displacement and vortexes really work for the bass on our fisheries, but we’re excited about the possibilities with such a large, good looking hard swimbait.
We’ll be bringing you more information when the baits are stateside on where you can find them, and more. These baits aren’t for every angler. They’re not even for every big bass angler. But there has been a lot of demand for the lures over the years in the trophy chasing community, and until now they were not available readily to American anglers. These baits range from $88 to $438 for a single bait, a truly enthusiast-based expense for a fishing lure.
To see their website, visit roman-made.jp. They have a portion of the site in roughly translated English. But probably the best way to check out their baits is on the RomanMade YouTube channel.
The lures should be available stateside in late August and TackleWarehouse.com has expressed an interest in carrying the baits. Pete Sagartz and a JDM importer will be brokering dealer arrangements.
