The Optimum Baits brands continue to innovate with new products, with many of them being created in Japan and then hitting stores in the United States. This group of brands, including Deps, Zappu, ima, and more, is distributed by California-based Optimum Bait Co. and continues adding more products. Here's a rundown of some of the new arrivals.
Zappu: Limbooo Worm and More
Zappu is well-known for its terminal tackle products. They make a host of hooks, jigheads, and accessories for specific purposes, and everything they make is very technical and unique. Now, they are getting into the soft plastics game, and the first-ever soft bait is the Limbooo. It's a 4-inch stick bait made from a high-density plastic and SAF material that is very durable.
The bait can be rigged like any other soft stickbait but has unique ribs on the side to generate more vibration as the bait falls. No matter how you decide to rig it, the unique features of the bait and excellent soft plastic material make it stand out from other soft stick baits.
The PD Chopper jig and the RPZ Talisman Hook are two other new releases. The PD Chopper has been here before but has become available in America once again. It's a unique jig that was designed for the legendary Lake Biwa in Japan. It has a head design unlike any other jig you've seen. It's flat for working along the bottom, but the shape lets you get some great side-to-side shaking if you swim the jig. It's a jig that works when fished several different ways and also has a screw connected to the line tie so you can rig your soft plastic trailer weedless and fish it through just about anything.
The RPZ Talisman Hook is a collaboration with top Japanese hook brand Ryugi. It's a weedless wacky style hook that also includes a small clip to attach a weight. This is a very popular rigging method in Japan for fishing creature baits and also works very well for "dice-style" baits that have been getting more popular recently.
New from Deps
The Deps brand has been everywhere lately, and one of the hottest baits in the world is the Sakamata Shad, which has exploded in popularity over the past few years for anglers using forward-facing sonar. But, they have many more offerings and continue to add more.
One is the Glidehead spinnerbait, which has a unique rigging option for your soft plastic trailer. Instead of a fixed hook molded into the spinnerbait, it features a clip to attach a hook. It comes standard with an offset hook, but you can replace it with any hook that you like, and the hook can be free-swinging or fixed in place with the addition of a small piece of the included silicon tube. This option allows you to Texas-Rig your soft plastic in place to be more weedless.
The spinnerbait itself is quality throughout, with a good finish, excellent skirts, and quality blades with eyes on them for more attraction. It comes in a 3/8-ounce size, double willow blades, and 11 great colors.
Also new from Deps is the "Okie Craw" color for the Evoke crankbaits. Originally, this was an exclusive color at the 2024 Bassmaster Classic, but it is now back in all of the Evoke Crankbait sizes: 1.2, 1.8, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0. Most of these sizes' current colors have also been restocked.
ima Japan
The ima name is synonymous with quality hard baits like the Flit jerkbait, Little Stik topwater, and more. They make some great baits and have added four new minnow-style baits originally meant for saltwater fishing, but they shine in freshwater environments as well. They include Qualy 105F, Rocket Bait 75, Kosuke 110F, and Jetty 135S.
The Qualy 105F is a jerkbait-style bait built for extreme casting distance because of the weight transfer system. It has a nice wobbling and rolling action and works for a variety of different species in both fresh and saltwater. The Rocket Bait 75 is a small minnow bait that sinks and has a subtle and tight action when retrieved. The Kosuke 110F has a unique cup on the front of the bait and gives it a rolling action. The last is Jetty 135S, a larger jerkbait you can fish at various depths.
The Optimum Baits family of brands continues to pump out new and innovative products from Japan to the United States market. The list above is just the latest releases, but many more will come.
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