When Conditions Get Tough, Barbute Delivers
The deps Barbute, although not new, has had a tremendous following in Japan especially on Lake Biwa, where deps designer and fishing guide Masayuki Matsushita (who goes by Masa) spent many hours fishing and fine tuning the bait.
I had the chance to film Masa on Lake Biwa during our trip to Japan last month, and it was an eye opening experience.
At first glance, it looks similar to other creature baits with two long lower body appendages that resemble legs and a ribbed main body. But between the two legs is a paddle tail.
Underwater, the bait has a very unique action, especially how Masa had it setup on a free rig.
When fished in grass on a medium heavy rod, the bait has a tendency to nose into grass then gently pop free.
“If the rod (tip) is too soft, the Barbute won’t pop out from the grass the right way. That’s why I like a heavier rod,” he said.
From my perspective, the true magic of the Barbute is when it falls. This was apparent to me when I filmed the bait underwater.
The tails swim, but they won’t always swim. The paddle between the legs also randomly moves. With this, the bait sometimes falls with a muted, dead action, while other times the legs and paddle move in unison.
When the bait lands back on bottom, the legs vibrate and the paddle tends to rock back and forth for a moment.
Proven on the Water
Most baits have one primary action. The Barbute combines two different actions but at random and I believe this is what makes the bait so special.
The Barbute comes in three different sizes, a 4 inch, a 3.5 inch, and the brand new 3 inch.
Over two days of filming on Lake Biwa, we had multiple five pound bass fall victim to the 3.5 and 4 inch Barbute.
We worked offshore grass almost exclusively. Slowly dragging the bait through the grass and pausing, bites came while the Barbute was falling, or they would pick it up as it sat still.
The action was so good that on the second day of filming, Masa urged me to put the camera down and fish.
In short order, I had a fish eat the bait as it rested on bottom. I was checking a text message on my watch and soon as I reeled in the slack, I felt the slow bumps of a fish swimming off and I immediately set the hook.
Masa likes to use heavy line in conjunction with a heavy rod. 22 pound test florocarbon made it easy to muscle the fish from the grass and into the net — a healthy five pound Lake Biwa bass.
I think the language of fishing is the same no matter what language anglers speak. A five pound bass calls for celebration!
deps is known for their exceptional plastic composition like with the Sakamata Shad, but they have excellent colors as well.
The Barbute comes in staple colors that work anywhere in the world — green pumpkin, waternelon, black with blue flake, and junebug are all available amongst other good colors.
And the Barbute isn’t just for the free rig, you can run it on a plethora of different rigging options like a texas rig, drop shot or even as a jig trailer.
For my own personal fishing, the 3” version in either green pumpkin or muted watermelon should work well for me as I tend to fish high elevation lakes which hold smallmouth.
The 3.5 and 4 inch versions definitely have a place in weedy bodies of water when bass roam offshore grass, or they can be used as a punching and flipping bait when situations call for muted action. They might also be used as a swimjig or chatterbait trailer when imitating crawfish on the California Delta.
