DAIWA SP MINNOWS / MY FAVORITE STRIPED BASS SWIMMING PLUGS

I have traditionally began my local saltwater fishing seasons year after year by targeting stripers in our shallow bays. Usually I employ the use of bunker chunks when available because
I prefer to target more sizable fish.
But many many times I've also taken advantage of the opportunity to surf cast wearing waders or to throw lures from the deck of my boats, or fiends boats.
Some days this can provide a little bit of action, or a lot of action with stripers from very small sizes, and right on up the scale to the considerably large, and anything in between.
in the earlier days when I began to partake in this early season bite we employed the use of light jig heads in 3/8 oz sizes and soft plastics from twister tails, to Fin S Fish, to any shad body, bait tails. As well as throwing bomber or Rapala Swim plugs.All of these choices worked very well.
In the last 3 years as I was fishing with a buddy and he was throwing Daiwa SP Minnows in the bone white color, and man I have to say that I was seriously impressed with his results. He made a believer out of me. In several back to back trips he was consistently hooking up in the back bays from bass in the upper teens, twenties, and even up to 30 pounds relying only on that lure.
Witnessing that first hand was all I needed to see and I became an instant fan of of this product. I've caught many bass myself on these plugs up to this point as well. They consistently attract the fish and provide the action no question in my mind.
SP Minnows come in 3 different sizes, and 3 basic types. Sizes are 5 1/8 inch which is 7/8 ounce, 6 inch which is 1 & 1/9 ounce, and 6 & 3/4 inch which is 1& 5/8 ounces, and the bullet sinking which is 6 3/4 long and 1 7/8 ounces.
So the 3 different styles aforementioned as Floating, Sinking, and Bullet. Floating and sinking have the great swimming action provided by the lower front lip of the plug. The bullet is heavier and will get you added casting distance, but lacks in the action because it doesn't have the lower front lip. In this case the angler will need to impart the desired action to the plug.
They have great cast ability thanks to the weight balance transfer system. This also provides audible attraction in the form of rattling which we also know does call in the bass.
The color selection on this line of lures is very wide to basically cover a tremendous amount of forage bait choices from around the planet. It's become a fetish for me to collect them all. I just love these plugs that much. The bone is my go to color in day light, and darker colors at night, especially the Burple ( black & Purple), or Purple back/ Shine.
Daiwa Salt Pro Minnows

[@TrungNguyen-yp6bg]

Loves your channel. Tog is my favorite specie to fish learning so much from the Michael Jordan of tautog

[@freddynj6140]

Had to show my wife this video. She wonders why i just take my lures out and look at them I said they're like " a work of art" and she thinks im nuts lol Im glad you say the same. Great video 😁👍

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

Many Thanks!

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

It helps to LOVE your gear, care for your gear for longer use, and have confidence in it for sure.

[@timmyallen5655]

Daiwa makes a 10 ' rod They call the sp and it casts this lure very well

[@kenwesterfeld1114]

You are too kind brother! Many thanks! I'm glad you're digging the videos. Hopefully a great season coming ahead. Can't wait to begin shooting actual fishing videos again.

[@ibanez2010]

They may be SALT minnows but let me tell you freshwater fish hammer them. I use them for muskies and pike. I upsize all the hooks and split rings and obviously the fish still bite them..."Yellow Pearl" has been the hot color this spring.

[@vsonic86]

Wow a collection of SP

[@ihsanlazuardi6567]

Thanks for video

[@robvallee]

I swapped out the stock trebles for single inline hooks. I lost a lot of action but I still catch fish on it as long as I rip it in big sweeping motions. Think I’m going back to trebles. I fish N.E. florida area and the blurple and toothpaste color work well for Blues to Bull Red Drum

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

Very cool Rob thanks for sharing that. A friend of mine also tried the in-line single hooks, and I gave them a shot too, I wasn’t really happy with the performance. Like you say seems to be less strikes and definitely less hook ups. Less action overall.. I think that the action of the plug changes to drastically when going to single hooks.

[@traumahawk517]

no need to switch then now,,Diawa announced that their new ones will come with VMC hooks now..

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

Great news !!!!

[@Skolmann]

Have you ever given any thought to replacing the treble hooks with inline hooks ?

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

Great question, yes in fact lately I've been thinking about putting dressed hooks on the tails, just haven't done it yet.

[@rmp608]

Great video!!! What rod and reel do you use for the SP's?? Thanks

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

On the boat I usually use a 7'6"Bull Bay 8 - 17 lb test Reel Animals Series Medium Heavy Fast Action. In surf a 9 ft Lamiglass GSB.

[@fishin360]

subscribed!

[@fishin360]

just did a video using the SP minnow. check it out and please subscribe. thanks

[@JerzyAnt609]

Any spring tog videos in the works?

[@kenwesterfeld1114]

Fishing tomorrow

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

with Kane tomorrow

[@JerzyAnt609]

Kenneth Westerfeld Fishing awesome I was out Sunday out of barnegat inlet the boat and myself did pretty well including the pool fish at 11#

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

That's HOT@@JerzyAnt609 !!! We had a good trip! Video release Friday !!!

[@michaelpiergiovanni8042]

When you upgrade to VMC, do you go a size up or stay at 1/0

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

1/0 on regular size SP, and Size 1 on the smaller ones

[@michaelpiergiovanni8042]

@@kenwesterfeldfishing2244 thanks for the fast response!

[@mikebailey6428]

What size sp do you typically use for strippers? 6 3/4 or 6?

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

I use all 3 sizes, with the 6 1/4” medium size being my GO TO receiving the most amount of action. The small size also gets lots of bites and is highly effective when the fish are generally running smaller in size. The draw back is the smaller hooks don’t stay buttoned to bigger bass as well usually. So again I find that the 6 1/4” works best. I have caught some bass on the 6 3/4” but I don’t usually receive the same amount of action on it. Colors that I find work best for me personally are bone, chicken scratch, purple back/ silver sides, or blurple.

[@mikebailey6428]

@Ken Westerfeld Fishing man that's awesome... I'm new to surf fishing and have been scouring KZbin channels for useful info on what to use, what not to use, etc. Loved the presentation and helpfulness of your video. Thanks brother

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

@@mikebailey6428 good luck out there

[@dennisl9745]

What’s your favorite color for the day time?

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

For which species?

[@dennisl9745]

Ken Westerfeld Fishing striped bass and bluefish

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

@@dennisl9745 well for bright sun I like white. But green or pink is usually fine too out East. Can't usually go wrong with chrome either. Dark colors at night. Black & red especially good.

[@liam9773]

any idea if the floating or sinking ones work better

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

I've caught well on both. I guess it makes sense that if you're fishing in shallow water floating is the way to go.

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

If in shallow water go with floating. I think they'll all ride at about a 3 foot depth.

[@Chefbello1]

Bro how do u not have the bubble gum sp Minnow.....

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

I have several !!!

[@brendanwoerner3352]

That’s roughly 270 dollars worth of SP’s

[@kenwesterfeld1114]

Yeah I've bought a few more since. I have the red head/ silver, the bubble gum, and that speckled one.

[@brendanwoerner3352]

Ken Westerfeld I gotcha I try to stick with maybe 3 colors total. White, blurple, and chicken scratch.

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

I just love having the options.@@brendanwoerner3352 Sometimes colors do seem to matter. You know what really blew my mind is that fishing at night in the Plum Gutt and the Race with 3 way buck tail rigs my friends and I have actually seen very subtle difference in lure color appear to make a distinct difference on more than just a few occasions. We've seen conditions where some years black at night was the killer, other times, black & red, other times, purple, and others RED, or pink. Still other Other times olive green. Then daylight sometimes bass show a distinct preference for white with a blue striped top, white with a green striped top, plain white, or sometimes they want chartreuse. And so many times one particular color buck tail would in fact get the most hits. So we always like to have variety when we go out there. I don't disagree with you in saying that you can USUALLY get by with 3 or 4 good colors. that is probably most often true. But like a good Boy Scout, I always like to be prepared.

[@richdunn9774]

Rookie numbers. Lol

[@alexcastillo8312]

Hi there mr. Ken i just got into striped bass surfishing and i wanted to ask how those bullet minnows have done so far?? Do they produce ?? Got my self some floaters and sinkers but also plan to get some bullets to add some variety to my surf bag! I will appreciate the feedback! Thanks!

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

Alex I wish you luck and success in the future! The bullets I haven't fished a ton myself. I have caught a few bass on them. You have to impart action to them manually by twitching and shaking your rod during the retrieve. That's because of the lack of the lower lip on the plug.

[@alexcastillo8312]

Ken Westerfeld Fishing ...Thank you so much for the feedback! Mr. Ken i appreciate it!

[@alexcastillo8312]

Do you remove the nose split rings at all?? Thanks

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

@@alexcastillo8312 I prefer leaving them on.

[@alexcastillo8312]

Ken Westerfeld Fishing ...where can i get some of those tackle boxes you have for your minnows thanks again for the replies!!

[@Sean-yh5ds]

4 balls

[@John-ug1nc]

This dude talks slow to make obvious points but is clearly fast at whipping out his wallet to buy a new SP whose coloring catches his fancy. If all bass were like him...

[@kenwesterfeldfishing2244]

I'm not sure what your point is. These plugs work really well. I catch loads of stripers, weals, and blues on them. I like to be well equipped. I don't see any problem. I kind of collect them. To each his own. Why does ig matter how much I prefer to spend on plugs? Especially when they're proven fish catchers.

[@happywrench3044]

Let the man do what he wants. Are you jealous? 😆 🤣 You little smack talker.