Thrash YK Rat

[jkarol24]

Swimbait Review: Thrash YK Rat

Thrash is a JDM swimbait builder, producing wooden glides, wakes, crankdowns, and Rats. The YK Rat has become more and more prevalent here in the US, and was able to borrow a buddies to get it on film. The YK Rat us a 2 piece billed bait with a soft plastic tail (creme worm or similar), and comes in at 70 grams (approx 2.5 oz) and 135 mm body (approx 5.5 inches). I chose to fish the YK on a snap. 

On a straight medium-slow retrieve, the YK provides a classic waking action, with a back and forth head hunt that causes the rear section to follow along. As the two halves collide, there is an audible wooden Clack, and the rear body section causes a wide swim of the pliable soft plastic tail. A noticeable surface wake is produced, and I found the action to be consistent without any misses or hesitation. 

As we slow it down to a crawl, the bait loses a bit of that head hunt, but the action is supplemented by more roll of the rear section, which keeps that soft plastic tail moving back and forth. The overall action is tighter and less obtrusive, but the bait can certainly be fished at this slow speed.You do also lose the audible Clack, as the bait becomes overall more finesse. 

Next, I walked the YK in two fashions. The bait excelled with the slow rod tip bumps, turning back and forth 180 degrees with ease. The nose of the bait dives slightly, and the rear pivots around that axis. Due to the high flotation of the bait, the YK stays on the surface, and overcomes that slight head dive. I found the easy walk to be less obtrusive and finesse, with limited noise and water splash. The tail does whip as expected, but the overall action is more subtle than other rats. You can certainly change this by adding more firm inputs at a faster cadence, and get the bait turning back and forth quickly on the surface. This speed increase adds a noticeable amount of Clack and water splash, but I did find the action to be less consistent than the slower and easy walk. 

Last, I was able to crank down the bait utilizing a medium speed and rod tip down. The YK definitely does not like inputs faster than about medium, but at that medium speed, I was able to get the bait down approx 1.5 ft. I found the action to be even wider than the wake, with a noticeable head hunt, which threw the rear section and tail even wider. The bait stayed level and upright, with a very consistent swimming action. 

I fished the YK Rat on a Leviathan Heavy, paired with an old Curado 300E, and 20 lb copoly. If fishing in heavy cover, I feel confident that you could bump up to a heavier rod and line selection, and acheive similar swimming action. Copoly and mono would both be nice choices. Braid would also be fine, but just be mindful that it may make walking slightly more inconsistent on those faster walking cadences. 

Thanks for joining! Another swim vid coming next week!