It's been 20 years since the Deps brand hit the Japanese bass scene and even less time since American anglers knew about the brand. Since then, it's become a well-known name because of its excellent swimbaits, hard baits, and soft plastics. California-based Optimum Bait Co. has done a great job bringing the Deps name to U.S. anglers, and now baits like the Slide Swimmer, Cover Scat, and many others are household names in the bass fishing community.
They've also brought in a unique aspect of the Deps brand, with a great "members only" section that offers one-of-a-kind colors and special runs of some great baits. This is a program that has continually evolved and gives anglers a chance to purchase special items that only members can, and it's now available to American anglers.
Here's more about the program, how it works, and how to get in on the action.
Members Only in Japan
Since Deps began, they gradually increased in popularity and became one of the major brands in Japan because of their excellent products and tackle innovations. Because of this, they saw a need to offer products to their supporters.
"They started 20 years ago, really when ordering tackle on the internet was just getting started," said Matt Paino, CEO of Optimum Bait Co. "They were on the cutting edge of it all and wanted to create some exclusive baits for their biggest fans. They had a members-only program that has been very successful. It has always been limited runs of colors, different baits, and only available to those who were program members."
Many anglers were part of the Members Only program to get some rare items and some wanted to get baits that nobody else had access to. "There were some that bought the items strictly because they were collector's items, but you could also get some excellent lures to fish with," said Paino. "They are all great baits and you could have access to some colors that nobody else had."
The membership fee was roughly $50, and Deps fans got free bait and access to buy more items released that year. It was a big hit and they wanted to bring the program to the United States as the Deps brand continued to gain in popularity stateside.
"Their email list would get a notification that a bait would be available soon and they could pre-order it if they wanted it," he said. "We decided to bring the program here when enough guys were interested in the Code Name Bass, and it made sense to start it here in 2018, and it has continued to grow since then."
Bringing it to the U.S. market
When Optimum Baits was getting their feet wet with this exclusive program in 2018, the first bait was the highly sought-after Code Name Bass, a massive glide bait that perfectly imitated a small largemouth bass. Since then, they've also offered exclusives on baits like the Sweet Killer, Bull Shooter 190, and Bull Shooter Jr. swimbaits, and bigger sizes of the popular Buster K and Slither K frogs. These were all hard-to-find baits or special runs that only members had access to.
"This is a way to get exclusive colors of these baits and some unique items," said Paino. "We started with a small fee to help cover some of the processing fees with the program but have changed that to allow anyone who wants to be part of it to join the program and have access to these baits."
Now, they've partnered with Cast X Blast to offer more lures and unique apparel items and there is no fee to join.
The Cast X Blast collab
Starting earlier this year, Deps and Optimum partnered with Cast X Blast, and again, the program doesn't cost anything.
"There is no fee with this program and members have access to purchase any bait releases and apparel collaborations between Cast X Blast and Deps," said Paino. "We release new items roughly eight times a year and have some unique things that only members can get their hands on."
Currently, there is a Cast X Blast and Deps snapback hat and hoodie, as well as a Vassallo Swimmer and Bull Shooter Jr. Shudder Tail available to order. This is only the beginning and members will have more items in the coming months.
The Deps brand has continued to gain steam in America and as they release new baits, anglers will see some of their innovation. For members of the program, there are many more things to come. More information can be found at.castxblast.com.
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